Harness Weekly Update: $199 exacta lights up toteboard

The TwinSpires Harness Blog Weekly Update covers our successes and failures from selected features and the H2W (horses-to-watch list). H2W horses through the following Monday appear in the next Update’s results.

Thursday, Jan. 20

This week’s Mohawk Miles contenders included the favorite Linedrive Hanover ($3.40, $2.40, $2.40 OK) and Ask My Secretary (24-1), who finished seventh to a 4-1 winner.

At Freehold we went for a Pick 3 and its legs with only one winner, Burning Desire ($3.80, $2.60, $2.60 OK), in leg three. May I Cruise West (2-1) was fourth. In leg one, Fat Boy ($2.10) finished third and Bad Day Black Rock (5-2) finished fourth. In leg two, Never Not Dancing ($3.60, $2.80) was second, Sheeza Shark N (6-1) finished fifth and OK Lets Rocknroll scratched. A sidebar to the results of leg two appears in "News & Notes" below.

Friday, Jan. 21

In a double feature at Hawthorne, we began with a strong win from Fuel The Joe ($4.80, $3.00, $2.40) with Ideal Big Guy (2-1) tanking to eighth. The second part of the duo was won by a 12-1 shot while we were fourth with Chick Magnet (5-2) and seventh with Hot Rod Dylan (7-1).

Saturday, Jan. 22

Our Meadowlands single feature was a win worth its feature status. With only two contenders we hit Kenziesky Hanover ($8.20, $5.20, $3.20) and locked in the $2 exacta worth $199.60 with the place horse Justlikehim ($56.80, $12.80).

H2W LIST RESULTS

The H2W results list across-the-board prices. Exactas listed include a H2W horse finishing second to a race-favorite or if the first two finishers are H2W horses (an asterisk appears when both horses are listed—a cold exacta, and most prices are for $2 exactas). The note “OK” determines that prices are correct (even when a show price exceeds a place price or all prices are the same).

Please note that some results reflect horses racing after the blog posts (they appear the following week).

This week, there were 36 H2W horses (a 28% win-hit rate and a 50% ATB [across-the-board] hit). Horses with asterisks before their names were tweets @FrankCotolo. Follow for late choices.

Winners

Smiling Terror, $20.00, $7.40, $4.80, Miami
Swans Honey, $9.80, $4.20, $2.60, Flamboro
Western Walt, $9.80, $3.60, $2.60, Hawthorne
Mandeville, $8.80, $4.20, $2.10, Cal Expo
San Domino A, $7.00, $3.50, $2.40, Yonkers
Stick That Lip Out, $5.60, $3.20, $2.20, Freehold
Hide Your Banker, $4.60, $2.60, $2.40, Meadows
Bobby K Hill, $3.40, $2.40, $2.40 OK, Meadows
Legal Power, $2.40, $2.40, $2.40 OK, Meadows

Seconds

Shadowthetwilight, $7.00, $4.60, Monticello
Cut A Rug, $2.40, $2.10, Cal Expo
Vettel N, $2.20, $2.10, Meadowlands

Thirds

Macadoodledo, $7.40, Miami
Dry Ridge Ace, $5.80, Monticello
Nine Ways, $2.40, Freehold
Pridecrest, $2.10, Cal Expo

NEWS & NOTES

Running Aces Racetrack is set for 2022 racing. The Minnesota five-eighths mile oval marks the track’s 15th year. Action gets underway on May 15 and concludes on Sept. 17 with 56 nights of racing. The schedule features a Tuesday-Thursday-Sunday rotation throughout the summer. New for this season is a 7 p.m. (CDT) post for all cards, which is favorable for exposure to increase handle. There is a Wednesday card on Aug. 3 and Friday and Saturday cards on closing weekend. Purses are projected to be in excess of $5 million—the richest so far.

In leg two of the Freehold P3 on Jan. 20, our forecasts for driver/trainer Jacob Cutting continued to unfold. Last week we followed his Pedigree Blue Chip and Paloma Ruiz to double-digit priced wins. Paloma Ruiz won leg two at 29-1 this week. Also, Pedigree Blue Chip finished second to Burning Desire in leg three.

TwinSpires harness bettors heard her name here first and cashed in big on her, and now Ramona Hill, Breeders Crown and Hambletonian winner, retires to be bred in 2022. Hanover Shoe Farms announced the magnificent daughter of Muscle Hill joins its broodmare band. Ramona Hill also won the Del Miller Memorial, Zweig, Simcoe and Elegantimage at three. Ramona Hill won six of seven starts as a freshman, including the Bluegrass and the International Stallion Stakes, taking a two-year-old record of 1:52.2 and earning over $500k. She retires with $1,511,401 in earnings.

Extraordinary Extras

Indulge in our columns, Alternative Actions and Bettors Banquet, at Harness Racing Update.