Harness Weekly Update: $95 exacta, $57 winner among profitable plays

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. Sunday, May 15 review will appear in the next Harness Update.

Thursday, May 12

This week’s Mohawk Miles selections included Jabborwocky ($3.60), beaten by a 9-2 winner, and Do You See It (5-1), finishing 10th to a 4-1 winner.

Our Hoosier Pick 4 produced a single winner, Shock Wave ($7.60, $3.80, $4.00 OK) in leg one, where favorite Crystal Beach finished eighth.

In leg two we had favorite Lucky Lil Lady ($3.20, $2.40) beaten by a 22-1 winner. In leg three our single was Putnams Attack (4-1), finishing fourth to a 13-1 winner. And both of our ticket’s horses in leg four, Skyway Brittany (16-1) and Debt Motivated (19-1), finished ninth and seventh, respectively, losing to a 3-1 shot.

Saturday, May 14

The mare pacing Graduates at the Meadowlands delivered our only and the obvious winner, Test Of Faith ($3.40, $2.10, $2.10), but our hopeful upsetter/exotic partner, Chase Lounge (31-1), finished fifth. In the other pace, Think Of Galaxies (43-1) finished eighth to the fan favorite.

The trot was disappointing as our contender Cindy Michelle (21-1) finished fifth to the top three public choices.

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 form a cold exotic combo; most base prices are $2). 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 56 H2W horses (a 20% win-hit rate and a 48% ATB [across-the-board] hit). Horses with asterisks before their names were tweets @FrankCotolo. Follow for late choices.

Winners

Southwind Aussi, $57.80, $15.80, $13.00, Meadows
Lovem And Liam, $41.80, $16.40, $10.00, Northville
Justanothermiki, $21.80, $8.40, $4.00, Oak Grove
Dude Perfect, $5.40, $3.20, $2.60, Meadows
Peggy J, $4.50, $3.50, $2.40, Buffalo
No Quarter, $4.20, $3.00, $2.40, Meadows
Itsiris’birthday, $4.00, $3.20, $2.20, Northville
Livethebeachlife, $4.00, $3.00, $2.20, Scioto
Freak On A Leash, $3.80, $2.80, $2.60, Oak Grove
Your Mom N Em, $3.20, $2.40, $2.20, Northfield
Wegothatsright, $2.40, $2.40, $2.20 (Daily Double $57.80), Northville

Seconds

Diamond Cowboy, $16.00, $7.50, Saratoga
Control The Thong, $11.80, 4.20, Mohawk
Unusual Clarity, $9.70, $3.40, Vernon
Rockinattheryman, $6.80, $5.80 (Exacta $95.60), Northfield
Valentine Express, $4.40, $3.10, Vernon
Lydeo, $2.80, $2.10, Scioto
Sulky Queen, $2.20, Northfield

Thirds

Star Commander N, $7.80, Hoosier
Googoo On Stage, $7.40, Scioto
Gokudo Hanover, $6.20, Saratoga
Safety Second, $4.30, Yonkers
Ill Take The Bet, $3.80, Meadows
Calm As Can Bee, $3.40, Northville
Adorabella, $2.40, Northfield
South Beach Star, $2.40, Meadowlands
Skrill, $2.20, Philly

NEWS & NOTES

Tioga extends the harness racing week to three days by adding Fridays beginning May 20. First post time on Friday and Saturdays will be 6:15 p.m. (ET) while Sunday's card will be 1 p.m. matinees. The new schedule makes Tioga able to be added to our H2W list.

The 2022 C$1 million Pepsi North America Cup eliminations are looming. A majority of soph pacers for Canadian harness's biggest prize have made racing appearances. This year's “Cup” is contested on June 18 at Mohawk. The complexion of this year's event changed when Spring Book favorite Monte Miki retired. Here are our top five choices as of May 16:

1. Early Action
2. Night Hawk
3. I Did It Myway
4. Ario Hanover
5. Pebble Beach

Running Aces started its 15th harness season May 15. Racing Director Steve Carpenito said, “We are excited about the 2022 race meet and are set to distribute record purse money. I expect full fields and one of the best meets ever in Minnesota.” Horses compete for more than $6 million, an increase of $2 million over the 2021 total purse payout of $4.18 million. The increases include both overnight races and the weekly Minnesota-sired events.

Extraordinary Extras

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