Harness Weekly Update: Great win prices all weekend

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. 13

This week’s Mohawk Miles contenders tanked. Swans Honey (14-1) showed a slight interest in competing, gaining a bit, but was never a threat. Dewy Deo, on the other hand, had no chance to show some muscle in the stretch as he suffered an equipment problem which made him break and then was stopped when the equipment broke.

At Freehold we approached a Pick 4 with aggression, though we only delivered three of four legs. Fortunately, single-leg wagering was mighty.

Leg 1 – A 10-1 winner ruined many P4 tickets, including ours, where Never Not Dancing (6-1) finished fourth, race-favorite Stick That Lip Out (7-5) finished seventh and Make A Scene (16-1) was eighth.
Leg 2 – We won this with Just A Camilion ($11.60, $5.60, $3.20) while our other contender, Nine Ways, ($6.60) finished third.
Leg 3 – Our faith in Jacob Cutting brought home Pedigree Blue Chip ($19.80, $7.00, $3.40) while we nabbed the show horse, Woodmere Ultimate ($13.20), an 82-1 shot contributing to the triple.
Leg 4 – In another Cutting moment, we won with Paloma Ruiz ($12.20, $4.20, $2.60) and nailed a $2 exacta paying $40.60 with Some Lucky Magic ($4.20, $2.80).

Friday, Jan. 14

In a double feature at Hawthorne, our two contenders were beaten in the first as easily as was the rest of the field by the crowd favorite. We finished fifth with Ryans Ambassador (9-2) and sixth with Beat The Devil (13-1). We won the second feature with the favorite Et Tu Brute ($3.80, $2.20, $2.40 OK). Patton Plus (9-1) finished seventh.

A pair of bet-backs at the Meadowlands included a scratch from Alkippe and a loss to the race favorite for Rable (30-1) who was not interested in the contest and finished far behind the finish line.

Saturday, Jan. 15

Our Meadowlands bet-backs produced a single winner and the best price promised by any of our contenders in the five races. Here are the horses in order of their finishes:

Put To Right ($18.40, $5.80, $3.40).
Walknafter Midnite (8-1), fifth; Typhoon Stride N (13-1), sixth, Mayhem Hanover (7-2), sixth; Waves Of Fire A (64-1), seventh; Darlene Hanover (4-1), eighth; JK Will Power (scratched); The Bird Dance N (scratched).

Note: Selected features and Power Plays race losers appear in the following week’s H2W or repeat as cast members of another selected feature.

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 19% win-hit rate and a 44% ATB [across-the-board] hit). Horses with asterisks before their names were tweets @FrankCotolo. Follow for late choices.

Winners

Lime Twist, $26.80, $9.00, $5.00, Freehold
Princess Holly N, $15.20, $6.20, $2.70, Freehold
Pembroke Wildcat, $12.00, $7.00, $5.60, Meadows
Villa For Rent, $6.20, $2.80, $2.20, Cal Expo
Tokyo Seelster, $5.60, $3.00, $2.70, Yonkers
Hill Of A Horse, $4.60, $2.80, $2.40, Yonkers
Fox Valley Gemini, $2.20, $2.10, $2.10 OK, Hawthorne

Seconds

Hide Your Banker, $8.40, $4.60, Meadows
Ideal Chip, $9.30, $5.40, Yonkers
Looking Santastic, $4.80, $2.60, (Exacta $19.20), Northfield
Twin B Impressive, $4.20, $2.90, (Exacta $9.50), Monticello

Thirds

Roundtown Rocker, $6.40, Meadows
Wise Image, $5.60, Dover
Shes Cruising Home, $3.40, Northfield
McNeil Z Tam, $2.60, Dover
Payara, $2.40, Northfield

NEWS & NOTES

The $6.7 million Breeders Crown, harness racing’s richest, most prestigious championship series, returns in the last weekend of October 2022 to Woodbine Mohawk Park in Ontario. All Breeders Crown divisions are guaranteed at $600k, with the exception of the Open Mare Pace and Trot, which are raised to a minimum of $350k. Eliminations, if necessary for freshman races, are held Friday, Oct. 21, with three-year-old and- older eliminations raced Saturday, Oct. 22. Finals for two-year-olds race the following Friday, Oct. 28, with sophomore finals and open events following on Saturday, Oct. 29.

The Hambletonian Society presents the series; it is a non-profit organization formed in 1924 to sponsor the race for which it was named—the Hambletonian S. The society’s mission is to encourage and support the breeding of Standardbred horses through the development, administration and promotion of harness racing stakes, early-closing races, and other special events.

In 2022, Vernon Downs will host the Dr. Harry M. Zweig Memorial and Empire Breeders Classic events. The $600k “Zweig” soph trot, which was traditionally the next stakes for the Hambletonian division, will take place on July 9 on a matinee program starting at 12:15 p.m. (ET). The $500k Empire Breeders Classic (EBC) for New York-sired soph trotters races on the afternoon (post 12:15 p.m.) of June 17. The EBC is split into divisions if more than 10 declare for the stakes.

Extraordinary Extras

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