Journey To Greatness Goes Forth With Glamour-Boy/Girl Trotters

It's time to launch the 2017 Breeders Crown Countdown, the exclusive blog that will coordinate with our general weekly harness blog at TwinSpires.com and the Hambletonian Society to find great wagering opportunities for "Crown" eligibles as they race their ways to the finals.

This season we will once again be watching the top horses in the divisions, those that have made most stakes races competitive and good betting propositions.

With the Hambletonian Trail at an end, we catch some familiar faces as we begin the countdown to the Breeders Crown with the Zweig Memorial at Vernon Downs on Friday, Aug. 18, which features both filly and colt sophomore trotters.

Ostrich Blue Chip is the lone Breeders Crown hopeful in the $28,220 filly consolation, as well as the likely favorite. Yet, she heads a field of five, so value may be hard to find. If there’s any, Northern Courtney appears to be rounding into form off a third-place finish in the Excelsior Series at Vernon and has room to improve into this event.

The $70,000 open consolation attracts eligibles Cresurrey, Lindy The Great, Fly On, Zack’s Zoomer and New Jersey Viking. Exiting the Townsend Ackerman, Lindy The Great and Fly On will likely take a majority of the public’s cash, ignoring the Trond Smedshammer entry lead by Cresurrey, who should improve greatly returning to a two-turn mile. When he was last at Vernon he made a live move to challenge tempo-setter Enterprise before faltering in the stretch. However, drawing well again, he should follow a more tactical path.

Hopefuls Evelyn, Feed Your Head, Glitzey Gal, Ice Attraction and Sunshine Delight lead into the $135,000 filly final, with Feed Your Head being the likely favorite off an aggressive performance in the Hambletonian Oaks. Don’t discount Sunshine Delight from an outside post, though, as she has the speed to position herself and will likely be sharp as she also exits the Oaks.

Ariana G will tackle the boys, including “Crown” eligibles Bill’s Man, Yes Mickey, Money Macintosh, Long Tom, Devious Man, Another Chapter, and Simply Volo, in the $320,000 Zweig final. Perhaps, with her entered along with probable favorites Long Tom and Devious Man, International Moni could end up being the value contender at around his 8-1 morning line.

If, however, International Moni gets the play he deserves, consider Bill’s Man, who put in two impressive miles in the heats of the Hambletonian and should be approaching this event in sharper form with an improved draw.

**********************************************************

Follow major BC hopefuls on their road to the Breeders Crown at Hoosier Park at the Breeders Crown Countdown blog and the TwinSpires harness blog weekly, with archived reports on the results at the Hambletonian Society web site.