Lather Up Leads $500 For A Buck Hoosier Superfecta; Bettor’s Wish Storms Northfield Feature; Midway Island Dukes Out Cup & Saucer Trial

Thursday, Aug. 8 Kentucky Sires Stakes (KYSS) for freshman colt-and-filly trotters were strewn across the program at The Red Mile. We were somewhat involved, though plagued by breakers and favorites. In the colt divisions we were second with Legion Of Honor ($2.80, $2.60), beaten by an 11-1. Our other two choices, both race favorites, galloped, losing all chances. They were Sermon, who still finished fourth to the public’s 3-1 second choice, and Ready For Moni (who we incorrectly identified as the sire, Ready For Cash, in our blog), who broke and finished seventh to a 50-1 shot. Second- and third-choices ruled the filly victories, while we finished third with Shape Shifter ($6.20), fourth with Miss Kendra D (23-1) and sixth with Evita (25-1). At 11-1, Sweet Chapter ($5.20), one of our bet-backs from Hambletonian day, finished third to a 6-1 shot in a New York Sires Stakes (NYSS) leg at Vernon. Friday, Aug. 9 The Dan Patch at Hoosier was our big catch this weekend. A strongly backed superfecta was available for the event for only 10 cents a combo. We offered a short ticket, using a key winner, Lather Up ($2.60, $2.20, $2.10), with a key second, McWicked ($3.60, $2.60)— exacta paying $3.10—with two horses for third and fourth. Coming in third for the $51.15 exacta was Endeavor ($7.60) and fourth was Jimmy Freight (10-1). A $2.00 ticket using our quartet paid $500. At Tioga, Grand Circuit action featuring divisions of Tomkins-Geers for frosh colt-and-filly pacers and trotters was true to form and generous to the public. We were deeply involved in the finishes, however. For the filly trotters we were second with Luv U Bye Click ($33.60, $19.40) and third for Thankful For You ($4.70). In the single division for colt trotters we backed Light Blue Movers, part of the favorite entry. He galloped and finished seventh. Our sole winner in the sextet came in the filly pace mile, where we won with Shining Beauty ($4.80, $3.40, $2.80). For colt pacers, we finished second with Bombshell Hanover ($2.60, $2.40), and third with JK Lucky Charms ($4.90) Saturday, Aug. 10 We were, again, right in supporting Bettor’s Wish ($3.80, $2.60, $2.20) as he easily won the “Milstein” at Northfield. Another NYSS pair took place at Saratoga and another bet-back went down as Mr Vicktor (3-2) came up very short, showing speed but finishing seventh to the public’s third choice. It was a disappointing return from the Hambletonian. In the second split, Jason’s Camden, the favorite, finished fourth to a 5-1 shot. The first Cup & Saucer trial at Charlottetown met with our approval as we won with Midway Island ($7.60, $4.40, $3.00), though our second choice, Make Some Luck, a top choice, broke twice and lugged home eighth, not making the final. The second trial takes place on Monday’s program, which we will cover in next week’s Weekly Update. H2W LIST RESULTS The H2W results list across-the-board prices. Also, exactas listed are included when a H2W horse finishes second with a race favorite or the first two finishers making up the exacta are H2W horses (an asterisk appears when both horses were listed to complete a cold exacta). The note “ok” determines that prices published are correct even when a show price exceeds a place price or any or all of the prices are the same. This week, there were 58 active horses (a 16-percent win hit rate and a 45-percent ATB [across-the-board] hit rate). Please note that some H2W results reflect win, place, show and exotic results occurring by press time but some horses race after the blog is posted (we list them the following weeks) It is up to you to follow horses that have not performed before this weekly review. Winners Starcasm, $14.40, $3.40, $.60 ok, Tioga Metro Glide, $14.00, $7.40, $6.50, Tioga Getting Serious, $13.40, $4.50, $3.20, Vernon Roll With Jr, $8.20, $4.20, $2.80, Red Mile Verge Of Insanity, $7.80, $4.40, $2.80, Hoosier Arden Hanover, $7.60, $3.80, $2.60, Pocono Brookstone, $4.40, $3.10, $2.50, Monticello Six Pack, $2.70, $2.20, $2.10, Yonkers *Galarina, $2.40, $2.30, $2.20, Tioga Seconds Late Night Joke, $9.20, $5.40, Hawthorne Wagon Master, $7.80, $4.00, Pocono Thisjetsabookin, $7.50, $3.80, Batavia *Filly Forty, $4.50, $3.90 (Exacta $11.20), Tioga The Girls Of Image, $4.50, $3.40 (Exacta $27.30), Rideau-Carleton Nitro Glistening, $4.30, $2.60, Vernon Itsallaboutmach, $2.80, $2.10 (Exacta $7.40), Plainridge Ohoka Texas N, $2.50, $2.10, Monticello Marys A Keeper, $2.10, $2.10, Ocean Thirds Dash Point Hanover, $13.80, Northfield Oh Mare Ahs Bella, $8.40, Saratoga Zeynep, $3.80, Plainridge Jude Hall, $3.20, Batavia Deal The Cards, $2.80, Meadows Woodmere Soul, $2.70, Charlottetown Between Me And You, $2.60, Hawthorne St Lads Moonwalk, $2.60, Saratoga News & Notes A lot of players wondered about the absence of Atlanta on the Meadowlands’ Hambletonian program. The 2018 Hambletonian winner was expected by many to get into the action in either the John Cashman Memorial for older trotters or the Dr. John R. Steele Memorial for older trotting mares. Atlanta, who on July 6 became the fastest trotter in the history of Meadowlands racing, with a 1:49.1 win in the Graduate Series Final, sat on the sidelines, according to trainer Ron Burke, because “She has too many starts left, so I skipped a week.” Our post-Hambletonian spin-off blog, Breeders Crown Countdown (BCC), begins next week. Each week until the eliminations of the 2019 championship season, BCC will highlight a race or races including “Crown”-eligible horses from various divisions. The races chosen for the BCC are races we feel TwinSpires bettors can profit by playing, based on the same factors we use in our preview blog weekly. The results of those featured races in the BCC as related to our analysis will appear in the Weekly Update blog. The Hambletonian Society and Woodbine Entertainment management have chosen the last weekend in October for the Crown showcase at Woodbine/Mohawk Raceway. The four freshman Crown races held Friday, Oct. 25 and the eight three-year-old and open events raced Saturday, Oct. 26. Crown eliminations, if necessary would be raced the prior weekend, with two-year-olds on Friday, Oct. 18 and sophomore and opens eliminations scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 19. New Zealand-bred trotter Speeding Spur arrived in trainer Linda Toscano’s barn this summer. Speeding Spur, last season’s Trotter of the Year in New Zealand, raced twice in the U.S. and trotted 1:51.1 both times. The eight-year-old stallion was fourth behind Manchego, Marion Marauder and Lindy The Great in his debut and recently finished sixth in the Vincennes on Hambletonian day at The Meadowlands. Speeding Spur has won 27 of 58 races and hit the board 48 times to earn $1.09 million in New Zealand dollars. He will race in North America the remainder of the season before returning home for stud duty. Extraordinary Extras Indulge in our monthly columns, Alternative Actions and Bettors Banquet at Harness Racing Update