Matchmaker Hits Half Again; ‘Levy’ At A Loss For Choice Spots; Plump Prices For Place, Show Finishers

It was a week plentiful with contenders hitting the board but few taking the top spot. Here is how the week of wagering treated our suggested contenders: Friday, March 22 The second leg of Yonkers’ Matchmaker included our two winners, low but fairly priced in the form-full-mares-pacer divisions. We opened with a winner, Don’t Think Twice N ($6.00, $3.20, $2.60), adding another element of the triple, a third for Kaitlyn N ($3.30). Betterb Chevron N (7-1) was fifth. In division two, Write Me A Song (4-1), lost her second in a row since shaking the toteboard when we had her at 19-1, losing to the public choice. Bettor Joy N ($6.50, $2.70, $2.40), our other leg-two winner, appeared in division three, while the suggested exotic partner, Itty Bitty (77-1) was a weak seventh. A 5-1 shot won the evening’s last Matchmaker split while we were third in a no-show-betting race with Seaswift Joy N (5-1). Leg three is featured next week on the first Friday night of April. Saturday, March 23 The second “Levy” leg was another sextet of rugged pacers with a minimum of surprises, though one particular surprise was a disturbing once, since we did not follow through on a forecast made here at the beginning of the season. JJ Flynn, we predicted, would make up for a poor 2018 season, where he raced far below expectations, by excelling against aged pacers this year. He was doing just that in the Josh Green barn earning well and dominating his class at Dover. We underestimated his entry into the Levy and this past weekend, at 20-1, he won the first division, while our 10-1 shot Mach Doro A, finished off the grid, in sixth. We had but one winner on the evening, a second choice of the public, in division three on the Yonkers program. That was Endeavor ($4.90, $2.90, $2.60). Our outside contender in the fourth division finished second to the public choice, supporting a $49.00 exacta. Lockton Luck A ($14.40, $8.00) did the deed. Our other three contenders each finished miserably in seventh of their divisions. Micky Gee N (40-1) lost to the favorite; Sams A Champ A (7-2) paced nowhere near his public odds; and Somebaddude (7-1) lost to the public’s second choice. 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 60 active horses (a 3-percent win hit rate and a 47-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 Iwillmakeyousaywow, $9.20, $4.90, $3.70, Yonkers Six Roses, $5.10, $2.70, n/s, Monticello Seconds Bettors Instinct, $12.80, $8.20, Western Fair Sly Baron, $9.30, $3.50, Western Fair Shady City, $7.60, $5.00, Pocono Marced Magic, $5.30, $5.00, Yonkers Cerisier, $3.30, $2.70 (Exacta $12.80), Monticello Bilbo Hanover, $3.00, $2.40, Pocono Rebel Voyager, $2.80, $2.10, Buffalo Rompaway Galaxy, $2.60, $2.20, Northfield Blush Hanover, $2.40, $2.20, Meadowlands Givemeonemoreshot, $2.40, $2.10, Northville Polak A, $2.10, $2.10 ok, Pocono Wings Of Speed, $2.10, $2.40 ok, Meadowlands Thirds Sports Tale, $5.70, Western Fair Bottom Deals, $5.20, Miami Regal Hope, $5.20, Meadows Wonderful World, $5.10, Saratoga Fast Fool, $4.70, Buffalo Wishy Washy Girl, $4.60, Yonkers Fade To Gold $4.30, Saratoga Rascal Flatter, $4.20, Pompano Big Jer, $4.00, Yonkers Miss Dollar Mam, $3.60, Northfield Givenupdreaming, $3.40, Yonkers Barn Bella, $3.20, Miami Indian Spirit, $3.00, Miami Sedona Seelster, $2.40, Dover News & Notes We are keeping an eye out, as we do this early in every season, for sires of first-time starters—even if they are not freshmen. When the two-year-olds get going, we may have an edge from having documented how the progeny of certain sires performed at any age, while others will focus solely on frosh products. This week at Woodbine Mohawk (WoMo), Southwind Casha, a filly by Cantab Hall, won for trainer John Bax. “Casha” is a sophomore that skipped a season at two. Another winner at first crack was Lucky Levis, a soph colt by Sunfire Blue Chip. He won for trainer Bob McIntosh. Ron Burke has picked up the job of training North America Cup-eligible Yacht Week, a Somebeachsomewhere colt getting noticed since becoming a member of the Burke Brigade (BB). In the colt’s first race for BB, his winning time at the Meadows was 1:54. Yacht Week won two of his juvenile starts, earning a mark of 1:51.2 at The Red Mile. The colt banked $35,863 in his freshman campaign. The North America Cup goes on Saturday, June 15 at WoMo; eliminations for the $1 million final are on June 8. Driver Austin Siegelman shines under the scrutiny of our flat-bet-profit (FBP) monitor, winning five races at Monticello on March 20. Siegelman’s pair of 4-1 shots greatly assisted the accomplishment. One paid $10.80 and the other paid $10.20. Along with win prices of $6.30, $4.10 and $3.10, the driver returned $34.50. It cost only $16.00 to play each of his eight drives (three losses) to toss a FBP of $18.50. For as long as there has been legal gambling in Nevada, there has been serious talk and rampant rumors about a racetrack in or near Las Vegas. Recently, another conversation is being reported, this time for two tracks supporting harness racing. Officials with the newly formed Nevada Standardbred Association made the announcement, siting a plan to work with the rarely busy Nevada Racing Commission, including establishing and building a sires stakes program. Live racing of any breed in the Nevada remains to have two major problems. First, can it survive against a city swarming with casinos? Second, can it survive the desert heat? Extraordinary Extras Indulge in my monthly columns, Alternative Actions and Bettors Banquet at Harness Racing Update