Pick-4 Leg Blossoms With $20 Winner; Sharp Miami Stakes’ Choices; Exacta Partner Pays $190 With Our Help

The season is moving along well for us. This week with limited features, we collected a few sharp winners and combos. The best combo comes from our horses-to-watch list (H2W) thanks to a high-percentage-return move we endorse. Using favorites to top exactas with some of the H2W longer shots is often a lucrative move.

This week at Scarborough we gave you the second half of an exacta, Lucky Mac, a 21-1 shot that paid double digits to place and who, with the favorite atop, returned a whopping $190.80 exacta.

Such results are accredited in the H2W results below by identifying those contenders we supported that finished second.

Let’s check the features returns in chronological order:


Thursday, April 26

Another afternoon at Philly for a  Pick 4, a Partners For Picks feature that yields some win profit. Our winner—which was the highest paying win mutuel in the quartet—was Ataboy Hanover ($20.00, $8.60, $4.00). That came in leg two.

Leg one offered a pair of contenders, with Jack Vernon ($4.20, $3.20) finishing second and Go Byen (16-1) taking fifth. The public’s second choice won the mile.

Leg three found us with no chance, as Keystone Nikki (17-1) galloped and finished fourth, gallantly, anyway. The public choice won that affair.

A 10-1 beat us in leg four. We had a pair of contenders, Guard Your Hearts ($2.20) who finished third and Lazy Bones (17-1), getting the fourth spot.


Friday, April 27

At Miami Valley, filly sophomores in the Scarlet & Gray Invitationals were setting season records as both divisions were taken by the favorites. In the trot we finished fifth with Impinktoo (10-1) and in the pace we were third with Grant Me This ($6.20)


Saturday, April 28

Another afternoon beginning, this time at Freehold, featured a single elim race to settle next week’s Dexter Cup field for glamour-boy trotters. Our choice, Credicone (11-1), raced well and finished fourth to make the final field. We may be following him into it as the division is filled with volatile members this early in the season and three others took byes for the final. The winner was not the favorite but a 5-1 shot; the favorite finished third.

At night it was back to Miami Valley where the pacing and trotting colts met for their Scarlet & Gray miles. In the colt pace we nabbed Rocathon ($6.80, $3.80, $2.80), our solo contender.

The trotters’ division was won by the public choice, while we were third with MVP Luke ($3.60), a 16-1 contributor to a low-paying trifecta and superfecta.



TwinSpires Harness Blog:
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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 73 active horses (a 10-percent win hit rate and a 48-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 week) It is up to you to follow horses that have not performed before this weekly review


Winners

Clara Bea, $12.00, $5.60, $3.00, Monticello
Jay Bees Grin N, $6.80, $4.40, $3.20, Plainridge
Focus Power, $6.70, $3.10, $2.70, Buffalo
Little Emma, $5.40, $3.00, $3.00 ok, Cal-Expo
Chumlee A, $5.30, $4.30, $2.30, Yonkers
Sir Pugsley, $4.60, $3.00, $2.20, Pocono
Transitioning Joy, $2.40, $2.40, $2.10 ok, Harrington
 

Seconds

Lucky Mac, $15.00, $5.80 (Exacta $190.80), Scarborough
Jetstream Deo, $13.20, $5.40, Monticello
Rockin Deo, $11.00, $12.00 ok, Vernon
Macs Black Hat, $8.80, $4.00, Vernon
Cruise Patrol, $8.40, $4.80 (Exacta $32.80), Philly
Up Front Napoleon, $8.20, $3.30, Saratoga
Sadiq Hanover, $4.80, $3.40 (Exacta $11.20), Hoosier
Thebestofme, $4.70, $3.10, Charlottetown
Always Giggling, $4.40, $3.40 (Exacta $13.00), Hoosier
Paisley Skye, $4.40, $4.00 (Exacta $15.80), Northfield
Cooperstown, $3.60, $3.20, Pocono
Lucan Hanover, $3.00, $2.40, Pocono
Rocky Ground, $2.80, $2.20, Freehold
Talbotcreekwhiskey, $2.50, $2.50 ok, Mohawk


Thirds

Keene Santanna, $10.60, Miami
No Mo Fo Joe, $4.60, Century
Gina Grace N, $4.50, Yonkers
Fox Valley Ruby, $4.20, Cal-Expo
Painite, $4.10, Vernon
JK Onaroll, $4.00, Harrington
Noble Prince, $3.60, Northville
Odds On Miami, $3.40, Philly
Lovetap Hanover, $3.00, Meadowlands
Miss Irish Rose A, $3.00, Yonkers
One Swan For All, $3.00, Plainridge
Shane Adam, $3.00, Harrington
Lilbitomama, $2.80, Cal-Expo
Irish Kate, $2.60, Vernon


News & Notes

Harness racing may not appear to thrive in Maryland as it did in the days it maintained a robust state circuit but Maryland-breds are still battling for big dollars at the two tracks alive and running. Purses for Maryland Sire Stakes (MDSS) and Maryland Standardbred Race Fund (MSRF) events this year will total $1.8 million. Purses for MDSS frosh and soph trotters and pacers will total $1.5 million, with another $100,000 for four- and five-year-olds. The remaining $200,000 will support MSRF stakes for frosh and soph events.

Stakes kick off May 6 at Rosecroft with the MDSS for four- and five-year-old pacers, with those aged trotters on May 9. There will be two preliminary rounds for soph trotters and pacers May 13, 16, 20 and 23, followed by four finals May 30, closing night of the meet. The Ocean Downs offers two prlim rounds for sophs followed by finals July 15 and 16, and a set of MSRFs for soph divisions July 8 and 9.

Some of the best four-year-old pacers in harness racing display their talents at Flamboro on Sunday, May 20, in the 40^th Confederation Cup. The 2018 edition of Flamboro’s signature event marks the fourth-consecutive year that four-year-old pacers battle for the the event’s crown. A total of 30 remain eligible to this year’s $150,000-added race. The competition on the track will be fierce throughout the entire “Cup” program as the 2018 Ontario Sires Stakes season kicks off with a Gold event for soph pacing colts.

Where is Wiggle It Jiggleit wiggling and jiggling since he cannot be found in racing fields anywhere lately? According to his owner George Teague, the leg-plagued pacer that was sidelined for his five-year-old season is gearing up for a return to competition in the summer. Teague says “Wiggle” is jogging and swimming a lot to control his weight and hopes to be qualifying sometime in July at the earliest. Teague said Wiggle is paid up to pace in a few August stakes, “ everything goes as planned.” North America’s top pacer has earnings past the $4 million mark.

Northville’s request to modify its 2018 race schedule has been approved. Originally scheduled to race Friday and Saturday nights through June 9 and then open on Sept. 7 through Dec. 15, Northville will continue to race through June, July and August and race through Sept. 22. The change is a result of increased business with the April 5 closing of Hazel, making Northville the only place where wagers can be taken in the state.
 

Extraordinary Extras

Indulge in many standardbred topics at my Hoof Beats blog titled Vast Performances.

And check my monthly column, Alternative Actions, at Harness Racing Update