Selected Features From Both Coasts; Exotic Escapades; Pacing For Profits With Power Plays

Continuing with our winter campaign for profits we offer more selected features and Power Plays with many options for play and plenty of promising high-paying contenders. TwinSpires harness blog’s exclusive horses-to-watch (H2W) list is again at your disposal. Explore any and all horses we post for use in wagers of your discretion. Do your own handicapping and then consider any and all our H2W  selections. POWER PLAYS Philly/ Races 3,4,5 Thursday, Dec. 13 A Pick 3 begins with the first leg, along with single-race exotics in each. The suggested contenders are mentioned in post-position order. Race 3, leg 1 From last week’s Power Plays (PP) at Philly, Dark Pool returns to this conditioned trot with an excuse losing at 5-2. In his third race from a new barn he should roll through this one while going off at low double digits. Smoothing the triple results, the morning line favorite (ML) Run And Tell Pap belongs in the triple. Sweetchap had a long outside trip and held sway to be third behind in the Dark Pool event. He should be in the exotic mix and maybe do even better., Race 4, leg 2 Another returning from last week’s Philly PP is beaten-favorite Chas Hanover. He was short in the step-up race, also a conditioned trot, from an brief, early duel to get the top. The sophomore is a must for exotics. Boinganator has improved with a new trainer and was stronger last time than the time before. His odds will inflate all prices and he has a better chance than the public will serve. Add Zagster to the mix and the exotics will explode. This guy suffered a bad trip last out but raced better than his 14-1 odds. The race before that he was third at 5-2. Those performances put him firmly into the scheme of this race’s ending. Race 5, leg 3 Most of the entries in this conditioned trot have been successful a few levels down from this class and that, in our opinion, could make for a few “false” favorites, at least according to the MLs. Zette Starling should race better from the inside against these but will be denied support from the crowd based on her recent three finishes. Serious Savannah has the chops to do very well here when handicapped from past lower classes. Deacons Valley goes his second mile at Philly and will be highly underrated in the pools considering the competition and his speed. This is also a Jackpot Hi-5 (Pentafecta), so add the top two ML choices, Panamanian Hanover and Miss Ruby and you will have a monster ticket. FEATURES^FEATURES^FEATURES Yonkers/Race 2 Friday, Dec. 14 Rock It Scott is coming off a fine qualifier where he finished third only 2/5ths of a second off the winner’s time. Rock It Scott’s qualifying time was faster than his life mark. This $20,000 Claiming Allowance is only his fifth race of the season and he is in a perfect spot to get his first win this year after one place and two shows. He could be sitting on a sharp 2019 in his new division. FEATURES^FEATURES^FEATURES Yonkers/Race 7 Friday, Dec. 14 From the same qualifier as Rock It Scott, Race 7 presents another member of the qualifying group, Twist Of Fate. “Twist” finished fourth by 2 ½ lengths with the same finish time as Twist. In this conditioned pace, Twist must leave from Yonkers’ unfortunate 8 hole, meaning, mostly, that he will be dismissed by the public. Their loss could be our gain supporting Twist. He has won 10 race, twice as many as any in this field. Though he is on the bottom of the earners’ ranking as well, he is one of those 8-hole horses that may not fall into the losing column of Yonkers’ outside starters. FEATURES^FEATURES^FEATURES Cal-Expo /Race 1 Friday, Dec. 14 Trainer/driver Gerald Longo is a California veteran and has been sending tough pacers and trotters to the post at Cal-Expo and Running Aces more and more as the years pass. In the conditioned pace, leg one of the Daily Double at Cal-Expo, lightly raced Twin B Delightful gets a shot at winning in 2018. In five starts “Delightful” has placed and showed one time each but look closely, this is not a field that has been photographed in the winner’s circle much. Longo trains and drives Delightful, who could inflate single-race exotics as well as the Daily Double. POWER PLAYS Northfield/ Race 3 Saturday, Dec. 15 Three single-race exotics is the focus of this PP race, a conditioned pace. Various positions in the exotics are explained to increase the value of winning. The ML favorite, Mi Amada Juanita, is a must for the trifecta and superfecta, though ideally we hope she will finish third and fourth in those exotics, respectively for price and purpose. The exacta, however, should not use her in combos, giving the bettor a shot at a very big exacta pay off. Quatra Folium does not deserve a 25-1 ML but it is a positive for us, as we look at her recent four races more carefully than what weight her driver brings to the mile. She raced well at Northfield in those four, including a huge brush in November (she has been off since then) that cost her dearly late. What matters is the brush, which sucked up 6 lengths and put her into the stretch. She has speed and only 11 races all season and is generally competitive. She’s a must for all three exotics and a good win bet, too. Rocksy’s Way is a beaten favorite twice but picks up some decent checks while racing. She is in a good spot leaving from the second tier on the rail and will get some decent support but still provide value to the exotics. Roberts New Life has earned most of her small bankroll with place and show checks and that’s her value in exotics for this race. An exacta with her second would inflate the combo choice but it does not slight her importance finishing third or fourth, which is the most likely result for her. H2W Legend Review our choices and follow the wagering at the prescribed track. These are possible contenders we have judged from reviewing races. The horses’ names are listed beneath the name of the track after the date they will be racing. The race in which they are entered (R and race number) follows. If a + is in front of a horse’s name it means it is appearing on the list for the second (and last) time because it failed to win the first time it appeared. An “ae” signals the horse is entered on the also-eligible list. If a horse is listed twice, refer to the entries on the night of the race since a horse may enter in more than one race. Types of wagering on any of the H2W listed horses are based on your judgment. If you have any questions, email us at TwinSpires. H2W LIST Cal-Expo 12/14/18, Hay Hay Alright R6 12/15/18, +Surprisingly Sweet R8; +Art Genta R9 Dayton 12/14/18, +First Date R1; +Holdingallthecards R9 12/15/18, I Could Care Less R3 Dover 12/17/18, Mars Man R11 Flamboro 12/13/18, Way Over R4 Freehold 12/14/18, +Ursis Des Callons R6; Fusion Power R8 12/15/18, Midnight Dylan N R2; Island Music R4; +Ville Valo R6 Meadows 12/15/18, +Heza Shiningknight R1 Meadowlands 12/13/18, +Boss Du Fosse R3; +Hepburn Hanover R4; +Penpal R6; +OK Heavenly R6; Atomic Rei R10 12/14/18, +Rockin Roger R5 Mohawk 12/13/18, Odds On Stephanie R8 12/14/18, +Machnhope R4 Monticello 12/13/18, +Tylers Great R3; +Climate Change R6; +Davids Draw R8; +Mercurio N R10 Northfield 12/15/18, Steuben Cindy R4; Lady Sparticus R5; O You Shady Thing R8 Philly 12/13/18, +Derby R6; +Danish Durango R6 12/16/18, +Quick Fun N R2; +Derecho R4 Pompano 12/13/18, Polak R2; +Tymal Vortex R10 12/17/18, +Fritzie Pic Up Man R9; +China Dream R9 Saratoga 12/14/18, Retail Marc Up R1 Western Fair 12/14/18, +Master Switch R6 Yonkers 12/16/18, +Dog Gone Lucky R6