Stakes Stars Along The Mohawk In Grand Circuit Cluster

 
Canada continues Grand Circuit features this first week of September. Woodbine/Mohawk (WoMo) hosts more major features for divisions’ top performers. We supplement the action with our horses-to-watch list (H2W) for wins, places, shows and participating exotic-wagering elements.
 
PEACEFUL WAYS

A pair of $30k elims for the Peaceful Way—frosh-filly trotters—is one of two Grand Circuit (GC) features at WoMo on Sept. 3.

Seven line up for the first elim. Muscle Hill and Muscle Mass fillies make up six in the field, leaving our choice, one from the usually underrated Cantab Hall—Lady Chaos. She is trained by Linda Toscano, the filly is a winner of almost $64k and made the trip north during this tough travel time between borders because the connections are serious about a stakes sweep. Popular Dicentra need be warned.

The second elim, nothing indicates a finish that does not include Donna Soprano and Up And Ready. The latter is a Kadabra gal and they are high-percentage earners for the great trot sire. The former just won big and is a top earner this year in the division. Both of these fillies out-class the quintet they face.

WILLIAM WELLWOODS

The two-year-old colt trotters are also on the Sept. 3 docket with elims to set the field of next week’s William Wellwood Memorial.

The first of two $30k elims features two standouts in the division thus far this season—Southwind Tyrion and Tokyo Seelster. The pair come into this fray with the biggest cash flows, respectively. However, an upset is not out of the question. Although strapped with the 9 hole, On A Streak has been stronger with each race. He is a Cantab Hall, inheriting a fearless leaving ability and in this case a high probable reward for backers.

Round two also has nine on hand, along with a standout duo. Macho Martini and Locatelli enter the ring with the biggest bankrolls, earned with bravo performances. That doesn’t mean you should go with the flow, so to speak, because there are arguments for a few upsets beyond the Takter-Blais headliners.

Father Corby, the sole Father Patrick colt in the group, comes off an impressive race and can only get better. He is still in the category of double-digit win payoffs, should he pull this one out.

Ake Svanstedt’s Calle Palema is an even longer shot dealing with post 9 and earnings under the $48k made by the top 50 from both sexes of the division. However, counting Ake’s trotters, no less a son of Muscle Hill, out is never a good idea when scouting for a strong possible takeover against the division’s best.

MAPLE LEAF TROT

WoMo also presents the $560k Maple Leaf Trot on Sept. 5, this one open to older trotters. From post 9, Gimpanzee returns after a loss that was unimaginable considering how neither post nor trip bothered his string of wins this season.

All the big males and femmes are here to keep Gimpanzee honest, so to speak, including his only defeater, Guardian Angel AS. However, Gimpanzee is intrinsically better than all of these, with or without Brian Sears driving (McNair up).

In essence, the other nine must shuffle and duel and brush in a manner that causes Gimpanzee to race more than a mile to get him off of their backs. What we hope is that coming off the loss, bettors shop around the great trotter and offer us Gimpanzee as an overlay, which at this point looks to be anything over 3-2,

CANADIAN PACING DERBY

For the first time in modern history, this glamour-boy pacing derby shares Sept. 5 with the Kentucky Derby. These three-and-up pacers are tough on one another every time they meet, and there are 10 of them here waiting to pounce on one another’s chances to get the biggest share of $540k.

Burke has four in the group, his hottest recently being Filibuster Hanover. Also hot of late is Century Farroh and Sintra. However, from post 1 comes the field’s toughest competitor—Bettors Wish. It will be a race for the best of the rest if he races on the engine or comes from behind after a smooth second- or third-over trip. The only way to beat him is to burn him out with fiery dueling fractions. In that scenario, look for the upset to come from whomsoever saves the most ground. Otherwise, you can pick up a decent exacta keying “Wish” with Dorsoduro Hanover in second.

GOODTIMES AT LAST

The $215k Goodtimes Final brings together some Hambo 2020 contestants and some “now” glamour-boy trotters and even some unheralded from the division. Certainly atop the mix is HP Royal Theo, a non-Hambo colt coming into his own. In his Goodtimes elim he was bet down to 3-1; this is a colt that would have been upwards of 30-1 against the Hambo-winning filly and others that have returned to make big dough.

Also aboard here from 2020 Hambo are Capricornus, Ready For Money and Hollywood Story—but “HP” won’t be upward of 30-1. Certainly, Ready For Moni is going to be the favorite, but for now, at least, HP is a threat. Just watch the betting. And in the scheme of things, Capricornus ahd Hollywood Story should be greatly involved in the top purse collectors, the latter adding a chunk of change to any exotic. There are the four most likely to make up the superfecta, the ticket reading 5-4-1-6. For bigger payoffs, you swing for the fence with 1 and 6 on top.   

H2W Legend

Review our choices and confirm the wagers available at the prescribed track. H2W offers possible contenders researched from reviewing races. Horses’ names are listed beneath the name of the track with the date of their race and the race number (R6 ) follows. If a + is in front of a horse’s name, it appears on the list for the second time (horses are listed twice only if, at first, they failed to win. An “ae” signals also-eligible. Types of wagers to make are based on your judgment.

H2W LIST

Batavia
9/5/20, Utah Beach R5; Myells Rockstar R5; Chanting Hanover R8; Epaulette a R10

Freehold
9/4/20, Great Emancipator R2; Pointtoheaven R10

Grand River
9/4/20, +Voelz Delight R3

Hawthorne
9/5/20, +RSVP R3; +Big Lou R7

Hoosier
9/3/20, White Belly R1; +Gold Star Major R2; +Starlitsimple Rig R3
9/4/20, Mach Domi R6; +Just Wanna Roll R14

Meadows
9/4/20, America First R1

Northfield
9/5/20, Keystone Chester R12; Stormont Moroccan R14

Northville
9/3/20, Haulin Cash R1; +Peter Previte R6; +Miss Explosion R11
9/4/20, +Dante Seelster R1

Ocean
9/3/20, +Fire Me Up R5
9/4/20, Fast N Victorious R5

Philly
9/3/20, Highland Dynamite R9; Redemptor R10
9/6/20, Beyond Kronos R6; Allywag Hanover R9; Next Level Stuff R11

Plainridge
9/3/20, Mary Goodnight R6;
9/4/20, +Age Is A Number R8

Pocono
9/5/20, Captain Corey R9; +Lous Pearlman R10; +Evening Stroll R11; +Pub Crawl R11; +Repeal Or Replace R13
9/6/20, Quick Asa Trick N R1

Running Aces
9/5/20, Versado R3; Mystery Dragon R5

Scioto
9/4/20, Santini R2
 
WoMo
9/5/20, Candy Trader R6; Mayhem Hanover R8; Karma Seelster R10; +Tatoo Artist R11

Yonkers
9/4/20, +Elwell R6