We’re Pushing Up Possible Exotic Prices With Unpopular Pacers; March Towards March Harness Madness In Progress

Contenders from our special vault adorn many races with all types of harness wagers again this week in our blog’s popular presentations, Partners For Picks (PFP), Power Plays (PPS) and for other personally selected features as we continue to battle what we hope are the last breaths of winter, which has been brutally forcing many of our features to cancel at its whim.

The weekly horses-to-watch (H2W) list has also suffered from cancellations but we are keeping a close monitoring of which horses are racing when and where, so, take H2W suggestions seriously whether they are listed for the first or second time and certainly if they change tracks; hitting high-priced pari-mutuels unavailable from the usual public handicapping groups on line or in print, hang in the balance. Do your own handicapping and then consider our H2W selections.
 
PARTNERS FOR PICKS

Saratoga / Race 3
Thursday, Feb. 22

As Saratoga harness opens again, we switch our usual Thursday opening feature to New York for a Partners For Picks (P4P), focusing on a Pick 3. Single-race exotics are also available.

Leg one, Race 3
E L Dartsmyboy has done wekk here last year and this season must be respected for a few races at Yonkers where tough trips held him back against a little tougher foes than appear here. Wish Granted needs to be considered by ignoring post 7 and giving him the benefit of the doubt considering his productive finishes at Saratoga at this level during the end of last year.

Leg 2 Race 4
This conditioned pace is tight with talent, though the first two posts include the obvious choices that can take advantage of easier trips than some others. Angel Or Terror may get third choice here if her morning line (ML) is accurate but she has a better chance than the ML-choice from the rail and deserves a big shot here. Heavenly Bet comes off of a Meadowlands win and some toss-out performances at Yonkers this year. At Saratoga in 2017 the tales are different and forecast a better show of himself here.

Leg Three, Race 5
Hanover The Art qualified well tuning up for a campaign here and wanting to pick up where she left off in 2017, she returns to the class at Saratoga where she excelled at 21-1. At the Meadowlands and Freehold, where she started this season, she can be forgiven for both events (the Meadowlands race was not so bad, either).

FEATURES~FEATURES~FEATURES

Yonkers / Race 3
Friday, Feb. 23

Last week, the Meadowlands cancelled its programs after Race 3 due to a snowstorm. In the third leg of our P4P, Race 6, we were going to back Drunken Desire A. This week at Yonkers, Drunken Desire A becomes our top choice. He would have shown up on the H2W last week if we didn’t use him for the Pick 3. Standing alone on Friday on the half-mile, he is in a good spot. Twice at the Meadowlands he has started poorly and brushed four and three wide, respectively, racing against the likes of these. There is no visible reason he won’t go strongly into the stretch and this time he may catch those attempting to steal with speed.

POWER PLAYS

Miami / R4
Friday, Feb, 23

A 10-cent superfecta and a 50-cent trifecta are all that’s available to play in this conditioned trot. Our suggested contenders (listed in post-position order) could help you get the lion’s share of the pools, so build your ticket with us.

B Prayer has a ML of 15-1, yet she has picked up purse money in 10 of the past-performance lines dating back to October, 2017 at Dayton, Northfield and Miami. She’s in a great spot to do so again, making her a valuable single-race-exotic ticket addition.

A 10-1 ML addition should be Sheatrottin Kid. Toss out her recent three, all of them over her head, and see her as stepping up only a notch from her Jan. 16 win at Miami and you have a solid contender that the public won’t support because of bad recent performances an average bettor will use to punish the “Kid.”

Honey B is more obvious than the first two and still could help a winning ticket be worth more. She qualified at Miami after a five-month layoff since racing at Scioto. There, she was competitive in Open company. She fits superbly with this class to come back and hunt for larger Miami purses this season.

From post 8 comes a strong contender, class-dropping Parkhill Lancelot. Here’s another prolific Ohio competitor at Northfield, Dayton, Miami and Scioto, who had raced once this season after two good qualifiers. He returns to a suitable level for winning and should be a profitable entry to any exotic ticket because, push come to shove in this field, he could win. His ML of 6-1 agrees.

FEATURES~FEATURES~FEATURES

Meadowlands / Race 1
Saturday, Feb. 24

From last week (race cancelled) and the week before that (H2W), May I Cruise West returns in the first half of the program’s Daily Double. When last he raced, he finished third at 5-1 to close out a winning trifecta from this blog. He has usually raced better than his odds and could likely repeat that trend here. He is bound to be a big price, which, if he pulls off a win, will knock out a great deal of Daily Double tickets.

FEATURES~FEATURES~FEATURES

Meadowlands / Race 4
Saturday, Feb. 24

Cancelled-race contender Iwillmakeyousaywow truly took on a field two weeks back at this level, gaining throughout the mile for a ¼-length, late-in-the-stretch charge to finish third. Three back he also showed a penchant for gaining ground throughout the mile. This is only his third start of the season and the crowd may not support him, also, due to a change of driver and from post 8.

FEATURES~FEATURES~FEATURES

Meadowlands / Race 6
Saturday, Feb. 24

From a cancelled feature in last week’s blog, here again is Ever Again. A big price is the aim here with a deep look at Ever Again. From the H2W list, he becomes this selected feature’s top contender, even after three finishes that will have handicappers using sharpies to put lines through him as if he is a scratch. However, the finishes of those races—in higher conditions—deserve scrutiny. They each have bold moves that though they seem desperate, would not serve any horse in a race. His touch of class could work wonders here and, hopefully, fool the bettors—if they aren’t us.

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

Buffalo
2/24/18, Whosurpapa R4; +Mr Sideburns R5; Catch The Wave R6; Hardts Or Bettor R6

Cal-Expo
2/23/18, Totally Racy R3
2/24/18, Who Dat Love R3

Dover
2/26/18, +Alpine Chic R2; Big Place R11

Flamboro
2/22/18, Windemerenightlife R5

Fraser
2/23/18, Nevertrusthappiness R3; Iamarichcamto R5; +Semper Fortis R9

Freehold
2/23/18, +Future Flight R3

Meadowlands
2/24/18, +Commentariat R10; +Workhardplayhard R11; Rockin Machine R13

Monticello
2/23/18, Thor R7

Northfield
2/24/18, +Power Everywhere R3; +Audrey Anna ae R13

Pompano
2/24/18, Ben N Crosby R2; +JDs Profiteer R2; +No Reason At All R4

Saratoga
2/22/18, Awake My Soul R1; Just Plain DJ R2; Our ELs Dream N R10

Woodbine
2/22/18, Machlicious R3
2/24/18, +Classy Dragon R7

Yonkers
2/25/18, +Kabang R4; Uva Hanover R5
2/26/18, +Best Shot N R6