Milton Final tests pacing mares once more

These pacing femmes just keep rolling along and on Sept. 20 they roll for shares of $286,000 in the Milton Final at Mohawk.

After two eliminations settled the cast of this year’s field, 10 hearty side-steppers were eligible, including one also-eligible.

PP - Horse - Driver

1. Monkey On My Wheel - Chris Christoforou
2. Yagonnakissmeornot - Jody Jamieson
3. Krispy Apple - Tim Tetrick
4. Camille - Yannick Gingras
5. Shelliscape - Scott Zeron
6. Voelz Hanover - Randy Waples
7. Anndrovette - Tim Tetrick
8. Aunt Caroline - Ron Pierce
9. Summertime Lea - Sylvain Filion
10. Charisma Hanover - Doug McNair
AE: Ferrari Sena - Sylvain Filion

Last week we gave out one of the elim winners with Yagonnakissmeornot and she will be a threat in the final, as she is in top form at the dawn of Autumn. Her rush to the front over Rocklamation and Voelz Hanover eliminated the former from the final.

Anndrovette, always a danger to challenge, rushed to the top in her elim but had to stay wide a bit while getting the lead, a move that cost her a few precious steps at the wire.

Shelliscape came the farthest to get into contention and finished second. She was more than 12 lengths from the top when the race began and made them all up to lose by a neck to Yagonnakissmeornot.

Those three worked to get to the final but so did an elim favorite, Camille. She was the public choice in her elim and she wound up third, after Summertime Lea and the winner, Krispy Apple, neither which would have caught her had she not stressed to get the top early.

Camille may not be the favorite in the final and that is good for bettors looking for a bargain, because she is in the perfect spot to make amends for her rash speed move last week and win this year’s Milton at a decent price. As well as being a good win price, you might accept a key with Monkey On My Wheel second, which would pump up an exacta price, though putting Shelliscape and Yagonnakissmeornot in the second spot may also be a generous return.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Follow major BC hopefuls on their road to the November Breeders Crown at the Meadowlands at the Breeders Crown Countdown blog and the TwinSpires harness blog weekly, with archived reports on the results at the Hambletonian Society web site.

Northern lights: best of all divisions aim for Woodbine

The time has come for the connections of horses in all divisions to decide about racing in the Breeders Crown series Woodbine Racetrack. This means, aside from horses already eligible, decisions need to be made on foreign invitees and supplemental entries. 

The race program for the finals is Saturday, Oct. 27 in Toronto, Canada.  

There are no supplements for two-year-olds, so only eligibles will race. Meanwhile, all sophomores wanting to take part will cost their connections $62,500. The same price is listed for the Open Pace, while the Open Trot additions will cost $75,000, the Mare Pace fee is $37,500 and the Mare Trot fee is $31,250.  

Horses eligible to the Breeders Crown events have to officially enter by 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 16.  

Eliminations for all two-year-olds, if needed, are on the Friday, Oct. 19program, while the three-year-old and open eliminations, if needed, are on the Saturday, Oct. 20 program, each with a post time of 7:30 p.m. 

The connections of elim winners get to choose their post position for the finals.

Post time for the Breeders Crown finals on Saturday, Oct. 27 will be a special early post of 6:30 p.m. [EDT]. The finals will be followed live on TwinSpires @FrankCotolo and @RayCotolo and @TwinSpires.

Who’s who?

It is still up in the air if Michael’s Power will supplement to the big event, the soph-colt pace. The decision must be made this weekend and the money, $62,500, must be delivered. 

Driver Scott Zeron has said, “Everyone wants to know what is next for Michael’s Power [after his Flamboro race on Oct. 13].”  

Perhaps other news in the division will inspire Michael’s Power’s connections? 

For instance, Bolt The Duer won’t be in the field. His connections have decided the colt isn’t up to it and are quoted as saying he “just wasn’t right.”  

As well, the fate of A Rocknroll Dance in the glamour-boy pacing “Crown” division is pending. A Rocknroll Dance will be going for throat surgery, according to sources, and may not be ready for the Crown cavalcade. Recently, A Rocknroll Dance has been disappointing, moreso than his post-position excuses can explain. The surgery indicates what many suspected, that something was off since he last made his usual charge in a stakes event.  

Put On A Show heads for Toronto off of an Oct. 9 race that broke the Pocono Downs track record for older pacing mares when she won in 1:49. The Chris Ryder-trained mare is wound tight for the Crown, having won 11 of 20 races this season with lifetime earnings of over $2.3 million.  

Keep up with the top horses in the divisions racing to the Crown at the Breeders Crown Countdown and read archived result stories at Hambletonian Society and get your account at TwinSpires to keep up with all the great harness bets.

The eliminations are elating examples of wonderful wagering

The ultimate harness series, the championship Breeders Crowns, this year at Woodbine in Canada, presents all 12 finals on the same card this Oct. 29. The week before, however, on Oct. 21 and Oct. 22, Woodbine hosts a slew of elimination miles to prepare the fields for the finals. 

These are powerful races that often are dismissed by players, when in fact they can offer two important factors. First, they can offer good prices, overlays if you will, featuring horses that will make the final but are winning the elim off a good trip, a smart drive or any other fortunate situation. In other words, the best horses can go on to win the finals but may not win the elims.  

Plus, if there is more than one elim, the really hot horse in the division can only race in one elim, leaving the other open for an outside contender, an overlooked entry reaching his or her peak. In fact, the more elims raced in each division, the better the wagers that surface.  

Next, watching elims closely can reveal a surprise winner of a final. The trip handicappers are putting on their dear slayer hats and investigating every move in the elims. Horses getting stuck in traffic, making huge but losing brushes and other such common causes for bad performance lines in a race are the meat of the mighty bettor. In the past, this is how we have nailed some giant “Crown” final winners that few were willing to back. 

And then there is Woodbine. 

Of the two major Ontario-harness-circuit tracks, Woodbine is the least speed-biased, allowing for horses to make up good ground in the stretch. Good horses having troubled trips in the first half often make up for it with huge, late moves, sometimes uncharacteristically closing to get into the picture, if not win. Outsiders that have saved some ground use their one-brush punch for upsets.  

As always is the case in harness racing, a single horse in a field takes most of the win money and second, third and fourth choices tend to offer high returns, many of them based on odds far higher than the horses’ chances. So we put into play our usual search for the outsider-contender, the horse that can win at better odds than its chances. 

It takes courage in any race to buck a 4-5 shot (and that could be high for a harness favorite) but over and over again the best plays come against those horses. In the Crown, as well, the fields have a tendency to be more equal than the odds wagered upon the entrants deserve.  

So when a strong field of horses goes to post—and how much stronger can you get than the top divisional members that roll with the Crown?—you need that bravery to make money. Get your betting accounts in order, then and be ready for the Crown elims wagering experience.  

We are covering the events live those two nights, with special tweets and insider comments and info, through Twitter, as you watch and wager at TwinSpires. Thanks to the Hambletonian Society, we will have a direct communication with Woodbine sources for the best coverage available on the Internet.  

Next week we will be engaged in offering handicapping advice when the elim fields are revealed.

Hambo cast reunites for another classic

Field of dreams, indeed. This week in Canada, two- and three-year-old Breeders Crown eligibles collect in fields at Mohawk on Sept. 10 with grandeur in their gaits.  

Many Hambletonian participants meet again in the Canadian Trotting Classic eliminations, including the Hambo-winner Broad Bahn.  

The first elim has six eligibles in seven starters. “Bahn” meets Blue Porsche (who did not make the Hambo final) head on here and could produce a deadly duel. That would open up the path for Whatever It Takes to upset. This guy has upset in his division already this year, when we had him for a big price along the Hambletonian Trail. The best scenario for a price here, then, is to key “Whatever” and hope for the burn-out duel.  

In round two, six hopefuls repeat confrontations from a few frays this season, including the Hambo. Manofmanymissions has been very sharp since busting in the Hambo and Pastor Stephen is yet to lose a race at Mohawk. Chapter Seven has had a rest, Whiskey Tax just won for us at 6-1 and Highland Thunder is the fresh cast member.  

But Charlie De Vie (pictured), from post 1, is, on his best day, a powerhouse. With no running in this race, “Charlie” can muck up the works and deliver a better-than-fair price.  

Also on the program will be Simcoe events for soph colt pacers and Champlains for freshmen sidesteppers.  

Among the pacers, hopeful Westwardho Hanover is rightfully the morning-line favorite and he should take the first Simcoe, hopefully over eligible Line Officer. Outsider Rockabillie will be the price play in the second Simcoe, as we once again ignore Up The Credit as he burns win money. Mystician (also Crown-worthy) would be the second choice.  

In the first Champlain for frosh-colt pacers, we have to give eligible (e) Allstar Legend one more shot. He has been racing with better than these and even from post 8 could be an easy winner.  

D Terminata (e) should once again have a good shot at toppling Speed Again (Metro Pace failed favorite) and Hurricane Kingcote, who gets the 10 post. A big exactor would be “D” to Special Blend (e), who we still feel has some good pace in him.  

The filly Champlain should find Pirouette Hanover (e) making up for her stretch tank in the She’s A Great Lady Final. Right behind her, count on Rockaround Sue for the exacta with some meat to its payoff.

See them and wager on them at TwinSpires and read the results and see the archives at Hambletonian Society's website.

Exclusive coverage at hand again

With the cooperation of the Hambletonian Society and TwinSpires, we are excited to present our exclusive blog, dedicated to harness racing’s spectacular Breeders Crown series.  

The Breeders Crown is an annual series of standardbred races featuring each of the sport’s 12 traditional categories of age, gait and gender. The series was initiated by the Hambletonian Society in 1984, providing lucrative high-profile championship races in each category.  

Last year we covered the eliminations and finals from Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, which included two programs of terrific wagering opportunities. A score of elimination races set the stage for the dozen finals covering each division. In 2010 the program for finals took place on a single evening for the first time in the series’ history.  

In 2011 a dozen finals will be held at Woodbine Racetrack on Oct. 29, with a yet-to-be-determined number of eliminations on Oct. 21 and Oct. 22.  

Of course, we will be covering both of the “Crown” programs again, as we have for six years on the Internet (the only team to cover the events live and in real time). As well, this blog material analyzes the major events featuring top contenders making their way to the Crown elims. Our inside, experienced and success-proven methods will be paying attention to and letting readers in on some valuable wagers as the clock ticks down to the elims. 

We are devoted to handicapping information featuring the eligibles of all divisions in events leading to October’s Breeders Crown festival at the legendary Canadian track. Race analyses and result stories will be covered exclusively on the pages of Hambletonian Society. Other coverage will be documented at the twice-weekly TwinSpires blog.  

Harness racing’s greatest night always gets peak attention and professional views directed at bettors. We hope to join with TwinSpires for a Bettors’ Pool on the historic night of finals and offer win and exotic wagering suggestions that can help TwinSpires account-holders the best information possible to make successful wagers.   

For other, late-breaking Crown news items, follow us at Twitter @FrankCotolo and @RayCotolo.