A ‘Classic’ Ending

Though all the fireworks have long since faded from the stakes calendar, one last burst takes place on Saturday, Dec. 10 at Northfield Park with the soph-colt-pacing Cleveland Classic, worth $162,000. 

The “Cleveland” program at Northfield will award 10 Twin Spires Club points for every dollar wagered in any race that night.  

Meanwhile, we have the Cal-Expo no-takeout Pick 4, a victim of Nature’s tender wrath last week as it was fogged out. And we have more Watch List action and some great stats as compiled by our close standardbred-industry   

Burke’s Bounty

This year’s Cleveland Classic, the event heralding the end of a long stakes season, especially for its participants, the sophomore-colt pacers, presents a cast of second- and third-tier members of the division except to Ron Burke’s monster, Westwardho Hanover. Burke (pictured right) and connections paid $15,000 to get the colt into the event, which drew nine others.  

Burke’s lesser-known pacer, Southwind Milo, is also here, along with a few others not so recognizable by the stakes-going public this season.  

The second choice after Westwardho Hanover on the morning line (ML) is Mystic Desire from post 9. Because of the size of this field, the post 9 and 10 horses will begin from the second tier. “Mystic” has earned over $600,000 this year for trainer Ross Croghan but hasn’t been very strong against the top group. He was second in the Windy City Pace on the half-mile at Maywood behind Betterthancheddar and a soft field. 

Southwind Milo is the third choice (5-1) in the ML. Burke’s other pacer has only won three of 22 races, mostly on the New York scene against state-breds.  

Then the cast becomes cloudy at best: Something For Doc is 6-1; Audrey’s Dream is 8-1; Best Man Hanover is 10-1; Camgrandest is 12-1; Onhishonor Hanover is 15-1; Mach Of Ballykeel is 20-1; and Upfront Ellijay Ed is 25-1. 

Audrey’s Dream comes to the event from Canada, having won two straight at Woodbine. This is a son of Rocknroll Hanover that did not race at two. At three he has won six times and earned $53,527 for trainer Ben Wallace. He is fast and could be a threat with a good trip. He is exotic material. 

Something For Doc is a local with $234,424 in his account. He was a cast of the short Little Brown Jug fields this year and is nowhere near the kind of horse “Westwardho” has beaten. 

Our threesome for the top mutuels, then, are Westwardho, Audreys Dream and Mystic. You be the judge for win bets;  we would take a shot with “Audrey.” 

Watch List

Now, we are adding a new round of horses for this week’s “Watch List.” Your list can include any and all the tracks you can follow. You can use the TwinSpires Stable Alert feature to get emails of horses you are following on your list. 

Since there are Twin Spires Club Points to be earned for wagering on the Northfield Cleveland card, here are some Northfield horses from the Watch List that you may consider on the program. We’ve put their names in race order. 

Awesome Andrea, Race 1

Winter Course, Race 2

Lady Rev, Race 3

Cambest In Motion, Race 6

Show Me Glory, Race 7

Key Western, Race 9

Aliquippa, Race 13

A Little Crazy, Race 14

Mighty Me, Race 14

And some others:

At Freehold

Luke’s Nathalie, Dec. 9, Race 3

Art Paper, Dec. 9, Race 8

Star Studded Gun, Dec. 9, Race 8

Dan, Dec. 9, Race 9

Rayjean Victory, Dec. 9, Race 9

Sharkstune, Dec. 10, Race 2

Lobo Billy, Dec. 10, Race 6

 

Cal Exotic

The no-takeout late Pick 4 at Cal Expo for Dec. 10 is made up of the final four races of the evening. Here are our suggested contenders for the legs, beginning with Race 10. 

Leg 1
(2) Mr Me had early foot and fired wide and got the top, though he tanked later, at 11-1. (4) Goli Tie was 38-1 while showing contention first over. 

Leg 2
(1) Brooklets Sundance stormed early, wide to the top, and was still tons the best. (2) Heavy Pockets finished second at 8-1, gaining enough ground to be a warning. 

Leg 3

(2) Hanover DGN made a sweeping three-wide brush that pumped him into the place position. Here, he could pop at a price.

Leg 4
(3) Yourmyaddiction should have won last week but for a longshot getting a better trip. From post 3 he may be unstoppable.   

The ticket: 2,4/1,2/2/3  = $2 for $8 

 (Ray Cotolo assisted in this edition.)