Cotolo’s Harness Review, News And Notes
It began promising, with two good wins. At the New
Meadowlands on Friday night, we bagged the winner of the Golden Girls, Rebecca
Bayama, at $12.40.
That same night, our choice in a Pennsylvania Sires Stakes
(PASS) for frosh-filly trotters at the Meadows stormed home to surprise most
bettors—Ruffleshaveridges won, paying $20.60.
We won, of course, with Maven in the Moni Maker but the win
price was worth a pass and the proposed exacta did not take place (not that it
would have cracked a double-digit price). In the quartet of New Jersey Sires
Stakes, the closest we came was second with Jerseylicious; the other choices
were unproductive, beaten by three of four favorites. And our William Haughton
Final choice, Meirs Hanover, was scratched, unable to assist or help
deconstruct our bankroll.
Our other PASS choices were in the mix. Sina (19-1) was
second; Classic Martine (17-1) was third and Money And Me (5-2) was third.
Our best finishers at Tioga in the New York Sires Stakes for
frosh-colt pacers were Artist Night (2-1) and Track Master D (3-1), both
finishing second.
Saturday, Aug. 18, Only Captaintreacherous, the big and
popular frosh-pacing son of Somebeachsomewhere, won. His Nassagaweaya victory
at Mohawk was worth a pass at 25 cents to the dollar. We wound up with the
favorite in one of two Eternal Camnation splits and she, Parlee Beach, finished
second.
The worst results were those from the Charlottetown Driving
Park, where we recorded three seconds among six choices, with horrible results
from four. Our Gold Cup & Saucer choice, Mystician, was second, as was Hey
Jean in the Alpine Claiming final and Aled Hanover in the Pacemaker.
We cannot exactly say we were rockin’ and rollin’ at
Harrah’s Philadelphia on Aug. 19, because apart from A Rocknroll Dance, who won
the Battle of Brandywine and paid $4, we were wrong about Little Brown Fox and
Economy Terror in the two other featured events.
The pacing-bred Googoo Gaagaa, who was not eligible for the
Hambletonian and will have to shell up supplement dough if he wants to face his
division in the Breeders Crown,
beat the tough group of glamour-boy trotters in the Colonial Trot.
Hambo-winner Market Share took second and Little Brown Fox
was third. The latter, our choice, went off the favorite at even money, while
“Goo” and “Market” each offered $2.20 to the dollar. When Goo won, it was the
most he had paid the entire season. “Fox” attempted a wire-to-wire win but was
nailed after a 1:24.2 three-quarters, which was the product of his speeding up
through the first two fractions.
Market got a pocket trip, so he was able to get out and give
Fox the brush. But Goo had the toughest time, going first over from the half
on. There was little reason why Market’s soft trip couldn’t have taken the
victory from Goo and we will never know why Fox quit on the lead but this race
belonged to the odd colt that, when on his game, makes this group look weak.
In the Valley Forge, Economy Terror got a hideous trip,
leaving quickly but remaining wide, and failing to hold on after fiery
fractions that resulted in the winner’s quick off-the-pace time of 1:50.1. That
winner was Romantic Moment, a filly we have supported when paying better this
season.
It’s all over for ironclad pacer Won The West. The third richest pacer in North American harness racing history was retired in a ceremony on Aug. 17 at the New Meadowlands. The eight-year-old gelding won 36 of 109 races and $3.93 million.
“He is the most beautiful Standardbred I ever saw,” his final trainer, Ron Burke said. “He absolutely is the picture of the breed … I think he will be remembered for how good he was for such a long time but I think for the people that have seen him, what is left in their memory is what a beautiful animal he is.”
We don’t usually review driver milestones but Rick Plano goes far
back with us. We met him during the dream days of southern California harness
racing. He drove the first winner at the ill-fated Fairplex Park harness meet
in the 1980s and became a mainstay in the struggling western community.
Plano, 60, regrouped a few
years back, came east and became one of Vernon Downs’ top drivers. He began his
harness career at Vernon in 1973 and is a native New Yorker. Last week he
recorded his 6,000th driving victory during the current meet at Vernon Downs
and we congratulate him for the achievement, no easy task in a career that
included the always on-the-brink-of-destruction state of harness racing in
California.
Live harness racing returned to Fraser Downs on
Saturday afternoon, Aug. 18 for its 2012 meet. Live racing will continue every
Saturday and Sunday at 12:45 p.m. until after the Labor Day weekend. Racing
then shifts to a Friday and Saturday schedule with first race post time at 7
p.m.
The clock is ticking to
start the countdown for the Breeders Crown. Click here for the exclusive
Breeders Crown Countdown blog.
Extraordinary Extras
We invite you to enjoy our musings on other standardbred
topics at my Hoof Beats blog titled Vast Performances. Every
weekend as part of that blog we we offer Balmoral Pick-4-and-win picks at the
USTA’s Strategic Wagering Program
page which includes suggested win bets. On Aug. 18 we hit with Life Is Good
Today at $25.
Connect to Twitter and follow Frank and Ray Cotolo for up-to-the-minute
suggestions on wagers at many harness raceways. Then, wager from your
TwinSpires accounts.
Get onto our mailing list and receive a free copy of a
classic horseracing fiction book by clicking here.
Cartoon by Thom Pye
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