Blustery Winds For Winter Winners

It’s great to have a TwinSpires account and play harness racing across the continent in the comfort of your own home but this weekend lake-effect snow showers in the Northeast and Midwest could cause some track cancellations. It takes a whole lot of frost and snow to stop standardbreds from beating their way around the limestone but some forecasts are predicting severe weather that makes it dangerous for horsemen, patrons and track staff to keep the show going.

TwinSpires will keep you updated on any track closings over the weekend. Meanwhile, we are going to present our product as if the races will go on because ill winds can blow away as quickly as they arrive and we want bettors to be on top of the action as long as the track doors are opened for business.

At the Meadowlands some winter-series finals will adorn the Saturday night program, including the Presidential Final for the early season’s fastest group, the stalwart older pacing males.

And we are looking forward to another big weekend of success from our exclusive horses-to-watch list (H2W).

Magnificent Meadowlands Finales

The stakes features this Saturday are all located at the Meadowlands. The track showcases the finals of the Super Bowl Trot, Clyde Hirt Pace and Presidential Pace on Jan. 26.  

First up on the card is the Super Bowl Final. The likely favorite in this condition-trot stake is Helios, the Miller-trained trotter. We’ll take a shot with two others, No Less Than Magic and Windsun Galiano.  

No Less Than Magic finished on the board in both of his “Super” preliminaries within the last two weeks. He closed from far off the pace in both miles to receive minor honors. This week he should be closer to the front, where a possible speed battle could develop between Joyeux Dream, Where To Hanover and Wisenheimer. If that happens, No Less Than Magic will be in the perfect stalking position to close strongly for the win.

Windsun Galiano may be the strongest horse in this field. The trotter has two tough first-over miles in his last three starts, both victories. He made a break in the opening round of the Super but was able to rebound with a tough first-over duel to win. Although he drew post 10, he should get a good spot and a good second-over trip to pull off a minor shocker.

The Clyde Hirt Final could offer value, although heavy-choice Holdingallthecards drew the rail. In a race likr the Super, where a speed duel could develop, Mr Dennis should be close to the top. He sometimes takes the lead or tries to stalk the speed and here he should leave the gate fast and attempt to get a pocket spot and ride it through the mile until it is time to fan out and charge after the leader.

Golden Receiver headlines the Presidential final as he eyes a repeat in the first free-for-all pace stakes event of the year. He drew post 7 this week and is the likely favorite but our eyes are elsewhere, in search of an upset.

Dial Or Nodial has been Golden Receiver’s main rival in this series. In last week’s preliminary, “Dial” sat far off the pace and tried to close on “Golden,”who flew away from the field in the stretch. Dial should be forwardly placed and may get a good trip, one where it will be easy for him to close to a likely sub-:26 final quarter that will be set by Golden Receiver.

Winners On Our Watch

Our horse-to-watch list (H2W) is the exclusive “hot-horse” vigil released to TwinSpires harness players through this blog. To review, here is how you read the H2W list below:

Before the horses’ names is the track, followed on the next paragraph by a date it (or they) will be racing, with the race in which they are entered (R and race number). If a + is in front of a horse’s name, it means that horse is appearing on the list for the second (and last time) because it failed to win the first time it appeared. An “ae” means the horse is on the also-eligible list and needs a scratch to get into the race. Sometimes up to three horses are listed in the same race; it is up to you how to deal with the situation (note that in the past this situation has resulted in exacta and triples).

If a horse that has appeared on the list but was scratched or is not racing its second week consecutively, you will see a N/R after its name and will appear on a separate line from dated entries. And if a horse shows up at another track in its second week of being listed, it will display the plus sign as indicated above.

All members of the list need to be considered serious contenders in the races noted. Wagering on any of them is based on your own judgment of value, as well as if you wager to win, place, show or in exotics. If you have any questions about the H2W list, send them to us through the TwinSpires blog channel.

H2W

 
Buffalo
1/25/13, +Keystone Fling R2; Northmedo Esther R2; Full Circle Spring R10
+Freds Dream N/R; +Little Gus N/R; + Pro Kid N/R; +ML Jackhammer N/R; +PW Tootsie N/R; Marians Man N/R; The Grey Bullet N/R

Cal Expo
1/25/13, Blue Boy Yankee R7; My Tryin Ryan R8; +Cherry Tree Nicole R8: +Stretch Artist; Boot Scootin Bow R13
1/26/13, Loco For Cocoa R5; A Little Looney R7; Strings R9; Forever My Love R 11; Fire On Ice R11; Charmer R12
Wildcats Major N/R; Smiling Major N/R; Cat Call N/R; Viking Mia N/R

Fraser
1/25/13, Comearoundback R2; +Red Star Bogart R2; Millbanks Ariel R3; Anasazzi Road R6; Rich As Promised R7; Hf Thanks Will R7; I Hear Voices R8; Cody Cobraski R9; Kg Mattattack R10; +Midnight Destroyer R10; Procrastinatinpeat R11; +Thunder Noise R11; Bobbysslackystar R11
+Tap Out N/R; +Workfortheman N/R

Freehold
1/25/13, +Map Of Hawaii R5; +Whatever Lolawants R7
1/26/13, +Cams Future R3; +Hurrikane Anthony R6; +Bullville Player R6; +Best Life R8; The Life Boat R8; Move On ae R9; +Whipper Snapper R12
+ Rockinrollin Now N/R; GW Gizmo N/R; +Milliondollar Art N/R; +J’omama N/R; +Country Fresh NR; +Cool Ashlee NR

Maywood
1/25/13, +Colefederate R5; +Sign The Prenup R12; +Looking For Jack R12;

+Nine Innings M/R; Dick McTracy N/R

Meadowlands
1/25/13, Celebrity Bombay R3
+ Rocknroll Jewel N/R; +Time To Roll N/R; +Corky Baran N/R; +Paisley N/R

The Meadows
1/25/13, +Wardog Hall R1; Aks Livin Large R3; Tk Diva R8; Abundasass R8; +Aj Niko D’oro R8; Wizkey Road R9; +All Day Pass R11; +Bourbon St Hanover R12; Bloomington R13; Ram Jam R15; +Bs Surgin Dan; R15
 Haverford Hanover N/R; Campo Basso NR; Grin-n-scoot N/R

Northfield
1/25/13, +Scootin Jenna R6; +Rhianne R8; +Best Tasting R9; +Forever Lucky R10; Blue Time Ice Lady R11; +Friskie D R15

+Fast Attack N/R; +Coupon Lady N/R; +Arts Shadow N/R; +Lucky Express N/R

Pompano
1/26/13, +Stonebridge Bonus R1; +Special Strides R3; Muscles To Spare R5; +Desert Hanover R6; +Straight Jack ae R6; +Mai Tai Guy R7; +Diamond Star R8; +Card Hustler R8; +Legal Dream R9; +Future Plans R10; +Wellthereyougo R10
+Whiteland Will N/R; +Rick’s Sign N/R  

Yonkers
1/24/13, +Whatever Lolawants ae R2; +On The Tab R6
1/25/13, +Holly Hill Master R3; Live Jazz R5; Summer Snow R9; Super Manning R10;
1/26/13, Flem N Em N R1; +Talktomecourage R10
+Hula’s Z Tam N/R; +Western Dakota N/R

 

Ray Cotolo contributed to this edition.