Meadowlands Pace tops miles of harness weekend action

Captaintreacherous, rested and reportedly in fine fettle, is the star of the sport’s first million-dollar race, this year worth $635,750, The Meadowlands Pace. He is the morning-line favorite and it would still be generous to get those odds on him. 

 

Also at the Meadowlands is the William Haughton Memorial final, New Jersey Sires Stakes finals, the Mistletoe Shalee and The soph-colt-and-filly trotting events—the Stanley Dancer and Del Miller memorials—we cover on the Hambletonian Trail at the exclusive blog.

 

Our exclusive harness horses to watch (H2W) list from tracks around North America continues with a few extra additions this week, when so many tracks are filled with overnight racing bargains.

 

TwinSpires offers special bonuses for Hoosier Park throughout the harness meet. Check out the Hoosier details here. 

 

The Pace Of Paces 

 

Captaintreacherous, the defending Pacer of the Year, is coming off of a hellish-mile in the Max Hempt Final, where regardless of the grind in the slop from the outside he emerged victorious. 

 

The “Captain” is without debate the one to beat in this field, as he will be in any field with his division until he proves vulnerable. 

 

Adding into the mix of this race are impressive miles by Sunshine Beach and Odds On Equuleus in the elimination last week. This opens up the race but not greatly. Adding all the variables into the race, Captaintreacherous is still the best in this field. He may not be the kind of value he has offered over the past two months, even though there are still “dragon-slayers” promoting the vengeance of foes he has already beat handily. The Captain is ready for some home cooking, so to speak. 

 

This won’t be a high payoff year for the pace on any level of wagering but it will be a great race to watch. After all, it is getting so any race involving Captaintreacherous is a great race to watch. As well, he has turned into a monstrous exotic key horse. 

 

Mistletoe Shalee 

 

Over the last three years the Mistletoe Shalee has been known for its upsets, with the leader of the division coming short towards the mile’s end. Last year, American Jewel lost to 10-1 Major Look. Before that, Drop The Ball paid a healthy $12.40 and Put On A Show was greatly disappointing in the 2010 edition, finishing fifth to 9-1 Dancinwiththestarz. 

 

We will use the recent history of this race hopefully to our advantage with I Luv The Nitelife likely to be the heavy favorite. But she has weaknesses. For example, look back to the final of the New Jersey Sires Stakes. The leader of that race set the pace and I Luv The Nitelife had to go first over through fast fractions to make her move, resulting in a third-place finish. There is one horse in this field that comes in mind when thinking of upset potential, Jerseylicious. 

 

Last year, Jerseylicious got a perfect trip to pull off a 9-1 upset in the Sweetheart final at the Meadowlands. She beat I Luv The Nitelife in the sires stakes final and is coming off of two good efforts in the James Lynch. She’ll be closer to the pace instead of getting away towards the rear, as what happened in the “Lynch” final, and should get cover to follow until the stretch, where she’ll have open road for the upset. 

 

‘Sweet’ Field 

 

The older pacers of the William R. Haughton Memorial (WHM) are back for the July 13 final. We nailed the big price last week in the elims with Sweet Lou and we also warned you about a return to good form for Golden Receiver. He did return with vengeance, finishing second to Warrawee Needy’s giant elim mile (1:46.4). “Golden” was 16-1 and with the favorite offered an exacta worth $65.20). 

 

When he stopped the timer in 1:46.4, Warrawee Needy was instantly stamped as the one to beat in the final. He and Golden Receiver are likely be bet the heaviest, since Golden Receiver dug in well to Warrawee Needy’s pressure. It appears that the other elimination winner, Sweet Lou, might provide us again with some value in the win column. 

 

Sweet Lou gets a better post this week, which will help him greatly after winning from post 9 through slow fractions in his elimination. His post will allow him to get away near the top, which means he won’t have to close much ground. He has shown he is capable of racing from the middle, closing to win the Meadowlands Maturity and coming from fifth to finish second with a horrible trip in a Free For All (FFA) event at the Meadowlands. If he is above 4-1, then the value indeed exists. 

 

Also keep your eyes on Up The Credit. He isn’t a definite bet in the exotics but he has been showing great improvement against the FFA gang and has also done better from off the pace. His post will allow him to close and he can close well. If you’re out for a kill, he is one to key into exotics. 

 

State-bred Finals 

 

The New Jersey Sires Stakes (NJSS) finals for freshmen offer a quartet of miles for the youngsters on both gaits for $150,000 each. 

 

First on the docket is the frosh-filly trot final. Southwind Confetti broke after a big move last week, one that may have seen the light of the winner’s circle. We will go with her this time around. In the colt trot, Muscle Midas went a long way at 90-1 for third in his first trip to the Meadowlands and he could find coming from behind a plus at a big price here where the favorites are much too obvious.

 

The colt pace is next and all eyes (plus most dollars) are on Western Vintage. But we like the improving Sweet Rock, who was right behind that one last week and could find post 8 a better path to victory if he is driven with a plan, which could be the case with John Campbell aboard looking to pull off one of his second-over victories in deep stretch. In the filly pace we will once again support Danielles All Aces, looking for a clean-gaited performance which puts her deeply in the mix. 

 

H2W Legend

 

Review our choices and follow the wagering at the prescribed track to decide how you will use the information. The list has shortened as the stakes season ensues but still offers the best 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 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” signals the horse is entered but on the also-eligible list (so it might not get into the race). Multi-horses may be listed in the same race.  Horses from previous lists that are not racing this week will no longer appear until they are confirmed in a race. 

 

Wagering on any of the H2W listed horses is based on your own judgment. Your handicapping skills should include decisions to 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
7/13/13, Don’t Stop Mach R4; Cracker Stoney R6; +Spender Hanover R8; Scottie C R10; Makes Her Mark R12

 

Maywood
7/12/13, + Bluebird Muffler R12; Nash Gram ae R12; Middle Aged Crazy ae R13;  +Innovation R14

Meadows
7/12/13, Rt Picadilly R3; Bristle Ridge Bob R5; Zaine Royal R7; Charlie’s Chapel R8; Prima Dragon R10; Andoversure R12
7/13/13, Burn Time Hanover R1; Whoyoucallingafool R5; Big Rock Star R5; Missplacedart R10; Taboo Yankee R11

 

Northfield
7/13/13, Pathway Dot Com R1; Filou Dream R5; Wanna Win R6; Oh Callie O’malley R8; Pointe De Vue R11  

 

Pocono
7/14/13, Blissful Escape R3
7/15/13, Eyes On Royalty R2

 

Pompano
7/13/13, Goldstar Rockette R1; Frozen Assets R2; My Immortal R4; Wingull R8; Diamond Mater R11

 

Running Aces
7/6/13, +Place At The Beach R2; Arizona Straittalk R3; +Lo Hot Pancakes R3;  Brooklyn’s Dagger R4; Hammer’s Cam R6; Free Girl R7 

 

Saratoga
7/13/13, What Rusty R3; Special Lindsey R3; + Fly High R4; Double It Up R4; +They Call Me Bruce R6

 

Scioto
7/11/13, +Ee Bay R1
7/13/13, J’s Six Pack Attack R8; All Shuttle R9; Out Of My Hands ae R11

 

Tioga
7/14/13, Real Art R10

 

Vernon
7/11/13, New York Scooter R7; Hallin Cash R8
7/12/13, Sweet Fancy Noses R3; Nanicoke Snazz R4; Ulay Boko R4; Pop My Buttons R5; Ganesvoort R6; Lis Rain R8; Moving Up Fool R8; Manic Hall R11; Chocolate Cream ae R12
7/13/13, Ocean Mist R2; Mchoffman R2; Emys Junior Grin R4; Inconvenient Truth R8 

 

Ray Cotolo contributed to this edition.