TwinSpires.com Blog

Cotolo’s Harness Review, News And Notes

We open with a score at an overnight that endorses our plays on non-stakes events during the waning of the year and we present our Players’ Horse of the Year, as promised, below.
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Our two overnight feature races were highlighted by a win at Balmoral in which also resulted a mighty exacta. On Saturday, Dec. 28, our blog’s second of two overnight features for the week took place in Race 9 at Balmoral Park. Our top choice, Firstclassallthway won and paid $15.40, $8.20 and $6.20. We offered a second choice, Justa Cowboy. He went off at 23-1 and finished second, paying $22.20 and $10.40. The cold exacta came back $262.60.

Saturday’s feature for the TwinSpires harness blog was at Cal Expo, where Articulate went off a 3-2 choice and finished second, paying $3.80 and $2.40.

We will continue to offer prime plays from overnight races into early 2014, so keep your account in shape and follow these hot choices in which we focus. Speaking of hot choices, our horses-to-watch (H2W) list offered some strong wins and across-the-board returns even though some tracks were still under the duress of weather. Sports Creek cancelled for the second-straight weekend and Flamboro could not complete one of its cards which included some H2W horses.

H2W RESULTS
The H2W results list across-the-board prices. Also, exactas are included when a H2W horse finishing first or second completes the result with a race favorite or another H2W horse listed as the winner in the same race (*asterisks note the particular races along with track name). This holds true, also, for trifectas if three H2W horses finish win, place and show.

Winners

Alcars Britefriday, $23.70, $8.20, $5.10, Northlands
Iza Bin Freezin, $15.60, $6.50, $5.10, Fraser (Exacta, $60.10)
Hi Ho Disguise, $7.80, $2.80, $2.40, Cal Expo
Classic Sakuri, $4.80, $2.60, $2.40, Northfield
American Fly, $4.40, $2.60, $2.20, Flamboro
Libertys Best Star, $4.10, $2.70, $2.30, Flamboro
Strawberry On Top, $3.60, $2.60, $2.40 (*Exacta, $19.80), Northfield

Seconds

Friskie Pants, $9, $5.40, Northfield
KG Explorer, $7, $4.60, (Exacta, $16.10), Northlands
Milano Grande, $5.80, $3.20 (*Exacta, $19.80), Northfield
Cyndalianne, $5.50, $3.50, Flamboro
Our Miss Kristi, $5.20, $4, Maywood
Hammers Wild Rose, $5, $2.90
Thieving Magpie, $4.80, $3.70
Careless Love, $3.80, $3.20 (Exacta, $16.80), Northfield

Thirds

Beach Hero, $13.60, Western Fair
Pippi, $10.80, Maywood
Watch And Pray, $7, Northlands
American Passion, $4.40, Northlands
Dancing Barry, $4.20, Cal Expo
Giant Sculpture, $3.60, Cal Expo
Sunny Bee, $2.70, Northlands
Metajka Road, $2.60, Northlands


Players’ Horse of the Year, 2013
For harness bettors everywhere that are not involved in the day-to-day industry of standardbreds and wager on all classes of harness racing throughout the year, we are proud to announce the TwinSpires Players’ Horse of the Year.

The single qualification to earn our title is not speed nor class nor money earned, it’s the one element that is the primary concern of bettors—what did the horse pay? Over the past dozen months, through stakes and overnights, from coast to coast in North America, this blog has supported many winners but the ones paying the highest win mutuels have been the stars, those we will always remember, those that pump our TwinSpires accounts up and provide us with profitable overall play. That is why the highest paying horse given by this blog throughout the year becomes our champ.

The Players Horse of the Year for 2013:
DO YOU WANNA RUMBA
In our H2W list for March 8, 2013, Do You Wanna Rumba was the horse to watch in a conditioned pace (non-winners of $250 per start, fillies and mares, purse $1,800)) at Lebanon Raceway. Do You Wanna Rumba followed the outer flow and won by ½ length.

She paid $109.40 to win.

The bay six-year-old mare is a daughter of George Scooter (Matt’s Scooter)-Tyler’s Melody (Tyler’s Mark) and was bred in Ohio by her owner Kevin S. MCQuinn of Lebanon, Ohio.
Thanks to USTA Pathway for the data and details on the 2013 Players Horse of the Year.

During the year, other winners we presented on this blog paid a gamut of prices to win. Here is a list of the runners-up for Players Horse of the Year, that is, winners other than Do You Wanna Rumba that we encouraged you to play, which paid $20 or more to win (in descending order).

Puretown Athena, $56; Diditagain Hanover, $52.50; Bubba McGee, $51; Rocknroll Band, $50;
Loco For Cocoa, $45.80;
Southwind Sydney, $39.20; Catmando, $37.20; Sign Of The Moment, $36.80; D’orsay, $36.60; JJ’s Current, $34.20; TE’s Zenyatta, $32.40; Red Star Cashflow, $31.70; Our Dragon King, $31; My Tryin Ryan, $30;
Dukeofhazard, $27.60; Fancy Foxy, $26.40; Casimir Jitterbug, $26; Blue Boy Yankee, $25.60; Super Railee, $25.60; Incredible Gambler, $25; Lindy’s Tru Grit, $25; CCs Lover N, $24.20; Native Roots, $23.20; Ballykeel, $23; Pro Perfect, $22.80; She Shell Cruise, $22.80; Indian Creek Kate, $22.20; Sun On The Rocks, $22.20; Bagel Man, $22; Martini Hanover, $22; Ms Heather M, $22; Economy Terror, $21.80; Gee Up, $21.60; Grin-n-scoot, $21.60; Rocknroll Band, $21.60; Servuga, $21.60; Candy’s Pool, $21.20; Garland Becky, $21; Dabestleaderever, $20.60; Super Manning, $20.40; Wizkey Road, $20.20; Bring It All, $20

There were 44 others that paid $10 up to $20 and many more up to $10. The winners came from an array of raceways across North America over 12 months.

Some of you involved with the Hambletonian-TwinSpires Winners Pool in August of 2013 will recognize horses above as winners from that highly successful day, certainly the most successful for harness in the history of TwinSpires.
 
Extraordinary Extras

Indulge in many standardbred topics at my Hoof Beats blog titled Vast Performances.

Ray Cotolo contributed to this blog.

Cartoons by Thom Pye