Showing posts with label Confederation Cup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Confederation Cup. Show all posts

  • Cotolo’s Harness Review, News And Notes

    POSTED Aug 12, 2012 By Frank Cotolo
    In the way we offered a win wager on the Confederation Cup at Flamboro Downs, Aug. 12, you should have had Pet Rock. We mentioned that if the colt would be worth a price it would be in the elim heat, not the final. As it turns out we were on the money there, as hometown choice Michaels Power was the big favorite in the short field and Pet Rock won as second choice, paying $7.30.

    We warned you against a Pet Rock bet if he won that and made the final, so if you followed us you passed, because Pet Rock was bet down to a prohibitive choice and he finished third to Michaels Power. All in all, that was a pretty good hit, since 5-2 was very fair odds and we can feel good about the prediction and pass to have stayed in the black.

    At Tioga in the Empire Breeders Championship finals, we were nosed out by a favorite and beaten by a longshot. Top-choice Heston Blue Chip won the colt division, with our 10-1 shot, Breakin The Law second. If you so cared for an exacta using the big choice on top you were handed only $8.60 for the combo. The filly division, however, saw an 18-1 shot, Better B Lucky, defeat the giant entry of Romantic Moment and American Jewel. We liked Romantic Moment best of the pair and that is who battled it out at the wire with the longshot. It was a thin nose, a hair, a nano-inch [sic] with “Lucky” on the winning side.

    Friday night the New Jersey Sires Stakes (NJSS) for freshmen at the Meadowlands saw every one of our suggested contenders in play but only one winning.

    Frosh-filly trotter Shared Past won, paying one of the best price of the eight NJSS events at $9. In order of best finish, our other selections included seconds from Hilarious Hayley (5-1), Rockmyjeans (6-1), Don’t Ya Know (3-1) and Deadliest Catch (7-1), a third by Miss Lauren (4-1) and two fourths, Viva De Vie (7-1) and Rocky Mountain Guy (11-1).

    In three Bavaria Downs New York Sires Stakes for frosh-filly trotters, we had only a second, Crazy Grigio (5-1). Proclaiming Artist (big favorite) broke and was eliminated and Palm Beach Chic (4-1) was fifth.

    News And Notes

    The Sobeys Gold Cup & Saucer is set at Charlottetown Driving Park for Saturday, Aug. 18. Watch our blog Thursday for comments on the event.
    Rebounding from her Hambletonian Oaks debacle, Check Me Out won at the Meadows in a Pennsylvania Sires Stake (PASS) division. It was a stake-record mile of 1:53.4. In the “Oaks,” Check Me Out was in front when, said driver Tim Tetrick, she brushed and spun a knee boot, which eventually dropped to her foot. She began to run, got back on stride and finished third but was placed eighth for interference. In 25 races and 21 victories, she never finished worse than second.

    “That was a freak deal,” Tetrick said. “She just took a bad step.”

    She was unchallenged in the PASS, drawing off to win by more than 6 lengths. Ray Schnittker trains Check Me Out, now a winner of over $1.5 million.

    San Pail, the 2011 Horse of the Year, sidelined due to injury this season, will be returning to the races in a couple of weeks, according to trainer Rod Hughes. “He got a clean bill of health. He’s never missed a day of jogging but we need to get some fast miles into him, so we’ll likely ship him into Mohawk a few times then qualify him. I also plan to qualify him twice and then go from there.”

    We may see San Pail at the Grand Circuit meet at The Red Mile, where he can race in the Allerage and then, if all works out, he is scheduled to return to the Breeders Crown for his division.

    Googoo Gaagaa also returned to the track victoriously when the pacer-sired trotter captured a $20,555 Maryland Standardbred Race Fund event in 1:57.4 at Ocean Downs. With Corey Callahan driving for trainer Richard Hans, “Googoo” won easily on the half-mile over Windshield, an undefeated Maryland-based colt. Googoo was making his first start since breaking stride in the Stanley Dancer Memorial at the Meadowlands.

    The Zweig Memorial for glamour-boy trotters and its filly version will have both a new location and format this year. Raced on Sunday, Aug. 26 at Vernon Downs for the first time, the race is expected to attract the top sophs in the division.

    This will be the first “Zweig” where the conditions dictate that only the top money earners of 2012 can compete in the main events. This year, too, consolations are available for the others.

    As August dips into September, people are already talking Little Brown Jug fields. It seems fairly obvious to anyone following the sport which colts should be involved. So far, the top contenders have not committed to being in Ohio for the event but if any of them are there we may be looking for some of the event’s fastest heats. Among the possibles are A Rocknroll Dance, Hurrikane Kingcole, Michaels Power, Sweet Lou, Bolt The Duer, Dapper Dude, Thinking Out Loud, Bettors Edge, Time To Roll and Allstar Legend.

    The clock is ticking to start the countdown for the Breeders Crown. Click here for the foreword to 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. Last week we hit with Captain Obvious at $20.20, BP Giant Fool at $7, Ice Scrape at $3.60 and Brooklyn's Desire at $3.60.. 

    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

  • The Heat Is On In Confederation Cup; State-Breds Battle Aplenty

    POSTED Aug 8, 2012 By Frank Cotolo
    With the Hambletonian in the history books, the action turns back to soph-colt pacers and heads north to Flamboro Downs, where that track’s signature event, the Confederation Cup, handles the first heats-to-final event of the season on Sunday, Aug. 12.

    Meanwhile, more sophs are going for major bucks at Tioga Downs. Colts and fillies there battle in the Empire Breeders Classic championships. State-breds in New York (NYSS) go at it at Batavia Downs and Vernon Downs and New Jersey-bred freshmen are all over the Meadowlands’ Aug. 10 program.

    The exclusive Hambletonian Trail blog that covered months of preps for two divisions leading to the August classics has its final entry now listed. The Hambletonian Society website has the archives for all of the races reported, making it the only spot on the Internet where you can still read about all the horses battling in those divisions. The battles will ensue through more stakes and soon we hope to begin the Breeders Crown Countdown, following all eight divisions more closely as they head for the series of high-class events, scheduled to be presented again this year on a single card at Woodbine.

    Confederation Cup Crew


    Sunday, Aug. 12, there will be 11 soph-colt pacers in the 2012 Confederation Cup at Flamboro Downs.

    Among them are Pet Rock, Michaels Power, Warrawee Needy and a supplemental entry, Panther Hanover. That one’s connections decided to put up the money to compete after Panther Hanover’s roaring mile at the Meadowlands on Hambletonian day.

    “Panther” upset the favorite in the New Jersey Classic, getting a perfect trip from sizzling fractions and winning in 1:47.2. As reported in our weekly update, that was the race where Hurrikane Kingcole broke the record for cutting the fastest three-quarters ever, with a 1:18.2.

    With many of the division’s stars, along with the fillies in the age-and-gait group, racing at Tioga on Saturday (see story below), this race has attracted what appears to be mostly second-stringer characters. The post draw for a six-horse field and a five-horse field, which are the two heat elims (raced on the same program to define the final field), will be after our press time. Here are the entries:

    Caviart Key, Dynamic Youth, I Found My Beach, Mel Mara, Michaels Power, Panther Hanover, Pet Rock, Secretsoftheknight, Speed Again, State Treasurer and Warrawee Needy.

    We assume that Panther is going to get a lot of support but anyone expecting a repeat performance of his last effort will be tossing out good money for bad. On the Flamboro half-mile, regardless of how this race is drawn, the best possible winner of the final, if not also his elim, is Pet Rock.

    Just as we liked him in the “Rooney” and he delivered the win at a decent price, he is bound to be overlooked here. The presence of Michaels Power and Warrawee Needy, Canadian heroes both, as well as the entry of Panter, should make Pet Rock an overlay. He has done best with the first-string colts and his class should show again on a half-mile. His price may be better in the elim because if he wins that he will be hit more in the final, so watch his elim field odds for the best strike.

    New Yorkers Storm Stakes

    The Empire State features its finest this weekend in several divisions of the New York Sires Stakes and the finals of the Empire Breeders Classic (EBC) at Tioga Downs.

    In the colt final, Bettor’s Edge and Heston Blue Chip headline the pack of nine after their wins in last week’s eliminations. As those two are improving, one pacer has been under the radar. Ron Burke’s Breakin The Law will be looking for his first stakes win all year.

    After following the division’s top pacers around the five-eighths oval at the Meadows through ridiculous fractions in the Adios Final, he found enough rally to close and finish third behind Bolt The Duer and A Rocknroll Dance. Given that, he may have a disadvantage if they don’t pace super fast, but if he’s close enough to the pace he may have enough rally to win by a slim margin.

    In the filly division, American Jewel makes her return after her loss in the Mistletoe Shalee. There are only two horses that have a remote chance to defeat the champion, Romantic Moment and Shelliscape.

    Romantic Moment has primarily raced on the New York circuit after a failed attempt going against this pack of fillies in the Fan Hanover. But after that effort she has been dominating the division on most of the New York ovals. We caught her a few times as she began her improvement and if she gets the right trip here, she could pace right by American Jewel.

    As for Shelliscape, she is a hard closer. There would have to be a super fast pace in order for her to win. But since we don’t see that happening, she should only be able to complement the exotics. If she draws a good post, she should get away mid-pack and then she’ll have enough to finish in the top three.

    Horses to watch in the NYSS at Batavia on Aug. 10, for frosh-filly trotters, are Proclaiming April (most likely the favorite), Crazy Grigio (price may rise due to post and hot one inside of her), Palm Beach Chic (could upset the obvious choice) and Crazy About NY (toss out her last race for a price).

    Frosh Jersey Jaunts


    Freshmen from both sexes and both gaits take the stage in New Jersey Sires Stakes (NJSS) action at the Meadowlands on Friday, Aug. 10. It’s the second leg of the series.

    First it’s filly pacers. We tweeted Jerseylicious for you when she won the Sweetheart but she won’t be 10-1 here and she will have to get a trip to win it, as she did in the stakes. We like Miss Lauren for the price in this first event.

    Next, filly trotters engage in one of two splits. Shared Past is getting better with each race and comes from a green stakes after doing very well in a NJSS from the outside. The second filly trotter split follows and Viva De Vie comes from the Meadows after a brutal trip to a good spot to upset the choices in here.

    The next race is the second filly pace, where Hilarious Hayley may be overlooked after two Canadian starts. Even though her recent was a huge win, others here will be favored and this Rocknroll Hanover product could wipe up at a price.

    In the first of three colt-pacer NJSS splits there could be a huge surprise from Rocky Mountain Guy. Toss out his Woodrow Wilson debacle and you see an improving sort that has paced well with the top of this class so far this season. Next, be aware of Rocknmyjeans, who chased the mighty Captain Treacherous before an uneven trip made him look like a longshot with these. That might not be true and we want to be there if he improves as he should, at a good price. Then, the last colt pace finds Don’t Ya Know back after a jump with a better post and a chance to win his third among similar fields he has already defeated.

    Finally, the other colt trot enjoys the presence of second-time starter Deadliest Catch. These odds will be humungous, we think, since no one will want to play trainer John Duer as the driver and most will consider him too slow to keep up with the likes of probable choice Corky. But those are the very reasons we will chance it.


    Ray Cotolo contributed to this edition.