Another week for the Harness Players Newsletter and I am very excited about a podcast I recorded this week with Laura Brower. Now, anyone familiar with harness racing knows the name Dave Brower. He was a staple in harness racing for decades notably on the Meadowlands and Little Brown Jug broadcasts. I knew Dave well enough to call him my friend given my trips to the Meadowlands and my work with NAHU. Dave was always great to me whenever I would come to the the racetrack, always took the time to talk about racing and life. We would also engage on social media on a regular basis, and hit the bar after a big racing night and the work was all done. Dave was great friends with Gabe Prewitt who I would also call my friend. I remember the day Dave passed and Gabe put out a tweet that didn’t make much sense but anyone who knew him knew something was very wrong. I remember being incredibly sad when I heard the news. The loss is still being felt within the industry.
Meeting Laura via a connection with Kelly from thestable.ca was very fortunate. Her passion for racing started not early in life alongside her father and brother, but after Dave was gone. She wanted to honor him by taking some of his ashes around to the tracks that he loved so he could become a part of them. It was with her interaction with Dave’s friends at the racetracks that Laura was connected to thestable.ca. And what a connection it has become. I will let Laura tell her story on the podcast you can catch it here: https://inthemoneypodcast.com/harness-players-podcast-thestable-ca-special-showcase-w-laura-brower/
I will have a link below in the newsletter also. I have to say it is one of my favorite pods that I have ever done since I started in the industry. Laura’s enthusiasm and love for the sport is contagious and inspiring. We usually include a stable segment within the main Podcast for the week but this one needed to be on its own.
Spring has sprung finally and the Borgata and Matchmaker Finals are upon us Monday night at Yonkers. Linedrive Hanover got the best of the draw and should be ready to challenge Desperate Man. Will the Final find another longshot this year??? You’ll have to watch to find out. The Matchmaker Final also looks quite competitive with the main contenders drawn inside. Can Mikala overcome the wide draw?
Enjoy the pods and the racing this week
~Mikee P
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This edition of the Harness Players Podcast features an interview by Mike Pribozie with Laura Brower. Laura is a very satisfied owner with thestable.ca, getting involved with harness racing after her brother, harness racing broadcasting legend Dave Brower, passed away tragically a year and a half ago. She tells her story of how she got interested in the sport and how thestable.ca was able to grow her enthusiasm and love very quickly while honoring her late brother.
Laura’s passion for racing shines through with every part of her story. It will be impossible not to want to learn more about thestable.ca when one is finished listening. She talks of her trips to the racetracks, the barns, and keeping up with her horses via Anthony’s daily videos.
Check it out and visit thestable.ca for more information.
This week on the Harness Players’ Podcast, join host Mike Pribozie as he and guest analyst Murray Slough kick off the show by breaking down the Late Pick 4 sequence at Fraser Downs for Friday, April 19 and offering a few spot plays for good measure.
To wrap up the show, Edison Hatter, Ray Cotolo, and Derick Giwner talk the $10,000 Guaranteed Pick 5 at Yonkers Raceway on Monday, April 22, which includes the $457,000 MGM Borgata Pacing Series Final for older pacers and the $276,200 Blue Chip Matchmaker Final for older pacing mares.
For daily harness racing analysis and selections, be sure to check nahupicks.com for contenders at tracks across North America.
The Week Ahead from Kevin Plowcha
he Grand Circuit is here! It’s the first big money races of the season as the MGM Borgata and Blue Chip Matchmaker pacing series finals take place on Monday night, April 22nd. This week’s edition of “The Week Ahead” will mainly focus on those two races.
The field for the $276,200 Blue Chip Matchmaker is as follows:
1-Lit De Rose
2-Coachellabound N
3-Tony's Mom
4-Dougs Babe A
5-Incaseyoudidntknow
6-Karma Seelster
7-Mikala
8-Delitfulcatherin N
AE-Racine Bell
Race 7 sees these eight pacing mares do battle.
The post gods were kind to last week's winners, Lit De Rose and Coachellabound N. The former has three wins in the five legs of this series and is likely your favorite when the betting is all said and done.
Coachellabound N has been up close three times in a row since Yannick Gingras took over the lines. Logically, he follows Lachance out from the rail and sits behind him looking to work out a trip.
Where the post gods wreaked the most damage was to Mikala, who drew post seven. Her two wins in this series came when she was on the front. In a race going for $276,000, it's hard to imagine George Brennan not blasting her from the outside and looking for early position. The same potentially goes for Karma Seelster. There is every chance this race features a complete cavalry charge to the front.
So, who does this set up from the back if things go awry? Dougs Babe A has tried first over trips in a couple of these races. It's not a preferred trip in a fast race on a half mile track, but she'll be the best price she's been since leg one where she showed a lot of late kick, and will have pace to chase.
As will Incaseyoudidntknow who gets Tim Tetrick in the bike, but as Ray Cotolo eloquently put it in the latest edition of the Harness Players Podcast: "She'll be starting from the parking lot". That is an issue for a mare who will not show gate speed. I think she's worth putting underneath if the pace does get wicked.
The goal when carding big money events in harness racing is to have them be competitive, and that's exactly what we're getting in Monday night's Blue Chip Matchmaker final.
Race 8 on Monday night is the $457,000 MGM Borgata Pacing Series Final. The field of eight is as follows:
1-Covered Bridge
2-Linedrive Hanover
3-Whats Stanley Got A
4-Desperate Man
5-Hellabalou
6-Coaches Corner
7-Rocknroll Runa A
8-Dunkin'
AE-Backstreet Shadow
It's a heavyweight showdown for the big money. Linedrive Hanover and Desperate Man have been the talk of the town since this series started, and both have shown why. Desperate Man is a perfect 4-for-4 in this series (took last week off because he had enough points), while Linedrive Hanover is 3-for-4 in this series with his only loss being to Desperate Man. They both draw well in the final which should, logically, set up a battle between these two.
HOWEVER, it is a horse race, and anything can happen. If not those two, then who?
Coaches Corner appears to be peaking at the right time. He ended his streak of second place finishes last week with a dazzling :26.3 final quarter to nail Backstreet Shadow at the line. I'm curious to see where Bartlett positions, or tries to position, him off the car in a race that features two main speed threats.
Whats Stanley Got A has mostly avoided the top two but has shown to potentially be best of the rest. He's shown plenty of early speed and is sandwiched between the two favorites. He could throw a wrench into their plans.
Let's not forget about Hellabalou who produced a shocking upset in last year's Borgata final, winning at 47-1 from this same post.
Finally, there's Dunkin', who was 5-1 against Desperate Man two back but broke, and is now saddled with the far outside post. It would take a minor miracle for him to win this race.
Despite it, on paper, looking like a two horse race, there's plenty of other options that will be big prices if you want to take a shot. If not, it's definitely going to be a battle of the ages between Linedrive Hanover and Desperate Man.
To end this edition, we'll give out some names of horses that are returning on Saturday at The Meadowlands. Reading some of these got me excited for the upcoming months. We've got...
Celebrity Bambino, Tactical Mounds, Voukefalas, Handlelikeaporsche, Seven Colors, Sambuca Hanover, Pass Line, and ABuckabett Hanover to name a few.
You've gotta be excited for the summer when you read those names. I know I am.
That's going to do it for this week's edition of The Week Ahead.
Spot Plays for the Weekend of 4/19 and 4/20 presented by Nahupicks.com
Friday Afternoon Century Downs Race 1 - (1) Five Star Dragon- new acqisition for Logan Gillis who has done well with other purchases such as Carro B Bunsen. With rail, front-end try expected.
~Murray Slough
Friday Western Fair Race 3 - (7) Marilyn (6/1 ML) - She will be facing some easier foes, but will also have an outside post to overcome. If you can get anything close to her ML here, be sure to fire away - we see her as a BIG player with Garrett Rooney going back aboard.
~Sugar Doyle
Friday Woodbine Mohawk Park Race 5 - (3) Munk has been facing tougher and had two races in four days which didn’t work out well. Better spot from a perfect post in a field that doesn’t have much early speed.
~Mike Pribozie
Friday Meadowlands Race 7- (5) Oh Lina is coming off tow starts at Freehold and ships to M1 a move she has pulled off in the past that led to a win
~John Rallis
Saturday Meadowlands Race 8 - (3) Franco Totem N (9/2 ML) - ships to big track, where he’s had tons of success. The pace looks hot and he is the closer.
~Rod Allums, Jr.
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