Harness Players Newsletter Vol. 30 presented by Contestjockey.com
Thursday, September 19, 2024
It is a massive week in harness racing with Three Big Days back to back on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. On Thursday, The Little Brown Jug for the Glamour Boys is still rolling with two heats, one of the few races left on the schedule with such a format. My favorite three-year-old of the bunch, Nijinsky, has only lost one race this year. He ran into his main rival, Legendary Hanover, in the Meadowlands Pace Final, and that one freaked that day. They have drawn in separate divisions on a collision course for the Final. The Harness Players Podcast crew will be live on YouTube following HHH this Thursday, covering the LBJ Final. We have Races 17 and 18 on the card from the Delaware County Fair, capping the usual phenomenal week at Delaware. Tune in to ITM YouTube and Socials for that coverage.
Friday is the Caesars Trotting Classic and Hoosier Park Pacing Derby at Hoosier Park. Another Livestream aired this week featuring Edison Hatter, Emily Gaskin, Cheyenne Christman, Garnet Barnsdale, and your boy breaking down the Stakes and the Guaranteed Late Pick 4. I have my analysis on nahupicks.com. Perniculum is the favorite in this year’s CTC, taking on a stellar field that includes last year’s winner, It’s Academic. He is currently off form but could wake up getting on one of his preferred surfaces. Four-year-olds Chappercraz, Winners Bet, and Oh Well are improving and could upset the old guard. The Hoosier Park Derby brings out the usual top crowd with Charlie May, Abuckabett Hanover, second-back Bithemissal, and Dan Patch Winner Dunkin. The Morning Line favorite is Little Rocket Man, and he has won ten this year. He’s another who likes this racetrack and could be aggressively handled in this spot.
Saturday Brings the Mohawk Million/Metro Card at Woodbine Mohawk. The phenomenal card is on tap with the Elegant Image Final for three-year-old Filly Trotters, featuring Drawn Impression, R Melina, French Champagne, and Emoji Hanover as the leading contenders. The Metro looksCaptain Optimistic, coming off a wide-open with a dominant 1:50 2/5 Elimination win, facing a horse looking to bounce back off his first loss in Swingtown. Fallout shipped in for Tony Alagna and promptly went 1:49 3/5 off a perfect trip. Prince Hal Hanover and Strangerinthenight have shown talent and could be live late if the favorites go at it early. Chantilly looms large in the She’s a Great Lady Final after six straight wins to start her career. Can’t See Me looks like the primary challenger but needs to find more to threaten the fave. Race nine is the Canadian Trotting Classic, with the Hambo runner-up Highland Kismet looking to be a short price again. Can Paquet or an improving Security Protected upend the favorite? Sir Pinocchio has made 742K this year and was dominant in his elimination last week. Hambo participants in Private Access and Amazing Catch are also lined up looking to find more to threaten Kismet.
The Mohawk Million is filled with Determination starters, with four in the race. Maryland could be the favorite coming off two straight wins, one in the Wellwood and the other in the Haughton at Hoosier. Marcus Melander has another horse in Meshuggah coming off a nice win in the PASS Final at the Meadows 9/5. Emoticon Legacy looks the best of the Determination/Blais entrants with his stellar pedigree and sharp 27/1 kick in a Champlain win on 9/13.
All these races make up a 100K Guaranteed Pick 5 Saturday Night at Mohawk.
Fraser came back last week and we had the inaugural Contest Jockey harness contest with 111 entrants last Friday. Congrats to Dennis Wertz on the win. There will be contests for Fraser every Friday throughout the meet!
More tracks will be coming soon……stay tuned.
Enjoy the best time of year for Harness Racing….
~Mikee P
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Spot Plays for the Weekend of 9/20-9/21
Friday, Sept 20 Fraser Downs Race 6 (8) Key Dragon. Just missed in last. Similar group. Should get decent trip from trailing post 8.
~Doug Henwood
Friday, Sept 20 Woodbine Mohawk Race 2 - (1) Rise N Grind - Macdonald interestingly chose him over the 9 horse and he fits decently in this NW1 field.
~Garnet Barnsdale
Friday, Sept 20 Woodbine Mohawk Race 10 - (8) Moonwatcher - Jody Jamieson. Should be pace and movement in the race and he could be the one making the last move at a decent number.
~Brad A.
Friday, Sept 20 Woodbine Mohawk Race 10 - (8) Moonwatcher - Not a REPEAT - Looking for this fella to follow up a hot early pace and then drop his life mark by almost 5 seconds. He just missed last time and is so ready to pop.
~Sugar Doyle
Saturday, Sept 21 Woodbine Mohawk (8) French Champagne was never winning the Final quarter sprint in Elim. Hard to imagine Dunn doesn’t send and try to wire them or sit a cozy pocket. Predicting 9/2, which feels like great value in a big money final.
~Kevin Plowcha
Saturday, Sept 21 Northside Downs Race 8 (1) Brother John - Keltic financial series final is one of our headline events of the year! Old fella draws the rail where he does his best work. Raced great off a layoff and 3 far outside posts last week. Hoping for 4 turns and career win #62.
~Peter McGuigan
Little Brown Jug Livestream - Thursday 5:30 pm
The hosts of the Harness Players' Podcast come together for this live discussion and commentary of the 2024 Little Brown Jug, the headline event of the Delaware, Ohio County Fair, focused on handicapping and betting tips for the half-million-dollar race that wraps the Pacing Triple Crown.
Caesars Trotting Classic Livestream
On this special edition of the Harness Players' Podcast, join Edison Hatter as he hosts a roundtable discussion focused on stakes action at Harrah's Hoosier Park for Friday (Sept. 20), headlined by the $200,000 Caesar's Trotting Classic. Alongside Edison Hatter in this discussion are Mike Pribozie (In The Money), Emily Gaskin (Hoosier, Red Mile), Garnet Barnsdale (DRF Harness), and Cheyenne Christman (USTA).
Harness Players Podcast Fraser/Mohawk
Mike Pribozie and Murray Slough look at Friday, September 20, 2024, from Fraser Downs Late Pick 4. Discuss contest jockey new contests for Fraser Fridays. They also discuss Mohawk Million Saturday including the all-stakes Pick 5 starting in Race 6. Two million-dollar races for two-year-olds will be contested. The Metro is for 2 yr old pacers and the Mohawk Million is for 2 yr old trotters.
The ITM YouTube Channel has a Harness Racing Section that archives all our video podcasts.
Upcoming Races for The Stable Horses
Check out thestable.ca YouTube channel here https://www.youtube.com/@TheStableCanada
Swedish Horse Racing
Thanks for reading In the Money Media Harness Players Newsletter! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.