ITM Harness Players' Newsletter: Season 2 Vol. 10 presented by Diamond Creek Farm

May 10, 2025

May 09, 2025

Borgata Finals Friday is upon us, and I think this will be a fantastic night of racing at Yonkers Raceway. We went over the Pick 5 in depth on the Harness Players Podcast Roundtable with me, Ray, Edison, and Derrick on Wednesday night. (Catch the replay as it will be posted below.) The first Grade 1s of the sport of Harness Racing show up on this night, and I think the winners will be well-deserved Grade 1 horses. I personally like this change with the grading of races and think that it helps distinguish Stakes within the construct of the sport. In thoroughbred racing, the Graded system is well established and, while debated, universally recognized to measure quality within the sport. Harness racing adopting this system and tweaking it over the next few years, will develop a better understanding of a pecking order when it comes to Stakes and their importance in relation to each other.

We thank Yonkers Raceway, the SOA of NY, and Diamond Creek for sponsoring the latest Harness Players Podcast Roundtable to discuss the newly minted Grade 1 Borgata and Matchmaker Finals and look forward to similar events throughout the Stakes season.

-Hope you bet on Sovereignty in the Derby. I was at Churchill Downs this year, and while this is an article for another time, I can tell you with absolute certainty that RACING IS NOT DEAD.

~Mikee P.

P.S. Check out Kevin Plowcha’s Borgata Final preview from last week’s newsletter (I will likely post on nahupicks.com as well)

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Spot Plays and Multi leg wager ideas presented by Nahupicks.com For the weekend of 5/9-5/10

Harness Players’ Podcast | 5/9/25 | 2025 MGM Borgata Roundtable Discussion

In The Money’s Mikee P and Ray Cotolo are joined by Yonkers Raceway’s Edison Hatter and the Daily Racing Form’s Derick Giwner to break down harness racing stakes action at Yonkers Raceway on Friday (May 9), headlined by the $516,000 MGM Borgata Series Final — the first Grade 1 stake on the harness racing calendar.

The group also previews the sequence for the $20,000 guaranteed Pick 5, which starts in Race 5 and goes through Race 9.