Season Two Harness Players Newsletter Vol. 1
We are back for 2025
Back for more in 2025 after a well-deserved break, the Harness Players Newsletter and Harness Players Podcast return for 2025. We welcome back Fraser Downs, who are returning after an extended break after a record handle in 2024. We have the return of Doug Henwood providing analysis on nahupicks.com. We will have the typical spot plays provided by handicappers from Horse Racing Twitter, who are as sharp as it gets, so pay attention. The crew is excited about the new racing season and harness racing coverage here and worldwide. We want to do a lot more on YouTube so the pods will be on Video this season. Jump in and check out the content, feel free to reach out on X @nahumikeep or make comments here.
Let’s Go
Mikee P.
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Dan Patch Awards Recap with Kevin Plowcha
A lot happens every year in harness racing, and sometimes it’s hard to keep track of. The Dan Patch Awards are a great end-of-season “recap” in a sense, celebrating the best horses from last season while being oh so close to the start of warmer weather and this year’s stakes season. Here’s a little recap of all of the horse award winners.
No big surprises to kick off the trotting award winners. Maryland is a future Hambletonian favorite if he comes back as good as he was as two, while Champagne Problems stuck her neck out for Nancy Takter and earned just a touch over $500,000. Both horses that were just mentioned were driven by Dexter Dunn, who drove an insane EIGHT of 12 division winners last season. The three-year-old male trot was a tough division to wrap your head around at times last season, but Sig Sauer felt like a deserving winner after stepping up late in the season and winning the Breeders Crown. The three-year-old female trot winner, Allegiant, got even better once the barn change was made to Linda Toscano. She trotted her eyeballs out in the BC eliminations and backed it up as a co-favorite. No surprises at all to round out the trotting awards. Winner’s Bet was usually winning when Jiggy Jog S wasn’t around, but when she was? Good luck. Jiggy Jog S went 6-for-6 last season including the $1 million Yonkers International Trot. An outstanding horse that deserves her flowers. All of these do.
On the pacing side, we start things off with a bang. Louprint was one of my favorite horses to watch last season, and he always backed it up, whether it was winning the Breeders Crown from post nine with local superstar driver Ronnie Wrenn Jr, or dispatching of stablemate Sippinonsearoc in Kentucky. It was a stacked division that should be a ton of fun to watch in their Glamour Boy season. Winning the Breeders Crown holds a lot of weight, proven by Miki And Minnie earning 117 of the 142 votes. I’m certainly biased when it comes to this division. Seemingly every other filly I rooted for last season eventually got upended. However, she had a strong end to her season and is a deserving winner. The next two winners are horses that I’m very familiar with from their time at The Meadows: Captain Albano and My Girl EJ. By the time Captain Albano couldn’t find room in the NA Cup and came through as the favorite in the Adios Pace, he was still a horse that not many were sold on as a divisional leader, but winning 10 of your last 12 races including the Little Brown Jug cemented him as the top horse in the three-year-old male pacer division. It’s back-to-back years for Albano earning a Dan Patch Award. As for My Girl EJ, she showed incredible speed at two and carried it into her three-year-old season, winning 9-of-18 races and sort of standing out by default. It wasn’t an awe-inspiring division last year, but she did her work and continued to impress, winning her second straight Breeders Crown Championship. If her second place finish in the FanDuel Open Mares Championship is anything to go by, she’ll be a dynamic addition to this year’s Open Mares lineup. And finally, two horses that could’ve been predicted to win Dan Patch Awards at the start of 2024: Abuckabett Hanover and Twin B Joe Fresh. Abuckabett stayed consistent in an overall open division while Twin B Joe Fresh showed her incredible talent and ability every time she walked on the racetrack, winning 11 of 13 races in 2024.
As for the final awards, trotter of the year went to Jiggy Jog S, and pacer/horse of the year went to Twin B Joe Fresh. Both are incredible horses that were a delight to watch every time they stepped onto the track.
I can not wait to see what the 2025 stakes season has in store for us.
Spot plays for the weekend of 2/28-3/1 presented by nahupicks.com
Friday Fraser Downs Race 3 - (1) Tzilacatzin - 3 for 3 before the break. Kanak and Campbell make a great trainer/driver combo.
~Doug Henwood
Friday Woodbine Mohawk Race 1 - (7) Full of Personality J Plante - The favorite will more than likely be the 8 and is very vulnerable. Coming out of the same race with a tougher trip.
~Brad A. (Chicago guy)
Friday Woodbine Mohawk Race 4 - (1) Spin for Life is in an easier spot this week and he gets the deadly “first time McNair” angle. Bounce back time.
~Garnet Barnsdale
Saturday Woodbine Mohawk Race 3 - (6) RJ Ringo - raced well up front on a track that favored closers last week. Gois in the bike always guarantees a price.
~Mikee P
Harness Players Podcast Returns - Fraser Downs w Dawn Lupul
Ray Cotolo hosts Mikee P. and Dawn Lupul, Manager of Racing at Fraser Downs, to preview the opening weekend at the British Columbia Racetrack. They discuss the beginning of the meet and the Late Pick 4 for Friday, February 28, 2025. Fraser has recorded a record handle over the past two years, along with a player-friendly 15% takeout on Win, Place, Show, Double, High 5, Pick 3, Pick 4, and Pick 5.
Check out the Fraser Downs YouTube Channel for Live Racing here: https://www.youtube.com/@FraserDowns_Surrey
Interested in Ownership? Check out Go For Glory Stable - get involved for as little as 1%
Go for the Thrill! Go for the Win! Go for Glory!
The ITM YouTube Channel has a Harness Racing Section that archives all our video podcasts.
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