It’s a huge weekend in the harness racing world as we have the Final of The Del Miller Adios at The Meadows this afternoon, where World Champion Sweet Lou faces Meadowlands Pace winner A Rock N Roll Dance and North America Cup winner Thinking Out Loud in his own backyard. We also have the eliminations of the sport’s signature event, The Hambletonian and Hambletonian Oaks. Here’s DriveOn’s take on these events:
Adios Final (The Meadows race 12) : With the early scratch of Allstar Legend, we are going to go to the outside #7 horse in here, A Rock N Roll Dance, (above left) winner of The Meadowlands Pace. In last week’s elimination, he chased a fairly slow early pace and still fired home for 2nd after racing first-up and pacing his own 3rd quarter in an incredible 25.4. Look for driver Gingras to blast right to the front when the gate opens, get covered up in the 2nd ¼ when Sweet Lou takes the top, then come again late to nail the win. We’ll take #4 Sweet Lou for 2nd and NA Cup winner #6 Thinking Out Loud for 3rd.
Hambletionian Oaks elims - Race 3: Multiple World Champion Take Me Out likely wins this elim rather easily. We’ll take #4 Superstar Hanover from the Takter barn to complete the exacta and would put fair odds at 5/1 on the 3-4 exacta. If it’s paying $12, head to the windows! For 3rd we like the #7 For A Dancer who is 5 for 5 this year vs. lesser and has won 14 of 17 starts overall
Elim #2 (Race 4): #3 Maven is the biggest threat to topple Check Me Out in The Final and we call her to get the job done here over #4 Win Missy B with the #6 horse Dream On Hanover closing late to complete the tri.
Hambletonian elimination #1 (Race #5): #1 Banker Volo lost for the first time last week, but, was pocketed behind Uncle Peter’s pedestrain pace and blocked in the stretch. If you want to see a true indicator of this horse’s talent, look at the 2nd race back where he used a wicked 26.3 3rd quarter en-route to a crushing victory. I look for him to rebound here, and in fact, he is my call to win it all next week. #4 Uncle Peter (last year’s Breeders’ Crown winner) continues to hold excellent form but also has issues with his gait at times. We’ll take the #2 Possess The Will to fill the tri and make The Final as the 3rd and last qualifier.
Elimination #2 (Race 6) - The Canadian trotter #6 Knows Nothing (from the same connections as Maple Leaf Trot winner Mr. Herbie) has done everything right and comes in off an impressive win despite a 5-week layoff. He’s our call to get the job done in this very competitive elim. We like the powerful closer #3 Guccio to complete the exacta and #2 Stormin’ Normand for 3rd.
Elimination #3 (Race 8) - #6 Market Share from the Linda Toscano barn seems to have a nice pace set-up laid out here where he can brush late and is a good bet at around 5/1. #9 Little Brown Fox comes is off an ultra-impressive 151.2 mile and will be tough to overhaul although may face more pressure in the mid-stages. #7 Archangel shows nothing but wins and should be able to make the Final.
DriveOn Bets: When last in action, the “DriveOn Bets” segment fell victim to another tough pick 4 loss, but did manage to get off the schneid with a triactor win. Still, the original bankroll has dwindled from $1,000 to a meagre $76. Rather than go to the imaginary ATM for a bankroll boost, we will play with what we have today and see what we can do to build it back up.
We will play the remaining $76 this way: The Meadows race 10: $1.50 Pick 4: 1,9/6,7/4,6,7/2,9 ($36); same race $2 Pick 4 - 1,9/6,7/4,6,7/9 ($24), same race - $8 Pick 4 - 9/6,7/7/9 ($16) - total $76.
Lastly - there is another horse that we are keeping a close eye on in the New Jersey Classic elimination - race 10 at The Meadowlands - #1 Panther Hanover who has absolutely scorched Mohawk with 5 sensational wins since returning from injury. This highly-regarded Badlands Hanover colt, owned by “Big Jim” Carr may offer some value today stepping up in class because if he does what we think he could, he will be bet more heavily next week.
Good Luck to all wagering on these great events today!
Photo courtesy of Breeders Crown