Gil Winston flags $50.40, $42.20 winners

The objective of this analysis is to identify harness racing horses with plus or minus evaluations that are not identifiable in the past performances. Horses whose races are accurately captured in the past performances are not captured here, regardless of how well or poorly they may have raced.

Consider all races without comment as WUSIWUG – an acronym for What U See (in past performances) Is What U Get. Some races may identify multiple horses that are scored, while other races are clearly defined in the past performances, and no horse is scored. These unscored horses all had clearance in the pivotal part of the stretch, or no undue exertion earlier in the race that was not captured in the past performances.

These scores do not indicate must-bet or must-toss the next time they race because other handicapping factors will come into play. But these scores give the bettor a huge edge in what is frequently the most important factor when making betting decisions and many scored horses have been coming in with generous payouts in their next races.

The highest $2 win payout was for VANDALISM who paid $188 for a $2 wager on 12-29 at The Meadowlands. He had been scored with “clear too late with some pace” in his previous start there. See the HARNESSLINK.COM article published on 12-29. That was the biggest price, but there have been many more long prices (including cold exactas, and even one cold trifecta with three scored horses ended up in the same race).

Do not assume scored horses will race the following week. Here is the best way to profit from this analysis. On the day you are wagering on races from either Freehold or The Meadowlands, go to the HARNESSLINK.COM site and click on my name at the bottom of any of my articles. This will open up the list of all the articles. For horses that show lines that pique your interest. Find the article that analyzes the races for that day, then search for the horse. If the horse has a positive score, you know the horse is better than the pp line shows. Click on other weeks that the horse raced if the most recent race does not complete the story for you. This will give you access to all analysis.

If you want to track horses that “sneak out of town” save the scored horses in your virtual stable when they first show up in the analyses. If you are playing another track and you see a horse with Freehold or Meadowlands lines, you can find the race dates at HARNESSLINK.COM and see if the horse had been scored on that date. Tracking shippers is not part of this analysis, but some will be identified on occasion.

This week’s winners that were identified in previous analyses

Freehold 3-8       Race 8                  BEST CHOICE                     $50.40   I don’t blame anyone who did not pull the trigger on this one, but BEST CHOICE has been scored here multiple times, and her win two weeks back was monstrous. There was something radically wrong in her last race as she walked around the track. The fact that the trainer put her right back in was a reason to ignore that line, and all of her previous lines made her eminently playable in the same class. I hope some of you got lucky.

M’lands 3-8        Race 2                  GREEN PASTURES             $17.80   Scored +2 in qualifier. Also scored in previous qualifier. As mentioned in the comment, his last break was only a skip, and was        full of trot when given his head in both qualifiers.

M’lands 3-8        Race 6                  MV OK PALACIO BR         $42.20   Finally. If you have been following this column, you know that this horse has received excuse scores in 4 of his last 5 starts, and in 3 of those starts the score was +2. He finally moved inside for an easy win.

Freehold 3-9       Race 6                  ROCKS NOBLE ARTIST     $ 2.60    Scored on 2-24, big dropdown in class

Meadowlands Qualifiers 3-9      

Race      Horse                                   Score     Analysis

2             3 KINESIOLOGY                 1             Dug in when challenged

3             4 BLOOD MOON A           1             More pace than was apparent

Meadowlands 3-8

Race      Horse                                   Score     Analysis

5             3 JD CAMDEN GB             1             Blocked on inside

6             4 LACHIE MAGUIRE N     1             Blocked between

6             8 BIONIC                            2             Lost a lot of ground going wide on last turn, 2^nd straight excuse

7             2 LADYZAR                         1             Blocked

7             6 MILADY DENVER A       1             Blocked

9             8 SMART AS HILL              1             4-wide 1/8, 3-wide passed quarter

10           2 IMPORTER EXPORTER  1             Blocked with trot

10           10 BROOKROAD MASTER 1          4-wide 1/8, parked long before clearing

Meadowlands 3-9           *** horrendous conditions, consider ignoring tonight’s performances ***

Race      Horse                                   Score     Analysis

3             5 DYLADMAR                     2             Lost ground with weave to rail, clear too late with trot

7             3 TASTE OF HONEY          1             Blocked in stretch then weaved with pace

7             10 MARCUS SEELSTER    3             Hard 4-wide, then 3-wide passed 3/8

10           1 FOUREVER BOY             1             Clear too late

12           2 NEXTROUNDSONME    1             Closed best when clear

Freehold  3-8                           

Race      Horse                                   Score     Analysis

1             4 STAND FOR FREEDOM 1             Shut off with pace

2             5 AIDE DE VIE                    1             Clear too late, pace when free

7             6 CORSINI A                       1             Left out; checked before quarter; wrestled back

8             8 RACING FOR RICK         2             Shuffled out of race

9             8 T H MRS MCMURRY     1             Checked, pushed 3-wide at half, good close

10           2 BYRDS THE WORD        2             Shuffled out, most pace in stretch

Freehold  3-9                    *** light rain early, got heavier last three races ***        

Race      Horse                                   Score     Analysis

1             1 COUNT MARA                1             Blocked with some pace

1             7 HOLY GRAIL N                1             Lineup (i.e., showed no pace, but had no room)

4             2 VASARI N                        2             Full of pace when clear

4             7 CURBSIDE PICKUP         1             Lost ground going wide on last turn

5             2 TRAIN                              1             Blocked in stretch

by Gil Winston, for Harnesslink