Two months into the Harness Players Newsletter and I would say it has gone fast. After spending the weekend at Wrestlemania I found myself wondering what can Harness racing do to capture more of the entertainment dollar. People love sports, people love gambling, people love to be entertained. Racing has all of those elements but flies under the radar to John Q. Public most of the time. Thoroughbred racing has the big events which attracts the mainstream focus for a few weeks a year. What does harness racing have? We have stars. Horses and human connections that excel and thrive on a weekly basis. We have venues and facilities that provide a comfortable setting in which to have fun inside and out. What can we do to attract a larger audience? I wish I had the answers but I feel that exposure and promotion could be a great start. Many people feel that we need to attract a younger audience but I think that is misguided. We need to attract any audience. If you love the sport why not expose others within your own circle? Focus on the positives and the entertainment that it provides. I do think the latest TV deals that are on Fox are a step in the right direction. Racing on TV should be a staple. I think some of the tracks using Youtube to stream their races is another fantastic idea. Many people have cut the TV cord because of all the content available via streaming. What better way to provide coverage to people that have it available at their fingertips free of charge. Ray, Rod and I started Nahupicks.com five plus years ago just as another way to promote day to day racing coverage. That combined with social media brings eyes and gambling $ to the sport. People that are interested in the sport are always looking for information. Providing free information is one way of keeping people interested without feeling like they are being taken advantage. There is so much competition especially with the emergence of brick and mortar casinos in most states plus online gambling that has flooded the market. Casino games, sports gambling, hell PA has slot machines in convenience stores and the local bar. Racing is a better alternative in my opinion but bad press, high takeout, marathon cards all take away the allure. What are we doing to counteract? Well we promote positives. We show the ability for one to learn the game and have an advantage in the parimutuel setting. We align with organizations like thestable.ca who provides the opportunity to have an ownership experience for low costs. We give out free information. We promote the big events. We promote the day to day events. We look to expose as many people as we can to a game that provide constant entertainment at many levels.
What else can we do?
Feel free to comment and interact.
New articles, new pod, new week. I attended a Thestable.ca webinar and I highly recommend it for the information that it provides in a very simple and inviting format. It also opens the forum to questions of any kind. There are two more upcoming in the next few weeks. Check out my interview with Dr. Michael Latessa this week, who is the Stable.ca’s vet in Ohio. He had some great stories to tell and just affirms the quality of the entire operation.
~Mikee P
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This week on the Harness Players’ Podcast, join host Edison Hatter as he and guest analyst Kevin Plowcha break down the Late Pick 4 sequence at Fraser Downs for Friday, April 12.
This week’s Stable.ca segment features Mike Pribozie with an interview with Dr. Michael Latessa, the veterinarian for the Stable at their base in Cleveland, OH. He discusses his start into his career, his beginnings with the stable.ca, and the strength of their operation. He also discusses Anthony Macdonald’s tireless work ethic and a great story about his horsemanship with young horses.
To wrap up the show, Edison Hatter and Mike Pribozie talk the three divisions for the fifth and final preliminary leg of the MGM Borgata Series at Yonkers Raceway, which will go postward on Monday, April 15. They also take a peek forward at how the Borgata Pace Final on Monday, April 22 may shape up.
For daily harness racing analysis and selections, be sure to check nahupicks.com for contenders at tracks across North America.
Somehow, it's already the middle of April. We are inching closer to seeing last year's stars make their returns to action, while in just a week, we'll see our first big money final of the year. Before we know it, May will hit, and by then, "The Week Ahead" could feel like a novel with everything going on. Here's a look at this week's featured Harness Racing action.
I'll start by tyingup some loose ends. We'll get a taste of some starpower at places other than Yonkers, as well-known Canadian horses like Ghostly Casper and No Control make their 2024 debuts in Mohawk's Graduate action.
A quick recap of things happening elsewhere: Pocono Downs continues their Bobby Weiss series on Saturday (4/13) which spans many weeks. The Meadows hops into a new set of memorial series races which will be contested for the next couple weeks. The Iron Maiden series began earlier this week at Northfield. Finally, Harrah's Philly is back in action starting today (4/12). Now, onto the bigger matters at hand...
It's a big week at Yonkers Raceway where the final preliminary legs of the Blue Chip Matchmaker and MGM Borgata Pacing Series are being contested. You'll see some horses who have enough points taking this week off, while others will be scrapping and clawing to try and make next week's finals.
In the Blue Chip Matchmaker, we've got two divisions on Friday, April 12th, with plenty of movement still to be had in the standings. We won't see Mikala this week who is safely in the final, while other top point earners Lit De Rose and DelitfulCatherin N have elected to race this week to try and stay sharp.
The first division comes in race five where ML favorite (#5) Karma Seelster will look for her first win in this series. She was up against it from the start last week after taking back. She retains Matt Kakaley and will look to clinch her spot in the final with a good finish.
As will (#2) Tony's Mom who is reunited with Jason Bartlett. She currently sits eighth in points and is just NINE points ahead of 14th place Man Dontforget Me. The standings couldn't be any closer for the final few spots. Bartlett will look to use the inside draw to his advantage and give her every chance to make the final.
Division two features a field of seven who you can split into two distinct categories. You have three of the top four point earners drawing inside (Lit De Rose, Dougs Babe, Delitfulcatherin N), while the other four (Jive Dancing A, Easy To Please, Treacherous Penny, and Racine Bell) are involved in the aforementioned bubble bonanza, sitting right behind Tony's Mom in the standings.
How hard do the inside horses get used? It's now or never for these mares who drew outside posts, so will everyone be leaving for early position? This is sure to be an exciting race.
Onto Monday night's (April 15th) Borgata action, where Desperate Man has been the talk of the town for four weeks. He will not race this week as he rests up for the final. A key note about the final is that it's an open draw for post positions. If, for example, Linedrive Hanover draws post one while Desperate Man draws post seven? It could be a whole different race. Luckily, we only have to wait one more week to get our answer.
Three divisions are on tap Monday night, starting with a short field of five in race 2. (#5) Pleaseletmeknow produced a big win with quick fractions last week after a road trip to the Meadowlands to qualify. That allowed him to race with Lasix. He still needs points, though, as he currently sits 10th. I would expect an aggressive drive from Kakaley.
The second division takes place in race 9 where 2-1 ML favorite (#1) Backstreet Shadow will look to repeat after a game first over win. He needs points more than anyone in this race and will have every chance to earn them starting from the rail. (#4) Dunkin' made a costly break at the start against Desperate Man last week and will likely look at this as a prep for the final.
The third and final division in race 10 appears to be a one horse race as (#2) Linedrive Hanover is 4-5 on the morning line. Just like the Matchmaker, we've got a dogfight for the final spot. Five horses sit within 16 points of eighth place Sumomentsomwhere A (who isn't racing this week) including (#3) Hellabalou and (#4) Leonidas A. (#6) Funatthebeach N sits just behind that pack and would likely need a win and some help. They may all be racing for second, though, as Linedrive Hanover looks to polish off a fine few weeks and take his shot at Desperate Man once again.
That wraps up this week's edition of The Week Ahead. Stay tuned next week to read about the Matchmaker and Borgata finals, as well as any other featured action around the Harness Racing world.
Spot Plays for the Weekend of 4/12 and 4/13 presented by Nahupicks.com
Friday Afternoon Century Downs Race 4- (3) Bearcat Abigail in for 7k looks to be a “half price sale” as she had been competitive for 15k last two starts. Gets Mike as well this time. Price may not be big but could be a nice p5 Single which starts in Race 1.
~Murray Slough
Friday Western Fair Race 3- (7) Rave Review (6/1 ML) will be on the go with Garrett Rooney catch-driving. A tough post always, but she’s a must play for the middle leg of the Early Pick 5 that begins in Race 1 and be sure to demand some kind of value come post time!
~Sugar Doyle
Meadowlands Friday Race 12- (6) Our Shell Belle (6/1 ML)- 3 year old facing older but she won at this level last week. 2nd over with bad cover, tipped 3 wide to close and win. Still room for upside, same effort puts her right there.
~Chris Cuozzo
Saturday Woodbine Mohawk Race 7- (5) Tarquinis Hanover- the same pattern from March 16 + 23 repeats and he moves to the middle of the gate and wins.
~Garnet Barnsdale
Saturday Woodbine Mohawk Race 6- The 2024 debut of (5) Always a Thrill. Decent 2 year old season and a nice NW2 spot to get the season off on the right hoof.
~Doug Henwood
www.swedishhorseracing.comis the place for replays, odds, news and much much more for all tracks in SwedenMore podcasts coming this year for all the major races with Edison Hatter, Mike Pribozie and Thomas Svensen!
ELITLOPPET coming…….. MAY 26 - SOLVALLA
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