Cotolo’s Harness Insider Weekend Review

by Frank Cotolo
March 23, 2010 6:09am PT

The Hopeful Final for sophomore colts took place at Yonkers Raceway on March 20, having been delayed a week due to the track being dark due to weather. Our choice, Joey The Czar won it and paid $3.70. That price isn’t anything to boast about but remember we called for his victory over two weeks ago, at which time we were confident he would be overlooked for the morning-line favorite.

“Joey” and all but one of our picks from last weekend settled for first or second.

At the Meadowlands we scored with LR Dancing Dream and a $7.20 win mutual. We braved a choice other than Lucky Jim in the champion trotter’s return for the season with Green Day. Readers of our columns over the years know that “Green” has been a promising horse that is usually overlooked. Against “Jim” he was 22-1 and finished second to spark a $23.40 exacta. Our other choice, Strike N Fly, broke again this week and was eliminated early at 43-1.

On the other coast all of choices were contenders with the public and each of them finished second. Blue Note (9-2) was in an exacta that paid $12.70; Riverlea Hanover (9-2) was the place horse in an exacta that paid $4.90; and Jet Tet Tet (5-2) was the second half of a $77.80 exacta.

As promised in last week’s blog, we will cover the “Levy” leg as that series begins next Saturday at Yonkers. Check in later this week for details on the field for the first Levy episode, featuring top free-for-all pacers battling for big money.

Special news:

Pocono Downs opens Tuesday, March 23. Blog-followers need be aware that over the years at Youbet we have delivered great payoffs from the Pennsylvania oval. This is a great track for wagering.

The 136-day meet will run through Nov. 13. Racing is on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights during the months of March, April and May. The post time is 6:30 p.m. (Eastern).

Monday nights will replace Friday evenings during June, July and August and then it will go back to Fridays.

Highlighting the 2010 season will be the Breeders Crown, set for Saturday night, Oct. 9. It will be the first time in history that the dozen Breeders Crown races will be contested on a single night’s card. We hope to be there reporting after continuous updates concerning contenders leading to the events.

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