Harness racing’s Horse of the Year made the most of nearly every month on the calendar. Three-year-old gelding Wiggle It Jiggleit, who on Thursday was named the Dan Patch Award Horse of the Year by the U.S. Harness Writers Association, won his first race of the season in January and continued posting victories through November.
Richies Sweetheart has won races at six different tracks and will look to add Tampa Bay Downs to that list Saturday in the $100,000 Lightning City Stakes for fillies and mares.
With seven victories and more than $564,000 in the bank already this season, Stallwalkin' Dude's 2015 campaign could have ended with his gutsy triumph earlier this month in the Claiming Crown Rapid Transit. But the old war horse will get one more chance to add to his impressive résumé when he takes on six rivals in Saturday's $100,000 Mr. Prospector at Gulfstream Park.
Balloting for the 2015 Eclipse Awards officially began this past Wednesday, but responsible voters will wait until at least the evening of Dec. 26 to make their final choices: That is the date of the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita, and the winner of that race could vault to the leadership of a division that currently has an unsatisfactory front-runner.
As I look at any race, the first question is: What Beyer Speed Figure will it take to win? We will conduct a test here and report back with the results next week. I am going to predict the winning Beyer in four stakes races around the country, explain my conclusions, and try to determine which horses are most likely to get that figure.
Trainer Tim Shea saddles R. Earl's Miracle (#1, ML 15-1) and Prayingandsinging (#9, ML 9-2) in Thursday's sixth race at Penn National, a six-furlong maiden claiming race. Since Jan. 1, 2014, Shea is winning at a 29 percent clip in maiden claimers, for a return on investment of $6.36. Check out the Positive ROI report as part of DRF Plus. Sign up for DRF Plus here.
Town Tart (#2, 6-1) returns in Thursday's second race at Aqueduct, a six-furlong optional claimer on the inner track. It will be her first start since finishing first by 8 3/4 lengths in a maiden race Oct. 29 at Belmont Park. The second-, third-, fourth-, and six-place finishers from that race came back to win their next starts. Get the Key Race report as part of DRF Plus. Sign up for DRF Plus here.
Although Toews On Ice already has raced five times and won his last three, he has yet to go around two turns, unlike Mor Spirit, who likely gained invaluable experience three weeks ago when he finished second in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs. Those two look like the leading contenders on Saturday in the $350,000 Los Alamitos Futurity over 1 1/16 miles.
The wagering public expected big things from Ishaq in his career debut at Tampa Bay Downs on Nov. 28, and the colt didn't disappoint, romping by 10 1/4 lengths as the 9-10 favorite in a $20,000 maiden special weight race. A repeat of that performance would make him hard to handle Saturday in the $100,000 Inaugural Stakes, a six-furlong sprint for 2-year-olds.
Trainer Jamie Attard picked an ambitious spot for his first stakes starter, sending out Lions Bay to finish sixth in the 2014 Queen's Plate at Woodbine. Attard has a far better chance of getting his first stakes win Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs, where he'll send out Old Valyria in the $100,000 Sandpiper Stakes, a six-furlong sprint for 2-year-old fillies.
