Yonkers: Analysis for Thursday 2/23

MEET STATS: 24 - 96 / $178.60 (-$13.40)
BEST BETS: 3 - 10 / $9.10 (-$10.90)
SPOT PLAYS: 3 - 10 / $28.70 (+$8.70)
BEST BET - HEY LIVVY (2nd)
SPOT PLAY - SV ROYAL FLUSH (1st)

Race 1 - NW2/25000LT Trot

(3) SV ROYAL FLUSH doesn't have a great win record (just one-for-46) but the rest of this field looks the same as he does. He recently joined the Mark Silva barn and went on Lasix, and perhaps he'll find the NW2's here more hospitable than he did the same class at the Meadowlands. (4) CREDARENA makes his third start back after a layoff here after hitting the board twice at Monticello. He owns a prior victory over NW2's at Yonkers in late August of last year. (5) WANIA comes in off a gaining runner-up finish last Thursday and has hit the board in all of his appearances since shipping down from Canada.

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Race 2 - NW30000L5/NW12 PM Races LT Trot

(4) HEY LIVVY gets to drop out of the Open here and has been racing well outside of the one effort three back where she wound up first-over. (1) LEAN HANOVER also exits the Open and landed the pole. (3) GREY landed an inside post tonight and showed some late interest a week ago. She does her best work when she's able to get to the front like she did a couple weeks ago.

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Race 3 - F&M NW7901L5/Winners in Last Start of the Base Class NW5000L5 Pace

(3) TALL POPPY N rallied to finish second in this class two weeks ago and trainer Gil Garcia-Herrera sent out an impressive winner on Monday night, perhaps signaling his barn is about to heat up. (2) BROOKDALE JESSIE squeezed into this race by a dollar as she has $7,900 earned in her last five starts. She hasn't won in quite a while but did race well in January and earlier this month, hitting the board three straight times. (5) TOBAGO TIME has burned some money in her last two tries but takes a third crack at this level tonight and is usable.

Race 4 - NW6/75000LT/NW4/50000LT Drawn Inside Trot

(8) TACHYON comes into this race with two impressive performances thus far in 2023, including a handy win a week ago. I'll use and hope post eight inflates his price a bit. (3) PENCILS DOWN had an excuse last week as she got wiped out by a breaker in the first turn. She had been sharp prior to that, and I will include. (2) WICKENBURGH held sway on the front-end last Thursday to defeat NW4's and gets some post relief for a potent driver/trainer tandem in Jordan Stratton and Jeff Gillis. This horse was also Stratton's choice of a pair.

Race 5 - F&M NW5821L5 Pace

(5) DBLDELITEBRIGADE N returns in a very soft spot for a mare who shows racing at the NW30000L5 class the last time she was seen locally. She's raced well off the bench before and hopefully will tonight as well. (4) GOLDEN QUEST N was third against NW20000L5's when she last competed at Yonkers back in October. She recently added Lasix and picks up Jason Bartlett in the bike. (1) CRUSH ME moves in from post six to the pole position here and has shown the ability to hit the board against NW5000L5's before.

Race 6 - NW15000L5/Winner in Last Start of the Base Class NW10000L5/NW9 PM Races LT Trot

(7) JULA MUSCLE PACK will probably have to come from last but double-drops out of the NW30000L5's for a barn (Per Engblom) that's on fire. (5) OUTSIDE THE FIRE closed well to finish third last Thursday and gets a driver change to Bartlett this time. (1) HUNTING AS had no shot a week ago from post eight but drew the pole tonight and defeated NW10000L5's two back.

Race 7 - F&M NW10000L5/Winners in Last Start of the Base Class NW7500L5 Pace

Like DBLDELITEBRIGADE N in race five, (6) WESTBEACH is making her 2023 debut at a much lower level than she was racing at when last seen on a pari-mutuel basis and is worth a shot. (4) ROCKNROLL ANNIE drops a notch after a rallying third-place finish on 2-10, and trainer Ricky Bucci has been on a nice run with his stock. (1) THE PANTHEIST A ships over from the Meadowlands with back-to-back runner-up finishes and got the nod from Brent Holland over others.

Race 8 - NW20258L5/NW10 PM Races LT Trot

(3) SMALLTOWNTHROWDOWN slides down from the NW30000L5 class in his second try of 2023 and did gain some ground in the final quarter in his comeback last Thursday. (6) FLIP THE SWITCH gets to double-drop out of the Open for the Bartlett/Engblom combo and should appreciate that relief. (2) DELICIOUSSTONE DK makes his U.S. debut here for Ron Burke. I anticipate he'll be ready since he gained a couple of spots in his qualifier at the Meadowlands on February 11.

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Race 9 - F&M NW5000L5 Pace

(5) ALWAYS BE TRUE takes a second shot at bottom level mares tonight after gaining spots and ground in the final quarter a couple weeks back. She also has a driver switch to Bartlett. (3) POPPY DRAYTON N grabbed her last win against NW5000L5's on December 8 and has been facing tougher since then. (6) BOTTOMOFTHENINTH has a similar profile to my top choice as she is meeting up with NW5000L5 foes for the second time and picked up positions after closing with interest last Thursday.

Race 10 - NW4/50000LT Trot

(6) SOUTHWIND ARTURO turned in another quality effort last Thursday to finish third after having to do the first-over work into a slow pace and will get another chance from me. (7) SAID N DONE AS can't seem to get a win but always hits the board. (3) STRIKING COUNT has been in the top three in four of his last five appearances out at The Meadows and comes east into Cory Stratton's barn tonight.