Yonkers: Analysis for Thursday 2/9

MEET STATS: 14 - 58 / $108.30 (-$7.70)

BEST BETS: 2 - 6 / $5.40 (-$6.60)

SPOT PLAYS: 1 - 6 / $12.00 (+$0.00)

BEST BET-LEAN HANOVER (8th)

SPOT PLAY-NORMAN'S MADELINE (7th)

Race 1 - F&M NW7500L5/Winners in Last Start of the Base Class NW5000L5 Pace

(6) CALLMEQUEENBEE A exits the $50,000 claiming class for this spot, and I'm going to expect much more aggressively handling will be forthcoming. (2) ITS MESMERISE N was in against NW10000L5's when last at Yonkers on 1-19. She finished up her most recent mile at the Meadowlands with some interest and gets Yannick Gingras in the bike here. (7) WESTERN ROSIE has been racing in tougher spots lately, except for the one victory against NW5000L5's at Freehold on January 20. Trainer Andrew Harris is off to a good start at Yonkers this year.

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Race 2 - Open Handicap Trot

(6) NOWS THE MOMENT had sharp trot finishing in the lane in the Open last Thursday and doesn't have to face the razor-sharp HL Revadon tonight. (5) HEY LIVVY wound up first-over into HL Revadon a week ago and faded in the final quarter. Her effort before that was very sharp, though, and trainer Jeff Gillis is having a solid meet thus far. (1) FLIP THE SWITCH also competes for high-percentage connections and hit the board in the Open two and three back. He gets reunited with Jason Bartlett tonight.

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Race 3 - F&M NW5000L5 Pace

(3) SOME KINDA ANGEL finds the bottom level here after facing NW7's in her last two local attempts. That might put her back in contention tonight, especially since she also drew inside. (1) FOR CHIPS SAKE and (6) ALWAYS BE TRUE have similar profiles as they both slide down from the NW7500L5 class and were fourth and fifth, respectively, in a common race a week ago.

Race 4 - NW2/30003LT Trot

(3) WANIA took a tough beat two weeks ago when he got collared on the wire by Southwind Arturo. That horse came back last Thursday and downed NW4 foes, so this guy will get another chance from me. (4) JARA tallied in her debut for trainer Edwin Quevedo at Freehold on January 27 and will look to keep it rolling tonight at Yonkers. (2) SQUABLE has hit the board in four of his last five tries and usually provides value underneath.

Race 5 - NW4/50000LT Trot

(5) SAULSGOOD makes his second start back after a layoff and was handled quite aggressively last week, doing the first-over work for the majority of the mile. Even though he faded, I think that was a positive race since he'd been making breaks before that, and I'll give him a try. (6) SENNA raced in several stakes events as part of an eight start 3-year-old campaign and looked ready in his Meadowlands qualifier on January 21. He's got the hot duo of Jason Bartlett and Per Engblom going for him, too. (4) MUSCLE DAN downed NW4 company on 1-26 and has been in good form overall for a while.

Race 6 - NW6/75000LT Trot

(6) VELVET STYLE trotted a 27 and change last quarter in his qualifier at the Meadowlands on 1-28 and had a good enough year in 2022 to make the NY Sire Stakes final. I also respect that he was Jordan Stratton's choice in this race. (1) GREG finished second in a NW8 event a week ago, and although Stratton hopped off this time, he gets reunited with Dan Dube, who guided him to a victory on the 26th of January. (2) ADORE ME got sharp to close out her 3-year-old season and then came back with a rallying second-place finish at the Meadowlands in her 2023 debut.

Race 7 - F&M NW7500L5/Winners in Last Start of the Base Class NW5000L5 Pace

(5) NORMAN'S MADELINE gets to exit the $50,000 claimers tonight and trainer Paul Stafford had a win and a second on Monday night's card. She also kept Brent Holland's services in the bike. (7) TOBAGO TIME also moves to this level from the $50,000 claimers and trainer Nick Devita's horses were very sharp last week. (1) VELOCITY MCSWEETS drew the pole position again this week and gets further class relief.

Race 8 - NW30000L5/NW12 PM Races LT/NW20000L5 Drawn Inside Trot

(5) LEAN HANOVER got a confidence-building win over NW20000L5's last Thursday and should be perfectly capable of handling this class hike since he was second at this level two back. (2) HIGHLAND MOWGLI dominated last time out at Dover and has won at Yonkers before. (4) KENZIESKY HANOVER hit the board in the Open last Thursday and gets to drop down a notch this time.

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Race 9 - NW15000L5/Winner in Last Start of the Base Class NW10000L5/NW9 PM Races LT Trot

(4) WINDSONG PIONEER continues to work his way down the class ladder tonight and also gets some post relief to go with it. I think he's another Stafford trainee that merits a chance. (6) JULA MUSCLE PACK rallied to defeat NW10000L5's last Wednesday, and it's hard to leave out any Engblom horses right now. (5) ETHAN T HANOVER was in good form in the spring last year but then went on the shelf. He qualified well over the track on January 27, and I will include.