Yonkers: Analysis for Thursday 5/13

MEET STATS: 76 - 296 / $456.90 (-$135.10)

BEST BETS: 14 - 30 / $54.80 (-$5.20)

SPOT PLAYS: 3 - 30 / $18.20 (-$39.80)

BEST BET-BLUFFINNER (4th)

SPOT PLAY-BALFAST N (8th)

Race 1 - North American Amateur Drivers Association Trot

(4) KEYSTONE BLADE couldn't rally off cover last week, but this horse has surprised at long odds recently, and I'll hope he has some value in this amateur event that makes the pari-mutuel card. (3) LADY EAGLE is a fresh claim for trainer Scott Di Domenico. She's been racing pretty well and showed a good closing kick in her most recent performance, which could aid her in here. (1) GOLDEN KRONOS has hit the board in his last two tries in this amateur series at Yonkers and has the pole position to help him get a stalking trip.

Race 2 - NW2/25000LT Trot

(4) ELIZA B picked up a couple of second-place results as a 2-year-old in the New York Sire Stakes program and qualified nicely over at Pocono on 5-5, closing in 28 1/5 after sitting third. (8) DESTINY BLUE CHIP has been knocking on the door since coming down from Canada and does have an advantage as the only 4-year-old in here. (3) ROOKIE SEASON led and wound up third to the well-meant Masstro back on the 29th of April. He gets a driver change tonight to Jason Bartlett, who chose him over another one.

Race 3 - F&M NW5000L5/12500CLM Pace

(2) BULLVILLEKARLA seemed to get along well with driver Doug McNair a week ago as she finished a closing third. Her last pair of tries are "sneaky" good, and while winless this year, none of the mares in here have been overly productive thus far in 2021. (3) E R HILARY worked very hard to get to the front from post eight last Thursday and tired. She drew much better tonight, and if that effort didn't take too much out of her, I could see her being a contender. (1) ROCKIN THE BOYS A drops to the bottom level tonight but none of her recent appearances have shown much, and I think you have to try and beat her on top.

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

(3) BLUFFINNER kept his streak of vicious performances going down at Harrah's Philadelphia as he blew away a group of NW5's in a life's-best clocking. He won't offer much of a price, but I think he's too sharp to go against. (7) HEAT WAVE HANOVER was a good second to a classy foe in Chaptiama last Thursday but runs into another horse from the same barn tonight in my top pick. She does get a chance with leading driver Jordan Stratton here. (5) YANKEE GIRLFRIEND ships up from Pompano Park. She's shown a knack for winning with an eight-for-22 record and has experience racing on a half-mile track as she competed in the Buckette on Jugette Day at the Delaware County Fair in 2020.

Race 5 - F&M NW5000L5/12500CLM Pace

(2) AMERICAN TOUR N put in a good effort to finish third in a NW5000L5 race that went a pretty quick time a week ago. She moves inside on the gate and meets up with a field that looks like she might be able to wire. (3) ACEFORTYFOUR DOME slides down to the bottom level here after facing better since she was claimed on April 1. Trainer Jody Riedel pulled an recent upset in this class with Sudden Change N. (8) ANNABETH exits the NW7500L5's where she was second as the favorite last Thursday. As I mentioned with my top pick, this race doesn't appear to have a lot of early speedsters, so I think she can probably get positioned from the outside post.

Race 6 - F&M NW7500L5/Winners in Last Start of the Base Class NW5000L5/15000CLM Pace

(4) CLASSY CHAPEL N steps up in class after a second-place finish in her first start for trainer Nick Devita last Thursday. I think Devita's horses tend to show improvement in their second effort for him, and I'll look for that to happen here. (3) TAKE ABIT OF LIFE was a regular in the Open down at Pompano for trainer Jake Huff and has won at Yonkers in the past. (1) SLICK ARTIST A tallied over bottom level foes down at Harrah's Philadelphia, so this should be a tougher spot, but she also enters the high-percentage Gil Garcia-Herrera barn and starts from the pole.

Race 7 - F&M NW20000L5/30000CLM/NW10 or 125000LT Pace

(2) IMPRINCESSGEMMA A was in the Preferred and the Open in her last two appearances at Yonkers and then faced a tough field at Harrah's Philadelphia after that. I think this spot is much more reasonable for her and that she should be one of the main contenders. (5) WALTZWITHSIERRA A rallied impressively to finish in a dead-heat for second in her U.S. debut last Thursday and got the nod from Stratton over others in here. (6) GOLDEN QUEST N lost Stratton to Waltzwithsierra A but gets to drop out of the Open after picking up two checks.

Race 8 - F&M NW8000L5/Winners in Last Start of the Base Class NW5000L5/15000CLM Pace

(7) BALFAST N paced a 28 2/5 final quarter to gain spots and ground a week ago and gets to slide down from the NW10000L5 class. The last couple of times she's gotten to compete at this level, she's been victorious. (5) CINDERELLA DELIGHT is very sharp right now, having hit the board in her last six tries, including three wins. (4) ANN HILL squeezed into this class by $10, so I have to think the connections will be looking to take advantage of that. She wound up with George Brennan driving, so maybe that means an aggressive try is coming.

Race 9 - F&M NW10000L5/Winners in Last Start of the Base Class NW7500L5/20000CLM Pace

(1) BEST HONEY HANOVER receives both post and class relief tonight and was a good second two back against better. (5) TELLITSASSYMAE continues to work her way up the ladder here, but her last two wins have been very strong, and I imagine she'll be the one to beat again. (3) PAPPY ROCKS took all of the tote action a week ago in her debut for Garcia-Herrera but had to settle for third. Let's see if driver Dan Dube is more aggressive with her this time.

Race 10 - F&M NW15000L5/Winner in Last Start of the Base Class NW10000L5/25000CLM/NW9 Pace

(2) PAMMY JO wouldn't settle last Thursday and wound up having an impossible trip. I'd expect Di Domenico to have that resolved tonight, she switches drivers to Brennan, and she raced well at this level a number of times in 2020. (4) THE CHARGING MOA N has shown a propensity for finishing second this year, and that's where I'll put her tonight. Her last runner-up finish came behind Norman's Madeline, who came back to race well in the Open. (6) MALNIFICENT gave the optional $30,000 claiming class a chance a week ago after winning on 4-22 but couldn't get involved from post eight. She quickly moves back down to optional $25,000 claimers here, and I think she could threaten.