Yonkers: Analysis for Thursday 8/1

MEET STATS: 163- 574 / $995.70 (-$152.30)
BEST BETS: 29 - 55 / $137.00 (+$27.60)
SPOT PLAYS: 7 - 55 / $88.40 (-$21.60)
BEST BET - ERVIN HANOVER (8th)
SPOT PLAY - BLANK STARE (5th)

Race 1 - Amateur Race for Winners Over 4074L5 Trot

(8) DIAMANTE TRIO IT starts from the outside but has been competitive in the F&M Invitational, which sticks out in a big way class-wise compared to the others in here. I'll give her a shot. (2) STICK WITH ME KID has three straight romping victories between here and Monticello and gets significant post relief after having the seven-hole in all of those wins. (1) BEACON BEACH moves inside to the pole after a gaining second-place result last Thursday and owns a tally in an amateur race at Yonkers back on June 20.

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Race 2 - 40000CLM Trot

(4) ENOLA was fourth from the eight-hole last week and slides in on the gate to post position four this time. She also has Yannick Gingras at the controls again for trainer Ron Burke. (5) PASSIONATE PROMISE drops after three straight appearances against optional $60,000 claimers and gets a driver switch to Tyler Buter. (1) ROGER RABBIT rebounded a week ago with a rallying second-place finish following a miscue on 7-18. Outside of that break, he's raced very well since coming into Scott Di Domenico's barn.

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Race 3 - NW7500L5/Winners in the Last Start of the Base Class NW5000L5 Pace

(1) BENHOPE RULZ N drops out of the NW10000L5's, drew the pole and gets a driver switch to Gingras against a beatable group. I'll use. (4) SADDLE UP won two back in a quick time at Harrah's Hoosier Park and comes east to compete for trainer/driver Joe Bonigorno now. (3) OSTRO HANOVER showed nothing on 7-13 but that was his first start back after a layoff. He has post and class relief here.

Race 4 - Invitational Trot

(6) TAKE ALL COMERS didn't threaten some tough company in the Spirit Of Massachusetts most recently but was racing well in the Invitational Trot prior to that and gets a driver switch to Jason Bartlett. (5) NOWS THE MOMENT continues to have an excellent season and you can pretty much guarantee he'll be going to the front. (3) TIPSY MONI takes on the boys tonight after dominating the F&M Invitational most of 2024. She should continue to be a win threat.

Race 5 - NW10000L5/Winners in the Last Start of the Base Class NW7500L5 Pace

(2) BLANK STARE returns off a win at Plainridge most recently, was Buter's choice of a pair of horses in this contest and drew inside. I'll swing with him. (1) SHAKESPEARE finds what should be a softer class than the 3-6YO $50,000 claimer he's been competing in and gets reunited with Bartlett. (7) SAMHARA N starts from a poor post but is dropping again and shows a victory over NW15000L5 foes back on 6-10. He also gets Jim Marohn Jr. back in the bike.

Race 6 - Amateur Race for Winners Over 2099L5 Trot

(4) VOYAGE TO PARIS has finished first and second in two outings since the Bongiorno claim and won an amateur race at Yonkers back in early June. (1) EXPLOSIVE RIDGE is in super form and was claimed by trainer Dennis Laterza out of his victory on 7-18. He gets significant post relief in this event. (6) SKYWAY PROFESSOR wound up with a difficult trip last Thursday and tired but was very sharp prior to that and is definitely usable.

Race 7 - NW21146L5/Winners in the Last Start of the Base Class NW15000L5/NW10 PM Races LT/60000CLM Trot

(3) HERODOTUS cruised over at Pocono most recently. This is a little bit tougher class but he gets some post relief compared to his last two efforts to offset that. (4) STORMONT DIVIDE finished a solid second to a sharp foe in Black Magic last Thursday and gets Gingras in the bike again for Burke. (5) CRAZYLAND hasn't been outside of the top three in his eight starts thus far in 2024 and gets reunited with Bartlett.

Race 8 - NW10201L5/Winners in the Last Start of the Base Class NW7500L5 Pace

(5) ERVIN HANOVER finds an extremely soft spot here and should deliver. One of his two wins this year came at Yonkers back in early April. (4) SOUTHWIND PETYR qualified well at Pocono on 7-24 and won his last start at Pocono on June 22 before going on the shelf for a bit. He also adds Bartlett in the bike. (6) GINGRAS BEACH continues to work his way down the ladder tonight and gets a driver switch to his namesake.

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Race 9 - 40000CLM Trot

(3) LOS BALLYKEELAMIGO is going to get another chance from me this week as he was second last week in a good effort. He wasn't Buter's choice but lands Gingras instead. (1) CANTKEEPMIASECRET has won three in-a-row and outside the one break on June 20, she's been racing very well for an extended period. (5) BRAVE BY DESIGN rallied from sixth to third in the final quarter last Thursday and gets a new driver with Buter taking the call.

Race 10 - 3-5YO 30000CLM Pace

(3) GENTLE GIANT scored last week in this class in his first outing for new connections. He moves inside a couple notches on the gate and Bongiorno takes over the driving with Scott Zeron not here. (4) TO THE HUNT went a long way on the front-end before getting picked off by GENTLE GIANT a week ago and has Gingras in the bike this time. (2) I AINT NO MACK comes south from Grand River Raceway in Ontario into a high-percentage barn and makes his third start back after a layoff.