Yonkers: Analysis for Thursday 9/21

MEET STATS: 184 - 686 / $1,198.60 (-$173.40)

BEST BETS: 27 - 65 / $104.90 (-$25.10)

SPOT PLAYS: 13 - 66 / $161.30 (+$29.30)

BEST BET-NOWS THE MOMENT (9th)

SPOT PLAY-NATAMERI (1st)

Race 1 - 3-5YO Open Pace

(6) NATAMERI is having a very good season that includes a recent second-place finish to the classy Covered Bridge in the Kane Invitational at Batavia. I'll give him a shot in his first appearance in this class. (3) GREG THE LEG is quite sharp right now and has a win and a second in his last two attempts at this level. He also moves inside on the gate. (1) JM'S FINALTREASURE defeated NW20000L5 base class foes most recently and starts from the pole for the potent driver/trainer combo of George Brennan and Ron Burke.

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Race 2 - NW2/27465LT / NW1/12500LT Drawn Inside Trot

(3) BONANZA seems to finally be living up to his hefty yearling price with three wins in four starts this year. He's a lightly-raced 4-year-old and should have room for continued improvement. (5) GOTTA HABIT has hit the board in three straight outings, including back-to-back appearances in this class at Yonkers. (2) PAPA'S CAMDEN drew an inside post and recently had a second and a win against NW1's at Pocono. I'll include as he'd provide value underneath.

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Race 3 - 50000CLM Trot

(6) FOR A DREAMER wound up second as the favorite a week ago, but I think it was a solid effort and he'll offer a better price this time around. (8) EPOS OSTERVANG DK starts from an outside post again but just won easily from the seven-hole and has the powerful Jason Bartlett/Per Engblom duo in his corner. (1) HUSTLENOMICS has three wins and a second in his last five trips behind the gate and has a big post advantage on my top two selections.

Race 4 - NW6/75268LT Trot

(1) CREATE MYSTIQUE broke on 9-14 but gets reunited with Joe Bongiorno tonight from post one and faces just straight NW6 competition instead of mixed NW6 and NW8's or the one time the class went as a NW7 on August 10. She did win at this level back on the 20th of July. (6) THE GRUFFALO drops out of stakes competition but looms a short price and hasn't won yet this year, so I opted to take a shot against him on the win end. (5) WANIA is riding a three-race streak of on-the-board results and I'll toss him in underneath again.

Race 5 - NAADA Amateur Fall Series Leg #5 Trot

(3) CALL ME THEFIREMAN won a leg of this series at Yonkers on August 31 and gets post relief off his last two efforts at Monticello tonight. (1) JUDGE KEN overcame post eight to score at Yonkers on 9-6 and also moves way inside on the gate in this event. (4) BY A HOFF HANOVER went a long way on the engine before finishing second on the 6th of September and backed that up with another runner-up result most recently at Monticello.

Race 6 - NW7500L5/Winners in the Last Start of the Base Class NW5000L5 Pace

(6) GLACIS moves up from the NW5000L5's but does so off a win and catches a pretty formless group in this event. (2) THRASHER had zero shot from the eight-hole last week but gets major post relief tonight and did finish out his mile in 27 and change again. (5) KB MAC ships in from Pocono where he was also mired with a bad starting slot in his most recent performance. He won prior to that, though, and I'll toss him in the mix.

Race 7 - 50000CLM Trot

(2) PIVOTAL rallied from sixth to second in the final quarter of his race last Thursday. Lauren Tritton takes back over the driving tonight, and she won with him on August 19. (1) GAELIHILL tallied over $50,000 claimers on the 10th of August. He picks up Brennan's services in the bike tonight for Burke. (6) KOSHER MAHONEY rebounded from his break on 9-6 to win in front-end fashion a week ago and gives the Bartlett/Engblom duo another contender on the program.

Race 8 - F&M Open Handicap Trot

(6) WHAT SHOULD I GOO just prevailed pretty handily in this class on 9-7 and I'll put her on top again tonight over (5) NO MAS DRAMA, who finished second to her in that event and was third in the Open Handicap a week ago. (4) QUEEN OF ALL comes in from Pocono riding a three-race win streak and picks up Bartlett.

Race 9 - NW30000L5/NW12 PM Races LT/75000CLM Trot

(5) NOWS THE MOMENT miscued before the start of the Robert Miecuna Invitational Trot on 9-9 but that was very out of character for him. I'll look for him to bounce back tonight as he gets a rare chance to race below the Open level. (2) EUROBOND held sway on the engine to win in this class a week ago and gets to take another crack at it tonight. (3) NEW HEAVEN moves inside on the gate and closed out his most recent mile on September 7 with plenty of trot.

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Race 10 - NW4/50000LT Trot

(5) DIAMANTE TRIO IT returns to a more reasonable spot here after tackling F&M Open company most recently. I'll hope she puts in a good effort tonight like she did when she was second against NW4's on 8-31. (4) SEVECHEETAH exits the New York Sire Stakes program and gets a driver switch to Brennan for Burke. (1) IM AN ANDOVER finished a gaining second in a NW4 tilt on the 7th of September and drew the pole to help his chances tonight.