Yonkers: Analysis for Wednesday 2/17

MEET STATS: 22 - 80 / $119.80 (-$40.20)
BEST BETS: 6 - 8 / $23.80 (+$7.80)
SPOT PLAYS: 1 - 8 / $4.30 (-$11.70)
BEST BET - SIR JOHN F (3rd)
SPOT PLAY - LAINIE HANOVER (7th)

Race 1 - F&M NW3/25000LT Pace

(2) READY SET ROCK has been pretty win shy lately, but gets to exit the NW4 class this time, moves inside, and races out of the high-percentage Nick Devita barn. (5) DRAGON ROLL should be the one to beat given her recent efforts against NW4's locally and a good third versus NW7500L5's at the Meadowlands. (6) CHELSKI scored nicely against NW2's a week ago and gets Todd McCarthy to come over and drive again.

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Race 2 - NW5000L5/12500CLM Trot

(5) CONQUEST AS miscued on 1-27 when he shipped down from Canada, but I expect trainer Travis Alexander to have him figured out this time, and he also gets class relief, moving down from the NW7500L5's. (4) WINNERESS was second-best to the well-meant Whether Or Not FI last Wednesday at this level and gets another shot with Matt Kakaley tonight. (2) FIJI finished third and fourth in a couple chances against NW5000L5's at Yonkers in January and has post relief after starting from the seven-hole at Freehold most recently.

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Race 3 - NW5000L5/12500CLM Trot

(1) SIR JOHN F starts from a significantly better post tonight after having two eight-holes and a seven in his last three, and I will bank on him being live. (7) BLENHEIM finished third two back against NW7500L5's and cruised to an easy win the last time he raced against NW5000L5's on 11-10. (2) DIRTY SECRET slides down to the bottom level and gets reunited with Daniel Dube. She got caught up in a battle on the front-end last Wednesday, so I can excuse that well-beaten margin.

Race 4 - NW7500L5/Winners in Last Start of the Base Class NW5000L5/15000CLM Trot

(6) SPLIT RAIL rallied nicely in the last quarter to top NW5000L5's on 1-27 and meets up with a wide-open group of NW7500L5's here. (2) THE ROYAL POZE moves back inside and faces a much softer field this week than the one he was in against last Wednesday. (3) TOTAL DIVA is in pretty good form and seemed to get along well with Kakaley a week ago.

Race 5 - F&M NW5000L5/12500CLM Pace

(6) QUITE A DELIGHT N closed from seventh to second in the final quarter last Wednesday and gets another opportunity against the NW5000L5's tonight. (5) MISS IRISH ROSE A exits the NW7500L5 level here. She had a second and two fourths in the NW5000L5 class in December and January. (2) CHECK MACH has hit the board in four of seven appearances in this class, including a victory on the 15th of December.

Race 6 - NW7501L5/Winners in Last Start of the Base Class NW5000L5/15000CLM Trot

(5) WHETHER OR NOT FI crunched that group of NW5000L5's in his Yonkers return last week, and given his success over the track during his career, I don't see the class hike being much of an issue. (4) MUSCLE AVE was in against NW10000L5's when last seen at Yonkers and qualified well at Pocono given the two second variant. (3) FOMOR picked up a second and a third in two opportunities against NW7500L5's in January and should have picked up some confidence with a win over NW5000L5's on 2-9.

Race 7 - F&M NW4/50000LT Pace

(2) LAINIE HANOVER owns a win over the track against NW2's on 1-13 and raced pretty well last week in the NW4 class from post seven, closing in 28 3/5 to finish fourth. I'll give her a shot from this better draw. (4) PRAY THE ROSARY has a prior victory at the NW4 level on December 15 and gets to drop after facing NW6's last Wednesday. (3) ODDS ON VERO BEACH posted a second and a third in three appearances at Yonkers in November and December of 2020 and picks up Todd McCarthy tonight.

Race 8 - NW10000L5/Winners in Last Start of the Base Class NW7500L5/20000CLM Trot

(2) ARABELLA'S CADET showed that race on 1-22 at the Meadowlands was an outlier as she was a dominant winner in the NW7500L5 class. She moves up a level here, but I think she's perfectly capable of handling it. (4) LIFETIME ROYALTY also exits a dominating win over a group of NW7500L5's, and he might even be sharper tonight given he hadn't raced since 12-15 coming into that appearance. (7) SMALLTOWNTHROWDOWN has a great history at Yonkers and over $1 million in the bank. He was third in the Open at Northfield in early January and comes in from that oval off a victory.

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Race 9 - NW10000L5/Winners in Last Start of the Base Class NW7500L5/20000CLM Trot

(1) STINGLIKE A B K might be too high up in class, but I'm not in love with any of the others in here, and he gets reunited with McCarthy from the pole position. (4) SEVEN KNIGHTS wasn't Kakaley's choice, but he drops after finishing fourth against NW15000L5's most recently and gets a strong replacement in Jason Bartlett. (6) LUCKY WEEKEND posted a win at this level on the 24th of November and was fourth to Lindsey's Pride on 1-27. That rival came back to finish third in the Open Handicap Trot on February 12.

Race 10 - F&M NW6/75000LT Pace

(7) MAN DONTFORGET ME really had every chance to win last Wednesday after cutting the fractions but had to settle for third. I'm willing to give her another chance, though, as she should offer a better price and picks up McCarthy for the first time. (5) ACEFORTYFOUR DOME probably needed that start a week ago given the gap in her schedule, and I'd expect some improvement. Trainer Scott DiDomenico's charges have started to race better as a whole as of late. (1) VICIOUS CIRCLE is a horse I didn't really know what to do with. She won her last start at Northfield in 52 and change, but that was on 11-21. She qualified well up at Monticello, but this is pretty tough spot for a comebacker. I'll use underneath.