by “Catskill” Steve Terjanian

Catskill Steve offers his picks for the $15,000 Pick-4 at The Meadows on July 27, part of the U.S. Trotting Association Strategic Wagering Program.

The Meadows Pick-4, Races 9-12, Saturday, July 27, 2013

$.50 play: 123/347/34/147 = $27

Analysis:

Race 9: (2) Cinamony rallied with :27.3 final quarter in career debut two back, then made a sharp :26.1 third quarter brush but couldn’t clear filly who went monster mile and weakened late. Filly makes third career start and, though I’m not overly excited about the rail, can continue to improve and may take it at a price. (3) Palm Beach has shown speed in all four of her career starts and looks dangerous near the top. I’ll throw in the Burke entry as well, (1) Bet On Me Hanover and (1A) Fiyonce, the former showing some nice closing kick in a few of her races and the latter a good place finisher from nine-hole against New Jersey Sire Stakes fillies at the Meadowlands in last.

Race 10: (7) Invictus Hanover lost any chance when he didn’t leave last time and wound up chasing :55.1 middle half in second career start, missed by 3-1/2 lengths. Youngster showed good speed in all his previous starts and will likely be a formidable foe on or near the front here with a likely alert getaway. I’m using (3) A Ok Hanover who scored a wire-to-wire win in 1:52.3 mile at Pocono in latest and (4) Avalanche Hanover, who didn’t leave in small field, was forced to try and close off slow pace and was impeded turning for home while swinging four wide. Look for more aggressive handling on this one this afternoon.

Race 11: (4) Talkative has shown the most speed of any in here in her short career and looks hard to catch. (3) Boots N Saddle has finished strongly in both her tries over this track, gets Sears and should be charging late.

Race 12: (7) Vegas Vacation is a 3-year-old that can flat out fly late but must not get too far behind as he did in the Hempt final when he rallied wide with :54.2 final half to miss by a neck to Captaintreacherous, the top pacer in the land right now. In the elimination last week he found himself six lengths behind at the half from the rail and paced a sparkling :53.2 final half to earn a berth in the final which is maybe all he wanted. The only horses I give a shot at beating him are (1) Lonewolf Currier, who put his name on the chart of top pacing sophomores with an ultra game win in elimination last week, holding sway after being used the entire final half in 1:48.4 for John Campbell and, as we all know, no one has been better in events like this over the past couple of decades than JC. Colt is certainly peaking at the right time and hopefully has something left in the tank off that last mile. I’ll use the fast (4) Sunfire Blue Chip as well. This one wasn’t as impressive as the one, winning his elimination from seven hole last time but his effort in the Hempt final sticks out. In that race he pushed Captaintreacherous the entire Pocono stretch after being used hard early to get the top from eight hole and was dead game past a 1:21 flat three-quarters.