by Bill Eichenberger

Bill Eichenberger offers his picks for the $20,000 guaranteed Hoosier Cup Superfecta at Hoosier Park on June 25, part of the USTA Strategic Wagering program.

Hoosier Park Superfecta, Race 12, Saturday, June 25, 2011

We had three of the four winners in the Pick-4 at Hoosier Park on June 15, including a trifecta in the first leg that paid a paltry $14.50. (Hey, it beats losing.) The Pick-4, on the other hand, paid a princely $285.70. Ouch. On Saturday, Hoosier Park will host a series of Indiana Sire Stakes races as well as the $500,000 Hoosier Cup, which features a $20,000 guaranteed Superfecta pool in the 12th.

$.50 Superfecta key: 6 over 3 over 1289 = $6
$.50 Superfecta key: 3 over 6 over 1289 = $6

Analysis:

Race 12: Some of the 3-year-old colts and geldings in this pace will be familiar to handicappers of the Pepsi North America Cup won by Up the Credit with Jody Jamieson in the sulky and the NA Cup consolation won last week by Bestofbest Hanover.

In the Cup, (6) Big Bad John faded to fifth after passing the three-quarter pole in first place. He finished in 1:50 and is the favorite here at 3-1. His best winning time in his two-year career is 1:50.2. The colt has won seven of nine lifetime.

In one of those go figure moments in harness racing — and the sport is simply full to bursting with them — the Cup consolation was won by Bestofbest Hanover in a blazing 1:49.1, a full two-fifths of a second better than the winner of the NA Cup!

That means (3) Custard The Dragon’s 1:49.3 was good enough only for show in the consolation! The colt attempted a wire-to-wire but faltered ever so slightly down the stretch and finished behind Bestofbest Hanover and Mystician. No shame in that race, especially since Custard The Dragon has proven in the past two years his will and desire, winning five of his 11 lifetime races.

Custard The Dragon has mondo early speed and should set the tempo here. The six hole should not prove any sort of impediment for Big Bad John, especially not with Hoosier Park’s long backstretch that makes it possible to win from almost any post.

The pacer who really caught my eye at the NA Cup was (8) Wink N Atcha, who charged from 16 lengths back at the half to finish fourth, only 2-1/2 lengths out. The colt’s final quarter was an awe-inspiring :25.4. What we’ll have to see on Saturday is whether that fraction suggests success with a better trip or perhaps a dull effort after such an extreme expenditure of energy.

(9) Wind Me Up certainly belongs in this elite company though his post position is one of only two at Hoosier Park that places the Standarbreds at a meaningful statistical disadvantage. The other is the 11 post. Still, not an impossible task for Wind Me Up, especially given the colt’s ability to roar immediately from outside posts to the lead, something he’s done in four of his last five races.

Trainer George Teague, Jr. is sending four out for the Hoosier Cup: Custard The Dragon, Feel Like a Fool, Wink N Atcha and Wind Me Up.