Catskill Steve's Picks
Wednesday December 11 Recap
Wednesday December 11 was a unseasonably warm and wet day with a track rated as sloppy, it saw both winners of the Open Trot score in wire to wire winning performances. The dreary weather did not affect the handle as $463,251 was wagered on the Mighty M this afternoon with a $58,375 per race average.
Jim Taggart Jr crossed the wire first in an easy effort in the first of 2 Open Trots aboard Woodside Genius in 2:02.1 – $5.00, the pocket sitting Jumpshot (G. Decker Jr.) was second and Raceace (A. Schwartz) getting up for the show spot. The other Open Trot saw the favorite Practical Cat who scored by a scant neck over Mufasa AS (J. Devaux) in 2:00.1 – $3.00, Practical Cat was driven by Greg Merton and is by Top Ten trainer Anthony Regina.
The 1/9 favorite Provocativeprincen was seeking his 16th season win, but the effort was thwarted as he made a break leaving, he has only 2 weeks left in his racing career, the 14-year-old has banked almost $70,000 this year alone.
Modern Rock (K. DiBenedetto) continued his winning ways and picked up his lucky 13th seasonal win in 1:58.3 – 2.80 for trainer Cody Houghtaling.
Mike Merton leads all drivers with a triple while Jim Taggart Jr. & Kyle DiBenedetto each had a pair of winning drives.
