Harrah’s Hoosier Park Friday Feature Analysis

Live racing returns to Harrah’s Hoosier Park on Friday (March 24) with a 14-race card that kicks off at 6:15 PM E.D.T. Of course, 2023 is going to be a huge season of racing as the track welcomes back its regular stakes like the Dan Patch and Caesar’s Trotting Classic but has also added new Grand Circuit races like the Peter Haughton and Jim Doherty Memorials.

The highlight of 2023 will be when Hoosier hosts the Breeders Crown series in late October. Eliminations are scheduled for October 19 to 21 with the rich finals on tap for October 27 and 28.

The featured race on the opening night card is a $22,000 Open 1/2 Pace that attracted a strong field including 2021 Indiana Sire Stakes aged champion (6) LITTLE ROCKET MAN. The now 7-year-old was able to win his 2023 debut but then found himself last at three-quarters at Miami Valley with no chance as he rallied for third. The Ken Rucker trainee should be primed for a big mile in his third start of the year and he certainly knows his way to the winner’s circle on this track.

With many of these horses coming off qualifiers, it was key to not only watch those efforts but give some consideration to which horses looked ready to fire at first asking. (8) GOLDIE’S LEGACY was very impressive in his wire-to-wire victory. While on paper it appears as though he was tiring late because his lead shrunk considerably in the stretch, rest assured he was completely shut down in the late stages of the mile. The 5-year-old did drifted a bit in the stretch but that was somewhat irrelevant since there was no need to force him to pace a straight line with a big lead.

Of the other qualifiers, (3) CROOKED

SMILE, who finished second behind Goldie’s Legacy, was also impressive. He came out late in the mile and finished very willingly while under some encouragement. (7) TRUE BLUE LINDY refused to yield the lead in his qualifier and was absolutely all-out late in the mile. He looked like he needed the race and he has more to prove than some of the others in here.

(4) PRIMARY COLOR is coming off a very strong win at Miami Valley and he certainly figures to be a factor if he brings a similar performance.

For those playing this race, my suggestion is a colt 6-8 exacta as a bigger wager and 6-3 on the smaller side. I’d expect both wagers to be returning in the $10 to $20 range.

Make sure to take advantage of a special weekend offer from DRF Bets. Just bet $50 on anything but SHOW and they’ll give you a $50 bonus.

Good luck and enjoy a great season of racing at Harrah’s Hoosier Park.