Who would harness racing's sharpest minds select in the 2016 Trot Magazine Fantasy Stable? Trot Insider will feature 'expert picks' in advance of the May 20 deadline.
Media relations manager and on-air personality for The Meadowlands, Justin Horowitz has offered his picks for the 2016 Fantasy Stable. Horowitz picked a bit of a dark horse in Group E and selected trotting horse Obrigado for a number of solid reasons.
"Obrigado is a horse that caught my eye more than a year ago when trainer Paul Kelley purchased him at Harrisburg after he dominated in Maine as a two and three-year-old. He’s developed into a very strong free-for-all trotter. The connections have him staked to all the major events for aged trotters and that gives him the opportunity to race for big money every week," noted Horowitz. "He proved he belongs with the top trotters last year with a win in the Crawford Farms Trot at Vernon Downs and a runner-up finish in the $400,000 TVG Final to close out the season.
"I am very impressed with the way he has come back early this year and expect him to win more than one major stakes event this year. In addition, he gets around a half-mile track very well which means he could make extra money racing in the Opens at Yonkers."
Horowitz's selections in each group are as follows:
Group A:
Southwind Frank
Group B:
Bee A Magician
Group C:
Venus Delight
Group D:
All Bets Off
Group E:
Obrigado
Group F:
Shezarealdeal
Group G:
Always B Miki
Group H:
Lagerfeld
Group I: Two-Year-Old Colt Pacers:
Who Said Not To
John Dally
Group J: Two-Year-Old Filly Pacers:
Beach Showoff
Lima Fabulous
Group K: Two-Year-Old Colt Trotters:
Signal Hill
Brand New Key
Group L: Two-Year-Old Filly Trotters:
Dream Together
Thats All Moni
Group M: Trainers 1:
Rene Allard
Group N: Trainers 2:
Tony O'Sullivan
Group O: Drivers 1:
Yannick Gingras
Group P: Drivers 2:
Sylvain Filion
Horowitz joined WEG's Ken Middleton and Hoosier Park's Emily Gaskin as special guest fantasy stable analysts.
Entries for the 2016 Fantasy Stable Contest can be made up until 5:00 pm (EST) on Friday, May 20. Stables cannot be altered once submitted. Click here to enter!
The contest is based on total earnings of selected horses and five percent of the earnings of selected trainers and drivers between May 20 and December 31, 2016..
For the purposes of the fantasy bankroll, the winners (horses only) of the 2016 Breeders Crown Finals will each receive a $200,000 contest bankroll bonus. Also, in the two-year-old categories, contestants are once again asked to select TWO horses.
At the end of the year, the winner of the contest will receive entry into and travel to the 2017 World Harness Handicapping Championship, a prize valued at (approx) $1,300.