Division Honors For HBC?

Jeff Snyder and Casie Coleman have no choice but to race Michaels Power in the Matron, unless they’re satisfied with the O’Brien. After his dominant :49 win in the Progress, HBC is the clear favorite for division honors. And he’ll be back at Dover for the Matron elimination round next week. The only chance Michaels Power has is to beat HBC two weeks from now in the final, and even that may not be enough. The draw is tomorrow.

Both colts come out of a SS tradition: the BC was HBC’s first open stakes win of 2012 while MP won the Jug, Confederation Cup and a division of the SBSW. Michaels Power has earned more money, but you have to consider the competition he faced for inflated purses. In the 600K Upper Canada he was taking on the likes of Huxley, Fanelli Royal and Hard To Mach? He beat a weak SBSW field and the 300K Super Final featured Mel Mara and Needy, who have won a grand total of one career open stakes race between the two of them.

Heston also spent much of his summer crushing colts that didn’t belong on the same track with him. He did win eliminations for the M Pace and Cane, but he skipped the NA Cup, Hempt, Adios, Battle Of Brandywine, Simcoe, Bluegrass and Tattersalls. Likewise, Michael’s Power didn’t start in the NA Cup final, M Pace, Hempt, Adios, Battle Of Brandywine, Cane, Bluegrass or Tattersalls. Both spent much of the season away from the cream of the division. But ARNRD, Thinking Out Loud, Bolt The Duer, Sweet Lou and the other early to mid-season contenders have fallen off for one reason or another.

Since the Jug, Michaels Power finished second in an ONSS Gold Final, was a dull fourth in his BC elimination and an even duller tenth in the final. Then he won that Super Final. He can’t sit out the Matron and hope to win the division. If Heston wins the Matron, it’s his.

Neither one of them is eligible to the Cleveland Classic, but Bolt The Duer, who now has the Adios, Messenger and KYSS Championship in hand, is staked to it. The buy in is 15K. Will this race go into December? Would a win in the Matron and the Cleveland Classic put Duer in contention? Too little too late, I’m afraid. This is Heston’s race to lose. Tomorrow’s draw should be interesting.