Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Competition Heating Up in HANA Harness’ Grand Circuit Challenge

 May 26, 2015 -  Nine legs into the 2015 HANA Harness Grand Circuit Handicapping Challenge presented by the Bellino Stables, DRF Harness, Hambletonian Society, Meadowlands Racing and Entertainment, Northfield Park, Tioga Downs, and Vernon Downs, finds Michael Carter holding on to his early lead with 319.7 points but as could be expected finds himself with company at the top.  Two other handicappers find themselves within a hundred points of Carter; Anne Stepien, thirteenth place as of the last report now finds herself vaulted into second place with 283.6 points; Bryan Owen, third in the last report remains in the show spot with 268 points.  In addition to these two handicappers, five others are laying in contention in the 200s. 

Prior to this week, with single race dates, movement has been slight but as stakes action has kicked into high gear, dates have multiple races and this is where the points start adding up fast and it showed this past weekend.  On Sunday, three handicappers (Ray Garnett, Josi Verlingieri, and Bob Zanakis) went a perfect three-for-three earning 145.8 points thanks to victories by Great Vintage, Radar Contact, and Father Patrick in the trio of invitational races at Harrah’s Philadelphia.  Stepien and Brandon Valvo, going two for three earned 64.2 and 51.8 points respectively.

On Monday DRF Harness’ Derick Giwner and Stepien went four for four in the Graduate series races at Tioga Downs crediting each with 128.4 points as a result of selecting Shake It Cerry, Opulent Yankee, Doo Wop Hanover, and Rockeyed Optimist to win their respective divisions.

After the first nine divisions, the standings show:

Standings as of Monday, May 25, 2015 - Leg 9
Total Points
Points Earned
Overall
Position
Pos
Handicapper
Prior Week
This Week
Total Points
Last Week
1st
Michael Carter
331.70
45.60
377.30
1st
2nd
Ann Stepien
91.00
192.60
283.60
8th
3rd
Bryan Owen
173.30
94.70
268.00
2nd
4th
Josi Verlingieri
87.60
179.80
267.40
9th
5th
Gordon Waterstone
162.30
94.20
256.50
3rd
6th
Ray Garnett
69.70
182.70
252.40
15th
7th
Derick Giwner
111.20
137.90
249.10
5th
8th
Bob Zanakis
50.80
175.30
226.10
17th
9th
Sally Hinckley
129.80
53.60
183.40
4th
10th
Brandon Valvo
100.10
66.20
166.30
6th
11th
Mark Dezii
76.00
84.40
160.40
13th
12th
Jay Hochstetler
85.20
68.00
153.20
11th
13th
Dennis O'Hara
80.30
69.80
150.10
12th
14th
Garnet Barnsdale
98.00
38.80
136.80
7th
15th
Earl Paulson
86.30
50.00
136.30
10th
16th
Rusty Nash
71.10
58.20
129.30
14th
17th
Mark McKelvie
52.80
33.20
86.00
16th
18th
Mark Deutsch
50.50
34.30
84.80
18th
19th
Ray Cotolo
48.20
33.10
81.30
19th


This week (May 29 and 30), the Grand Circuit challenge heads north to The Raceway at Western Fair District for the season closing Molson Pace on Friday then heads to Yonkers Raceway for the Art Rooney Pace and Lismore Pace on Saturday for three year olds of both sexes.  The following week finds the contest at June 5 at the Meadows for the Currier & Ives for three year old filly trotters and June 6 at a quartet of tracks; The Meadows for the Currier & Ives (three year old open trotters); The Meadowlands for the Graduate Series (four year old open pacers and trotters); Scioto Downs for the Charlie Hill (four year old open trotter); Mohawk Raceway for the Somebeachsomewhere (three year old open pace).

For details on the specific races and other information regarding the contest, visit http://hanaharnesscontest.blogspot.com


Sunday, May 3, 2015

Carter Takes Early Lead in HANA Grand Circuit Handicapping Challenge

With four legs of the 2015 HANA Harness Grand Circuit Handicapping Challenge presented by the
Bellino Stables, DRF Harness, Hambletonian Society, Meadowlands Racing and Entertainment, Northfield Park, Tioga Downs, and Vernon Downs, Buffalo Raceway announcer Michael Carter has taken an early lead with 319.70 points.  Carter managed to surge to the lead due in a large part to his performance on Saturday afternoon where he had three winners, including Lady Suffolk second division winner, Northern Obsession which paid $46.20 to win.   Carter would have gone four for four on Saturday if not for his selection in the Dexter Cup, Divisionist finishing second.  Other performers of note were Bryan Owen and Gordon Waterstone who went three for four, alas without selecting Northern Obsession.  The current standings after four legs are:

Standings as of Sunday, May 3 - Leg 4
Total Points Points Earned Overall Position
Pos Handicapper Prior Week This Week Total Points Last Week
1st Michael Carter  11.60 308.10 319.70 13th (tie)
2nd Gordon Waterstone 43.50 105.20 148.70 2nd
3rd Bryan Owen 39.70 107.30 147.00 5th
4th Sally Hinckley 48.20 47.70 95.90 1st
5th Derick Giwner 33.90 58.20 92.10 8th
6th Brandon Valvo 40.90 51.00 91.90 4th
7th Earl Paulson 43.20 34.90 78.10 3rd
8th Ann Stepien 11.60 65.70 77.30 13th (tie)
9th Mark Dezii 37.00 34.60 71.60 6th
10th Josi Verlingieri 33.40 31.70 65.10 9th
11th Dennis O'Hara  18.10 45.20 63.30 11th
12th Jay Hochstetler  4.20 58.60 62.80 18th
13th Rusty Nash 35.70 21.20 56.90 7th
14th Garnet Barnsdale 8.00 46.90 54.90 15th (tie)
15th Mark McKelvie 5.90 46.90 52.80 17th
16th Mark Deutsch 11.90 38.60 50.50 12th  
17th Ray Garnett 31.80 18.10 49.90 10th
18th Ray Cotolo 8.00 40.20 48.20 15th (tie)
19th Bob Zanakis 0.00 37.20 37.20 19th


Three new handicappers join the fray, two replacing handicappers forced to scratch due to circumstances beyond their control, while one handicapper is a new addition.  Coming off the also eligible list is Bob Zanakis who is a handicapper familiar to followers of this series and Jay Hochstetler, an intern at the Horsemen and Fair World and an assistant trainer.  Added to the roster is Mark Deutsch, a former owner and trainer who now enjoys handicapping harness racing primarily on the WEG circuit.  As substitutes, Hochstetler takes over representing Rainhill Sanctuary, while Zanakis assumes representing Helping Hearts Equine Rescue.  Mark Deutsch chose New Vocations as his rescue of choice. 

Two new sponsors have joined the contest.  HANA welcomes Red Shores Charlottetown as a Silver sponsor while an Anonymous donor has signed on as a double Bronze sponsor.  Thanks to these additions, the contest handicappers are playing for a HANA Harness-record $5,700 in prize money to be distributed to the top three handicapper's selected standardbred rescues and Canadian rescues selected by the Canadian sponsors. 

This coming week, there are no events but the Handicapping Challenge returns the following week for events Saturday-Monday (5/16-5/18).  For details on the specific races and other information regarding the contest, visit http://hanaharnesscontest.blogspot.com