Anne Stepien Earns HANA Jug Week Win, Closes Gap on Hinckley and McKelvie

by Rusty Nash for HANA Harness

September 28, 2015 – The Little Brown Jug Week results are now in for the 2015 HANA Harness Grand Circuit Handicapping Challenge presented by the Bellino Stables, DRF Harness, Green Acquisition Corporation, Hambletonian Society, Isle of Capri Pompano Park, Meadowlands Racing and Entertainment, Northfield Park, Tioga Downs, and Vernon Downs.

The week kicked off with two days of great fair racing from Delaware Ohio.  Day one featured the Jugette and day two was the Little Brown Jug.

Ray Cotolo jumped out to the early lead selecting two winners on Wednesday.  He scored with Bettor N Better and Classical Anne for 87 HANA points.  Ray was the only handicapper to select two winners on a day where the front end was collapsing for most of the day.  Ray Garnett was a solid second when he landed Speak To Me for 43 HANA points.  The $29 win price was the best of the day.  Mark McKelvie earned third without a winner.  That is certainly a rarity but the 19 HANA points earned when Bedroomconfessions and Smexi both finished second stood up to be third best on the day.

On Little Brown Jug day we had four handicappers successfully select three winners.  Gordon Waterstone and Earl “Super Computer” Paulson each won with French Laundry, Lost For Words and Wiggle It Jiggleit.  They also ran second with Classic Martine to earn a top score of 76 HANA points.  Dennis O’Hara clicked with the same three winners.  Dennis had Rocking With Dewey in the fourth race to collect show money and earn 73 HANA points.  Coming off a strong performance last week, the voice of Buffalo Raceway Michael Carter was a very close fourth with the same three winners but missed in the final tie breaker race.  With eight races down and seven to go after a day off, Ray Cotolo had elbowed his way to the front in our weekly friendly competition.

After a needed day off all the handicappers reassembled to battle it out in six races from Hoosier plus the Milton from Mohawk.  Anne Stepien earned the win and the honors as the only one to select 4 winners.  There were two races on the evening where only two handicappers came up with the winner.  In both cases Anne was one of those two.  First was Anne’s selecting Sunset Glider to win the Kentucky Stallion Management 2 year old filly trot with Sunset Glider.  Anne followed that up with American Passport in The Elevation 2yoCG pace.  Anne’s four winners earned her 219 HANA points on the evening and propelled her to the nightly win by more than 100 points!

The top five handicappers were all able to hold onto their positions this week.  Sally Hinckley still has her two hundred plus point lead over Mark McKelvie.  Anne Stepien remains third but she is much closer now to both Mark and Sally.  Bob Zanakis and Earl Paulson were not put under any pressure this week and retained their fourth and fifth place positions.

Standings as of September 26, 2015 - Leg 43
		Total Points	Points Earned	Overall	Position
Pos	Handicapper	Prior Week	This Week	Total Points	Last Week	Points Back
1st	Sally Hinckley	3,019.10	139.30	3,158.40	1st
2nd	Mark McKelvie	2,796.20	131.40	2,927.60	2nd	230.8
3rd	Anne Stepien	2,529.10	256.10	2,785.20	3rd	373.2
4th	Bob Zanakis	2,418.10	50.80	2,468.90	4th	689.5
5th	Earl Paulson	2,293.70	119.80	2,413.50	5th	744.9
6th	Gordon Waterstone	2,285.20	107.80	2,393.00	6th	765.4
7th	Dennis O'Hara	2,130.00	134.20	2,264.20	7th	894.2
8th	Josi Verlingieri	1,975.50	114.60	2,090.10	10th	1,068.3
9th	Bryan Owen	2,018.50	64.90	2,083.40	8th	1,075.0
10th	Rusty Nash	1,997.40	67.70	2,065.10	9th	1,093.3
11th	Michael Carter	1,818.10	78.50	1,896.60	11th	1,261.8
12th	Derick Giwner	1,671.00	152.10	1,823.10	13th	1,335.3
13th	Ray Garnett	1,678.30	100.20	1,778.50	12th	1,379.9
14th	Mark Dezii	1,665.40	109.40	1,774.80	14th	1,383.6
15th	Garnet Barnsdale	1,657.30	51.80	1,709.10	15th	1,449.3
16th	Jay Hochstetler	1,542.40	62.30	1,604.70	16th	1,553.7
17th	Ray Cotolo	1,207.50	134.70	1,342.20	18th	1,816.2
18th	Brandon Valvo	1,261.20	38.00	1,299.20	17th	1,859.2
19th	Mark Deutsch	819.20	91.50	910.70	19th	2,247.7

With Jug week over we turn to the anticipated final two weeks of action from The Red Mile.  Wednesday through Saturday will hold eight different sets of Bluegrass divisions.  In addition we will also be making a rare but enjoyable visit to Dayton Raceway for the Dayton Pacing Derby and the Dayton Trotting Derby. 

HANA Handicappers go Under Saddle

Saturday night is the inaugural running of the $10,000 Harlequin Invitational at Mohawk Racetrack, it being contested as the second race on the evening card; part of the Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots program which also features the Milton Stakes, part of the Grand Circuit Handicapping Challenge.

Anyway, a number of the handicappers participating in the Grand Circuit Handicapping Challenge have decided to make their selections for the first parimutuel racing under saddle event at Mohawk Racetrack even though it is not part of the contest.  In addition to win, place, and show wagering, exacta, trifecta, and superfecta wagering is also being offered.  The race also completes the early daily double as well as kicks-off the early Pick 3.

So here are their selections, in no particular order:

Garnet Barnsdale - (7) WINE PHOTO gets the call in this Racing Under Saddle event based on his close second in a similar race on August 29th and his rider’s excellent record in these races this year. (4) A PENNY EARNED is one of the classier entrants and his rider has won 60% of her limited RUS starts this year. (3) HIDDEN IDENTITY was a good 2nd in a RUS race earlier this month and is another contender to consider.

Dennis O'Hara - (4) A PENNY EARNED

Josi Verlingieri - (4) A PENNY EARNED

Ray Garnett -  Exacta Box (3) HIDDEN IDENTITY - (5) SANTO DOMINGO - (7) WINE PHOTO.  Trifecta Box includes the same three horses plus adding (4) A PENNY EARNED.

Sally Hinckley - (4) A PENNY EARNED might be nice odds.  Also like a trifecta key with (1) COOL  CREEK VALLEY and (2) TWIN B EXCALIBUR under my top choice.

Earl Paulson - (4) A PENNY EARNED.  EXACTA BOX - Top choice with (5) SANTO DOMINGO.  TRIFECTA BOX - Add (6) FUNNY PHOTO.

Rusty Nash - If you can get 8-1 or more on (4) A PENNY EARNED, that is my play.  Otherwise I would go with an exacta box of (3) HIDDEN IDENTITY, (5) SANTO DOMINGO, and (7) WINE PHOTO.


Bryan Owen - I like 7-3-10-2...7 Wine Photo, looks to have the best of the drivers and will win it with a good trip.  3 Hidden Identity will be a betting favorite, but I'm hoping the 7 will trip out.  The 10 is a sneaky play as I only really dislike the post, but I expect a lot of breakers to make the trip much easier.  Don't dismiss.  Finish out the super with 2 Twin B Excalibur, will be a big price, but don't expect him to break in a race that may see very few stay on stride

McKelvie Closing the Gap on Hinckley in Grand Circuit Handicapping Challenge

September 21, 2015 – Mark McKelvie picked up some ground on Sally Hinckley this week in the 2015 HANA Harness Grand Circuit Handicapping Challenge presented by the Bellino Stables, DRF Harness, Green Acquisition Corporation, Hambletonian Society, Isle of Capri Pompano Park, Meadowlands Racing and Entertainment, Northfield Park, Tioga Downs, and Vernon Downs.

The week opened at The Meadows where the Nadia Lobell was won by Safe From Terror.  Mark Deutsch was able to select the winner and he took the daily honors with 22.8 points.  We needed the decimal point because Bryan Owen just missed with longshot The Show Returns.  The place and show prices returned 22.6 points.  One fifth of a point separated the early weekly leaders.  Divine Caroline finished third and that caused a four way dead heat for the show spot between Sally Hinckley, Anne Stepien, Derick Giwner and Ray Cotolo.

Saturday evening the HANA Grand Circuit Handicapping team visited Mohawk for another big night of racing.  On this evening we witnessed perfection!  There is a good reason that Mark McKelvie has been positioned near the top of the standing for so long.  He correctly selected all five winners!  Mark scored with Southwind Frank, Caprice Hill, Bee A Magician, Mission Brief and Pinkman.  The 5X multiplier earned Mark all 196 points that were available.

Three other handicappers had four winners each.  They each had a different combination of winners and earned different scores.  The place honors went to Buffalo’s own Michael “Horsy Boy” Carter with 122 points.  Bee A Magician was the key to his second place finish.  Josi Verlingieri took the show spot with 114 points and Earl Paulson was fourth with 109 points.

The final accent on this racing week was the Bobby Quillen Memorial at Harrington Raceway where Foiled Again was the featured headliner.  Mach It So edged by him at the top of the lane and while the old boy fought back with everything he had Mach It So held on for the short neck win.  Mach It So, off at 8-1, returned 25 HANA contest points for a quartet of very sharp handicappers.  Successfully beating the chalk were Ray Garnett, Jay Hochstetler, Earl Paulson and Anne Stepien.  The rest of the HANA handicappers were grateful that there was no bonus multiplier available with the $18 winner!

Mark McKelvie easily took the weekly honors with a total of 198 points.  Earl Paulson was second best with 135 and Michael Carter was third with 124.  Rounding out the super and the penta were Josi Verlingieri and Bryan Owen.

There was one change to the overall contest pentafecta.  With Mach It So winning the Quillen, Earl Paulson just edged out Gordon Waterstone for the fifth spot by a mere 8.5 points.  Sally Hinckley continues to lead with Mark McKelvie slowly closing the gap.  Ann Stepien remains in third and Bob Zanakis maintained his fourth place position.  Things are sure to change next week with more than a dozen races lined up.

Standings as of September 21, 2015 - Leg 41
		Total Points	Points Earned	Overall	Position
Pos	Handicapper	Prior Week	This Week	Total Points	Last Week	Points Back
1st	Sally Hinckley	2,982.80	36.30	3,019.10	1st
2nd	Mark McKelvie	2,598.10	198.10	2,796.20	2nd	222.9
3rd	Anne Stepien	2,440.90	88.20	2,529.10	3rd	490.0
4th	Bob Zanakis	2,354.30	63.80	2,418.10	4th	601.0
5th	Earl Paulson	2,158.70	135.00	2,293.70	6th	725.4
6th	Gordon Waterstone	2,218.40	66.80	2,285.20	5th	733.9
7th	Dennis O'Hara	2,068.30	61.70	2,130.00	7th	889.1
8th	Bryan Owen	1,929.40	89.10	2,018.50	9th	1,000.6
9th	Rusty Nash	1,938.60	58.80	1,997.40	8th	1,021.7
10th	Josi Verlingieri	1,860.90	114.60	1,975.50	10th	1,043.6
11th	Michael Carter	1,693.20	124.90	1,818.10	11th	1,201.0
12th	Ray Garnett	1,644.90	33.40	1,678.30	13th	1,340.8
13th	Derick Giwner	1,604.00	67.00	1,671.00	14th	1,348.1
14th	Mark Dezii	1,597.60	67.80	1,665.40	15th	1,353.7
15th	Garnet Barnsdale	1,651.60	5.70	1,657.30	12th	1,361.8
16th	Jay Hochstetler	1,517.00	25.40	1,542.40	16th	1,476.7
17th	Brandon Valvo	1,234.80	26.40	1,261.20	17th	1,757.9
18th	Ray Cotolo	1,124.00	83.50	1,207.50	18th	1,811.6
19th	Mark Deutsch	751.80	67.40	819.20	19th	2,199.9

Jug week is upon us and we will have plenty of HANA Grand Circuit Handicapping action starting on Wednesday from Delaware Ohio.  The week kicks off with the Jugette, Buckette, Little Brown Jug, Old Oaken Bucket and the Miss Versatility.  Saturday features the Milton from Mohawk and a nice set of stakes from Hoosier Park.

For contest selections and further information, visit the contest website at http://hanaharnesscontest.blogspot.com.

Battle of the Techno-cappers in HANA Harness Grand Circuit Challenge

September 13, 2015 – It was a tight finish this week as the two admitted techno-cappers battled all the way to the 14^th race at Scioto Down in 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.

Earl “Super Computer” Paulson collected 166 HANA Grand Circuit points by selecting 4 winners on the evening.  The key to Earl’s victory was landing the largest priced winner.  He was the only one to successfully come up with Doo Wop Hanover to upset in the Jim Ewart Memorial at Scioto.  In second was Rusty “The Worksheet” Nash who also selected four winners including the second best price of the evening on Nvestment Bluechip in the Champlain two year old pace at Mohawk.

Four other handicappers finished with four of six winners for the evening.  While Saratoga Harness had a triple dead heat Saturday evening, the HANA Grand Circuit had a double dead heat.  Tied for third were Mark McKelvie and Bobby Zanakis at 143 points.  Tied for the final spot on our weekly Pentafecta ticket were Bryan Owen and tour leader Sally Hinckley at 124 points.

It is also worth noting that four handicappers hit the board in all six races.  These consistent players were Ray Garnett, Derick Giwner, Rusty Nash and Brandon Valvo.

The top five in the overall Grand Circuit Tour remain exactly the same this week.  Sally Hinckley remains on top with 2,918 points.  She was able to maintain an impressive lead of more than 300 points.  Mark McKelvie did gain a little bit of ground and still remains the “Best Of The Rest.”  Anne Stepien,  Bob Zanakis and Gordon Waterstone complete the black type.

Standings as of September 12, 2015 - Leg 37
		Total Points	Points Earned	Overall	Position
Pos	Handicapper	Prior Week	This Week	Total Points	Last Week	Points Back
1st	Sally Hinckley	2,858.30	124.50	2,982.80	1st
2nd	Mark McKelvie	2,454.40	143.70	2,598.10	2nd	384.7
3rd	Anne Stepien	2,409.40	31.50	2,440.90	3rd	541.9
4th	Bob Zanakis	2,210.60	143.70	2,354.30	4th	628.5
5th	Gordon Waterstone	2,148.20	70.20	2,218.40	5th	764.4
6th	Earl Paulson	1,992.50	166.20	2,158.70	7th	824.1
7th	Dennis O'Hara	2,036.80	31.50	2,068.30	6th	914.5
8th	Rusty Nash	1,789.50	149.10	1,938.60	10th	1,044.2
9th	Bryan Owen	1,804.90	124.50	1,929.40	8th	1,053.4
10th	Josi Verlingieri	1,798.60	62.30	1,860.90	9th	1,121.9
11th	Michael Carter	1,667.10	26.10	1,693.20	11th	1,289.6
12th	Garnet Barnsdale	1,625.50	26.10	1,651.60	12th	1,331.2
13th	Ray Garnett	1,611.70	33.20	1,644.90	13th	1,337.9
14th	Derick Giwner	1,557.00	47.00	1,604.00	15th	1,378.8
15th	Mark Dezii	1,583.70	13.90	1,597.60	14th	1,385.2
16th	Jay Hochstetler	1,479.90	37.10	1,517.00	16th	1,465.8
17th	Brandon Valvo	1,200.10	34.70	1,234.80	17th	1,748.0
18th	Ray Cotolo	1,064.30	59.70	1,124.00	18th	1,858.8
19th	Mark Deutsch	702.50	49.30	751.80	19th	2,231.0

Next week we break up the week starting with the Nadia Lobell from The Meadows on Wednesday.  Then we visit Mohawk again on Saturday for an exceptional evening of five finals.  They are The Peaceful Way, The Maple Leaf Trot, The William Wellwood, The Canadian Trot Classic and The Elegant Image.  Finally on Monday we head back down the Atlantic Coast to Harrington Raceway for the Bobby Quillen.  It gets busy shortly thereafter as Little Brown Jug week gets rolling!

Marathon Weekend for HANA Handicappers Comes to a Close

by Rusty Nash for HANA Harness

September 7, 2015 – It was a very long weekend for 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 as the field of handicappers had to work their way through five consecutive contest days at four different venues.

The long weekend opened Thursday evening at Mohawk where two of the HANA All-Star handicappers were a perfect three for three.  Derick Giwner and Earl Paulson both maxed out with a total of 82 points.  The current contest leader and the evenings third place finisher was Sally Hinckley at 41 points.

Friday evening saw another trio of races again from Mohawk.  This time we saw seven handicappers tie for the nightly win.  Sally Hinckley, Anne Stepien, Josi Verlingieri, Bob Zanakis, Dennis O’Hara, Gordon Waterstone and Mark Dezii all tabbed both Southwind Frank and Elegant Serenity for a total of 29 points. 

Saturday was the biggest day of the tour with nine events on tap.  There were seven heats from Mohawk and then two from Yonkers.  The night started out quite interesting as four handicappers came up with the 9-1 winner of the first race.  They then saw their nice juicy payout halved when the judges posted the deadheat sign with another longshot.  When the long evening was over, part time amateur scribe Rusty Nash topped out at 409 points after hitting the first six Mohawk races in a row.  When added to his Thursday and Friday total Rusty had the same 409 points!  Bob Zanakis nosed out Josi Verlingieri for the place spot by the score of 239 to 234.  Longshot maven Ray Cotolo and the Canadian Harness Racing Idol Garnet Barnsdale both had the highest priced winner of the evening when they selected Revenge Shark to win the Messenger at Yonkers Raceway.

Sunday saw the action shift to the mid-west and Balmoral Racetrack where two stakes were contested.  Big scoring on nights with only two or three races requires each favorite to be beaten.  The handicappers finally had an evening where both favorites went down to defeat.  Unfortunately for everyone, no one had both of them.  Two of our power hitters still connected with one longshot.  Contest leader Sally Hinckley nailed Barrycourt for a $20 price and a total of 29 points.  Derick Giwner outscored Sally by a dollar when he got Catch All home at $21.  That gave him 36 points on the night and another win in the daily scoring.

The long weekend of racing came to a close on Monday, Labor Day, at Tioga Downs.  With only a single race on the contest program.  It was a short field and it did not figure to make a big impact on the scoring.  With no show wagering the favorite entry won and the total points for the day was 7.  A few players took the day off and most of the rest picked up the 7 loose points that were available.

For the weekly honors, Rusty Nash finished on top with 426 points.  Derick Giwner completed the exacta with 326 points.  Josi Verlingieri completed the weekly trifecta with 312 points.

The top five in the overall Grand Circuit Tour remain the same with only some slight shuffling of positions.  Sally Hinckley remains on top with 2,858 points.  She was able to maintain her impressive 400 point lead.  Mark McKelvie swapped places with Anne Stepien taking the place position.  Bob Zanakis just got by Gordon Waterstone to take over fourth with Gordon completing the black type.

Standings as of September 7, 2015 - Leg 36
		Total Points	Points Earned	Overall	Position
Pos	Handicapper	Prior Week	This Week	Total Points	Last Week
1st	Sally Hinckley	2,605.30	253.00	2,858.30	1st
2nd	Mark McKelvie	2,202.50	251.90	2,454.40	3rd
3rd	Anne Stepien	2,268.50	140.90	2,409.40	2nd
4th	Bob Zanakis	1,931.10	279.50	2,210.60	5th
5th	Gordon Waterstone	1,951.90	196.30	2,148.20	4th
6th	Dennis O'Hara	1,825.00	211.80	2,036.80	6th
7th	Earl Paulson	1,811.30	181.20	1,992.50	7th
8th	Bryan Owen	1,642.20	162.70	1,804.90	8th
9th	Josi Verlingieri	1,486.30	312.30	1,798.60	10th
10th	Rusty Nash	1,363.10	426.40	1,789.50	13th
11th	Michael Carter	1,588.40	78.70	1,667.10	9th
12th	Garnet Barnsdale	1,341.90	283.60	1,625.50	14th
13th	Ray Garnett	1,419.30	192.40	1,611.70	11th
14th	Mark Dezii	1,419.00	164.70	1,583.70	12th
15th	Derick Giwner	1,230.30	326.70	1,557.00	16th
16th	Jay Hochstetler	1,321.60	158.30	1,479.90	15th
17th	Brandon Valvo	1,191.30	8.80	1,200.10	17th
18th	Ray Cotolo	857.40	206.90	1,064.30	18th
19th	Mark Deutsch	535.90	166.60	702.50	19th

Next week we have the Jim Ewart from Scioto Downs in addition to divisions of the Champlain and Simcoe stakes from Mohawk.  It should be an easier week for the handicappers and the scorekeepers!