Ray Garnet and Bryan Owen Power by on the Breeders Crown Card, Sally Hinckley Retains Lead

by Rusty Nash for HANA Harness

October 26, 2015 – The results are in for The Breeders Crown Championships 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. 

With twelve championships races on the docket there were two handicappers that soared above the rest of the flock.  We had three handicappers with 7 wins each.  The big question was which 7 races would determine our winner?  Ray Garnett took the honors by almost 100 HANA points bringing home a total of 620 for the night.  His key was Color’s A Virgin in the 10^th who returned $15 to win and a total of 182 HANA points in that race.  Second place went to Bryan Owen who bagged the biggest win price of the evening when Boston Red Rocks scored at $38 for a total of 330 HANA points.  The top five was rounded out by Bob Zanakis at 457 points, then two of our regular top contenders Gordon Waterstone, 448 points and Ann Stepien at 446 points.

One of the things four of our top five had in common was the selection of Wild Honey.  When Mission Brief went off stride in the lane the bridge jumpers donated $125,000 to the show pool for anyone who took a contrarian position.  Wild Honey returned $5.20 to win, $2.90 to place and $9.40 to show for 17.50 point times their multipliers.  That was a very nice bonus for beating an odds-on favorite!  None of our handicappers had Im So Fancy at $150 or Speak To Me at $84 to show in the contest.  

There were a lot of favorites winning on the evening keeping the overall points fairly low.  Strategy came into play as many handicappers took a few shots at some big prices.  Ray and Bryan were rewarded with top honors in correctly coming up with two of the surprise winners.

Sally Hinckley retains her overall lead by 266 points over Mark McKelvie.  With another good night at the office Anne Stepien moves into third place in front of Dennis O’Hara.  Gordon Waterstone retains fifth place and increased his lead over the sixth spot by several hundred points.  Overall there was a tightening in the standings as most of the field picked up points on the leaders.

Standings as of October 24, 2015 - Leg 54
Pos	Handicapper	Total Points Prior Week	Points Earned This Week	Overall Total Points	Position Last Week	Points Back
1st	Sally Hinckley	4,162.20	212.40	4,374.60	1st	-
2nd	Mark McKelvie	3,950.60	157.90	4,108.50	2nd	266.10
3rd	Anne Stepien	3,561.80	446.80	4,008.60	4th	366.00
4th	Dennis O'Hara	3,682.70	285.10	3,967.80	3rd	406.80
5th	Gordon Waterstone	3,425.00	448.40	3,873.40	5th	501.20
6th	Rusty Nash	3,322.90	195.80	3,518.70	6th	855.90
7th	Bob Zanakis	3,005.80	460.80	3,466.60	8th	910.90
8th	Bryan Owen	2,757.60	521.70	3,279.30	11th	1,095.30
9th	Josi Verlingieri	2,967.90	303.50	3,271.40	10th	1,103.20
10th	Earl Paulson	3,165.10	80.00	3,245.10	7th	1,129.50
11th	Derick Giwner	2,980.30	99.50	3,079.80	9th	1,294.80
12th	Ray Garnett	2,288.70	620.50	2,909.20	14th	1,465.40
13th	Jay Hochstetler	2,560.10	203.40	2,763.50	12th	1,611.10
14th	Michael Carter	2,337.40	339.50	2,676.90	13th	1,697.70
15th	Garnet Barnsdale	2,174.80	383.10	2,557.90	16th	1,816.70
16th	Mark Dezii	2,245.00	217.50	2,462.50	15th	1,912.10
17th	Ray Cotolo	1,875.80	102.00	1,977.80	17th	2,396.80
18th	Brandon Valvo	1,390.30	393.50	1,783.80	18th	2,590.80
19th	Mark Deutsch	1,143.90	30.50	1,174.40	19th	3,200.20

  

Next week has nine events scheduled at Hoosier and two at contest sponsor Vernon Downs.  The Friday night Hoosier card presents one more opportunity some big movement in the standings.

Jay Hochstetler Sweeps; Hinkley Retains Lead

by rusty nash for hana harness

October 19, 2015 – The eliminations are now history and the fields are known for next week’s Breeders Crown festivities 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.

We celebrated the upcoming big day with two evenings of eliminations at Woodbine Racetrack.  On Friday evening we had seven races to decipher.  There were three handicappers who went an impressive five for seven.  The winner of the evening, with the best set of five, was Jay Hochstetler with 227 HANA points.  The key difference was that his five included Haughy who paid several dollars more across the board than Yankee Moonshine.  Dennis O’Hara and your truly, Rusty Nash, had the same set of five winner and Dennis won the tiebreaker 188 to 187 with his other place and show prices.

Saturday saw six eliminations for everyone to puzzle through and only one handicapper was able to pick four of six.  Five players were able to select three of six.  The repeat winner for Saturday was Jay Hochstetler with 185 points.  Derick Giwner was the best of the three for six group as he landed Foiled Again at a very healthy 8-1!

 Mark McKelvie, Rusty Nash, Michael Carter and Dennis O’Hara round out the “three” group.

By sweeping the double header, Jay Hochstetler was the clear winner of the week with 412 points.  Jay was able to move more than 300 points closer to the leader.  With two in the money finishes, yours truly was able to hang onto second for the week with 291 points.  Dennis O’Hara continues his surge and has now creeped to within 500 points of our leader.  Honorable mention goes to Derick Giwner in fourth and Early Paulson completing the week penta.

With the number of short prices that won during the eliminations there was not a lot of movement in terms of positions.  The top five handicappers continue to be Sally Hinckley, Mark McKelvie, Dennis O’Hara, Anne Stepien, and Gordon Waterstone.

What we did see was a tightening of scores among the top ten in the group.  With the biggest evening of the year on tap next week we are sure to see a lot of movement as we enter the final stretch of the HANA Grand Circuit Handicapping Contest.

Be sure to check back next Saturday, October 24th, for the entire teams selections for the Breeders Crown finals from Woodbine Racetrack in beautiful Rexdale,Ontario Canada.

Giwner and Verlingieri Have Big Weeks, Hinckley Retains Lead

by Rusty Nash for HANA Harness

October 11, 2015 – The annual two weeks of stakes action at The Red Mile are now in the books 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. 

Another four busy days were lined up for the HANA Grand Circuit Handicappers and they handled everything The Red Mile could throw at them.  Wednesday started off very nicely for yours truly.  It may have helped that there were only four races on tap.  Going three for four Rusty Nash jumped out to an early lead on the week with 171 points.  Playing one favorite and trying to beat the chalk in the other three the winners paid 2.20, 19.40 and 10.60.  That earned Rusty the top score even missing an easy multiplier with Haughty at 2.20.  With a different set of three winners were Bryan Owen and Gordon Waterstone who each earned 134 points.  With yet another set of three winners were Derick Giwner and Anne Stepien with 94 HANA points.

Thursday saw Derick Giwner go four for five and take down 275 HANA points.  Dennis O’Hara and Gordon Waterstone dead headed for the place spot with 178 points.  It was a long way back to complete the pentafecta as Garnet Barnsdale and Rusty Nash tied for fourth with 109 points.

Friday kicked off the first of two big back to back days.  The HANA team connected on a lot of chalk.  Dennis O’Hara took down the daily honors with four winners and a total of 173 points.  Four other handicappers were able to break the 100 point barrier.  They were Mark McKelvie with 123, Sally Hinckley with 115, Derick Giwner with 112 and Ann Stepien with 100.

The final day of The Red Mile Grand Circuit meet had nine races on the menu.  The day also featured the return of The International Trot at Yonkers raceway.  Ray Cotolo and Derick Giwner were the only two that correctly selected Papagayo E from Norway.  Drawing the two hole he sat close up the whole mile and passed a tiring Creatine in the lane.  He returned $21 and total of 40 HANA points.  However the day belonged to the one and only Josi Verlingieri who amassed 478 points with five winners.  The key to the blowout victory was the selection of Rock Me Gently who returned $37 to win and 62 total HAHA points.  Ray Cotolo earned 290 points on the strength of the International winner.  The rest of the runners up Saturday were Mark McKelvie (245), Rusty Nash (205) and Derick Giwner (177).

For the week, Derick Giwner picked up the most ground with 660 total points and two spots in the standings.  Josi Verlingieri’s big Saturday rush earned the place position and allowed her to move one step closer to the top with 573 points.  Dennis O’Hara hung onto his fourth place position with 525 points.  Gordon Waterstone and Rusty Nash both gained a little more than 500 points and moved into fifth and sixth places respectively.

The top four in the overall standings continue to be Sally Hinckley, Mark McKelvie and Anne Stepien and Dennis O’Hara.  Gordon Waterstone returned to the top tier with a strong week moving him back into fifth place.

Standings as of October 10, 2015 - Leg 51
Pos	Handicapper	Total Points Prior Week	Points Earned This Week	Overall Total Points	Position Last Week	Points Back
1st	Sally Hinckley	3,700.40	331.50	4,031.90	1st	-
2nd	Mark McKelvie	3,374.00	470.70	3,844.70	2nd	187.20
3rd	Anne Stepien	3,085.80	409.00	3,494.80	3rd	537.10
4th	Dennis O'Hara	2,892.90	525.30	3,418.20	4th	613.70
5th	Gordon Waterstone	2,793.40	505.50	3,298.90	7th	733.00
6th	Rusty Nash	2,529.10	502.70	3,031.80	8th	1,000.10
7th	Earl Paulson	2,747.60	240.00	2,987.60	5th	1,044.30
8th	Bob Zanakis	2,752.40	112.80	2,865.20	6th	1,166.70
9th	Josi Verlingieri	2,242.70	573.80	2,816.50	10th	1,215.40
10th	Derick Giwner	2,098.70	660.40	2,759.10	12th	1,272.80
11th	Bryan Owen	2,413.40	301.60	2,715.00	9th	1,316.90
12th	Ray Garnett	1,981.60	243.20	2,224.80	13th	1,807.10
13th	Michael Carter	2,223.10	-	2,223.10	11th	1,808.80
14th	Jay Hochstetler	1,924.90	223.00	2,147.90	16th	1,884.00
15th	Garnet Barnsdale	1,972.70	165.40	2,138.10	14th	1,893.80
16th	Mark Dezii	1,888.20	218.20	2,106.40	15th	1,925.50
17th	Ray Cotolo	1,506.60	326.00	1,832.60	17th	2,199.30
18th	Brandon Valvo	1,379.40	10.90	1,390.30	18th	2,641.60
19th	Mark Deutsch	1,023.80	55.80	1,079.60	19th	2,952.30

We will be back in action on Friday and Saturday this week with Breeders Crown eliminations from Woodbine.  It should be the first of two great weekends on the HAHA Grand Circuit.