Hinckley Paces Away From the Field

by Rusty Nash for HANA Harness

November 24, 2015 – The final opportunity for major movement in the standings occurred last 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 team was tasked with four races from The New Meadowlands on Friday and six on Saturday.  Friday evening saw three favorites and a single winner at 4-1 in Double Exposure.  That meant another low scoring night and little movement. 

Anne Stepien and Gordon Waterstone each tabbed three of four races for 93 points each.  Neither had a tie breaker in the money so Friday night was declared a dead heat.  Four handicappers were able to come up with Double Exposure.  They were Earl Paulson, JoniJosi Verlingieri, Derick Giwner and Mark Dezii.  Derick Giwner had the best tiebreaker and finished the night with 64 points while Mark Dezii had 62.  There were some longshots that got close.  Bobby Zanakis had both Haughty and Blue Moon Stride who both finished second at big prices.  It could have been an exciting night had the chalk not been so strong again.

Saturday night was the last time the handicappers had an opportunity to land a big multiplier as there were six races on tap.  Four races again featured low price winners.  A dead took away a nice opportunity when the favorite chopped at 7-1 price down to 2-1.  Two players were able to string together five winners.  Mark Dezii has been red hot lately and simply crushed the field when he landed Bettor’s Edge at $40.  With four of the other five other winners he totaled an impressive 496 points for the night!  Contest leader Sally Hinckley landed the first five winners for a total of 213 points. 

For the week Mark Dezii earned top honors with 524 total points.  Sally Hinckley put a virtual lock on the win by scoring 262 points.  Most of the team went in search of prices and were disappointed.  Completing our weekly pentafecta were Earl Paulson (134), Anne Stepien (130) and Gordon Waterstone (123).

Sally Hinckley padded her lead by more than 200 points extending it to an unprecedented 567.  The real competition next week will be for some of the smaller prizes for our very deserving horse rescues.  Dennis O’Hara leads in the race for “Best of the Rest” by 137 points over Anne Stepien, 242 over Gordon Waterstone and 252 over Mark McKelvie.

Pos	Handicapper	Total Points Prior Week	Points Earned This Week	Overall Total Points	Position Last Week	Points Back
1st	Sally Hinckley	4,785.80	262.80	5,048.60	1st	-
2nd	Dennis O'Hara	4,431.80	49.20	4,481.00	2nd	567.60
3rd	Anne Stepien	4,212.70	130.60	4,343.30	4th	705.30
4th	Gordon Waterstone	4,115.70	123.00	4,238.70	6th	809.90
5th	Mark McKelvie	4,179.80	49.00	4,228.80	5th	819.80
6th	Josi Verlingieri	4,045.50	62.00	4,107.50	3rd	941.10
7th	Rusty Nash	3,865.70	8.80	3,874.50	7th	1,174.10
8th	Derick Giwner	3,672.20	97.80	3,770.00	9th	1,278.60
9th	Bob Zanakis	3,673.10	80.00	3,753.10	8th	1,295.50
10th	Earl Paulson	3,524.00	134.20	3,658.20	11th	1,390.40
11th	Bryan Owen	3,542.00	11.20	3,553.20	10th	1,495.40
12th	Mark Dezii	2,884.70	524.20	3,408.90	14th	1,639.70
13th	Jay Hochstetler	3,300.20	90.20	3,390.40	12th	1,658.20
14th	Ray Garnett	3,178.30	36.60	3,214.90	13th	1,833.70
15th	Garnet Barnsdale	2,690.50	0.00	2,690.50	15th	2,358.10
16th	Michael Carter	2,676.90	0.00	2,676.90	16th	2,371.70
17th	Ray Cotolo	2,128.70	0.00	2,128.70	17th	2,919.90
18th	Brandon Valvo	1,886.20	49.80	1,936.00	19th	3,112.60
19th	Mark Deutsch	1,197.10	0.00	1,197.10	18th	3,851.50

The HANA handicappers will be back in action for the final time this year with The Courageous Lady and The Progress Pace.  We will formally crown our champion and runners up and the winning horse rescues.  For everyone here at HANA Grand Circuit Handicapping Challenge we wish you all a great Thanksgiving holiday.

Verlingieri Makes a Big Move, Hinckley Just a Few Strides from Victory!

by Rusty Nash for HANA Harness

November 16, 2015 – The first big move in the home stretch occurred last 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. 

There were three evenings of competition this last week.  Thursday had six races and was the only evening where any significant ground looked like it could be picked up.  And picking up ground is just what happened.  JoniJosi Verlingieri nailed five of six winners to crush the field.  JoniJosi had all four winning chalks plus the big bomber, Storm Point, who won at $36!  All totaled, JoniJosi won the evening by more than 300 points over the whole field and even more on some of the others.  Dennis O’Hara and Derick Giwner tied for second with 103 points and tied for fourth with 99 points were Sally Hinckley, Rusty Nash and Mark Dezii.

Friday and Saturday had only two races each evening.  No one was able to go two for two on Friday night.  Six of the handicappers had no problem selecting in Shake It Cerry to beat Bee A Magician.  Shake It Cerry was worth 13 HANA points for Derick Giwner, Rusty Nash, Dennis O’Hara, Earl Paulson, Anne Stepien, and Gordon Waterstone.  They each understood how eliminations tend to unfold and took the early speed in the short field.  Ironically the top score of the night did not include a winner!  Bryan Owen has had a knack all season for selecting live longshots.  In this case Skippin By was only second best but still returned 17 total HANA points. 

Saturday evening was another twofer that did not look like it would produce any scoring fireworks.  No one was able to land both winners.  Two were able to figure out that Mach It So was the way to go and he was worth 14 total points.  It turns out that both Bob Zanakis and Rusty Nash both had the same tie breaker with E L Titan.  He finished second and both gents had the identical sum of 19 HANA points.     Five handicappers selected Resolve and earned 9 HANA points.  They were Mark Dezii, Derick Giwner, Sally Hinckley, Dennis O’Hara, and Earl Paulson.

For the week JoniJosi Verlingieri obliterated the field with 420 total points.  An extremely well beaten second was Rusty Nash who landed a mere 132 points.  Dennis O’Hara and Derick Giwner tied for third with 126 points.  Tied for the last spot on our weekly pentafecta ticket with 109 points were Mark Dezii and Contest leader Sally Hinckley.

Sally Hinckley retains her lead by a slightly diminished 354 points.  The balance of the top four remain the same as last week, Dennis O’Hara, Anne Stepien, Mark McKelvie and Gordon Waterstone.  With her big move this week, JoniJosi Verlingieri gave Rusty Nash real fright as she zoomed right on by him into sixth place.   Six handicappers are still less that one thousand points behind leader Hinckley.  Sally has easily fended off all challengers since rising to the top and appears to be under wraps as we approach the wire.

Standings as of November 14, 2015 - Leg 61
Pos	Handicapper	Total Points Prior Week	Points Earned This Week	Overall Total Points	Position Last Week	Points Back
1st	Sally Hinckley	4,676.70	109.10	4,785.80	1st	-
2nd	Dennis O'Hara	4,305.40	126.40	4,431.80	2nd	354.00
3rd	Anne Stepien	4,181.80	30.90	4,212.70	3rd	573.10
4th	Mark McKelvie	4,137.20	42.60	4,179.80	4th	606.00
5th	Gordon Waterstone	4,069.40	46.30	4,115.70	5th	670.10
6th	Josi Verlingieri	3,625.20	420.30	4,045.50	7th	740.30
7th	Rusty Nash	3,733.30	132.40	3,865.70	6th	920.10
8th	Bob Zanakis	3,614.40	58.70	3,673.10	8th	1,112.70
9th	Derick Giwner	3,545.80	126.40	3,672.20	9th	1,113.60
10th	Bryan Owen	3,490.10	51.90	3,542.00	10th	1,243.80
11th	Earl Paulson	3,438.40	85.60	3,524.00	11th	1,261.80
12th	Jay Hochstetler	3,236.40	63.80	3,300.20	12th	1,485.60
13th	Ray Garnett	3,085.80	92.50	3,178.30	13th	1,607.50
14th	Mark Dezii	2,775.60	109.10	2,884.70	1th	1,901.10
15th	Garnet Barnsdale	2,690.50	0.00	2,690.50	15th	2,095.30
16th	Michael Carter	2,676.90	0.00	2,676.90	16th	2,108.90
17th	Ray Cotolo	2,128.70	0.00	2,128.70	17th	2,657.10
18th	Brandon Valvo	1,855.50	30.70	1,886.20	19th	2,899.60
19th	Mark Deutsch	1,197.10	0.00	1,197.10	18th	3,588.70

The HANA handicappers will be back in action with two exciting days of competition this coming week.  This will be the last opportunity for any significant movement as there are four races on Friday and six on Saturday.  All our action will be at one of our contest sponsors, The New Meadowlands.  Only the Courageous Lady and The Progress Pace remain after this weekend.  

Dennis O’Hara Continues to Roll, Sally Hinckley Extends Lead

by Rusty Nash for HANA Harness

November 10, 2015 – The first week of the Matron from Dover and the American National at Balmoral are 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. 

The HANA handicappers had two opportunities to catch contest leader Sally Hinckley with plenty of action on both nights.  On Thursday evening the results were not kind to those trailing the top tier.  The results were all chalk or missed longshot plays.  Mark Dezii and Gordon Waterstone had the best chalk boards with three winners each for 83 and 68 points respectively.  Bob Zanakis, JoniJose Verlingieri, and Dennis O’Hara completed the nightly pentafecta with scores in the forties.  Everyone else was licking their wounds.

Saturday evening at Balmoral Sally Hinckley, Dennis O’Hara and Jay Hochstetler each picked six of seven winning favorites.  The tie breaker went to our cast’s “leading lady” Sally Hinckley (237) when her seventh horse, Bright Baby Blues, finished second (237) and Dennis and Jay’s horse, Muscle Baby Doll, finished third.  Mark Dezii and yours truly finish fourth and fifth when the prices we took shot a with missed.

Dennis O’Hara had the best two day total of 275 points.  He won the photo over Sally Hinckley’s 259.5 and Jay Hochstetler at 259.30.  Mark Dezii was a close fourth with 237 and yours truly was a well beaten fifth at 168.

Sally Hinckley not only retains her lead but let it out a notch or two and extended her advantage to almost 400 points.  Dennis O’Hara and Mark McKelvie swapped positions with Dennis taking second and Mark slipping to fourth.  Anne Stepien retained her third place spot and Gordon Waterstone kept a solid fifth position as Rusty Nash was again not able to apply any pressure.

Standings as of November 7, 2015 - Leg 58
Pos	Handicapper	Total Points Prior Week	Points Earned This Week	Overall Total Points	Position Last Week	Points Back
1st	Sally Hinckley	4,417.20	259.50	4,676.70	1st	-
2nd	Dennis O'Hara	4,029.60	275.80	4,305.40	4th	371.30
3rd	Anne Stepien	4,071.30	110.50	4,181.80	3rd	494.90
4th	Mark McKelvie	4,108.50	28.70	4,137.20	2nd	539.50
5th	Gordon Waterstone	3,903.40	166.00	4,069.40	5th	607.30
6th	Rusty Nash	3,565.30	168.00	3,733.30	6th	943.40
7th	Josi Verlingieri	3,474.60	150.60	3,625.20	8th	1,051.50
8th	Bob Zanakis	3,505.50	108.90	3,614.40	7th	1,062.30
9th	Derick Giwner	3,454.10	91.70	3,545.80	9th	1,130.90
10th	Bryan Owen	3,445.60	44.50	3,490.10	10th	1,186.60
11th	Earl Paulson	3,299.80	138.60	3,438.40	11th	1,238.30
12th	Jay Hochstetler	2,977.10	259.30	3,236.40	13th	1,440.30
13th	Ray Garnett	3,016.50	69.30	3,085.80	12th	1,590.90
14th	Mark Dezii	2,538.10	237.50	2,775.60	16th	1,901.10
15th	Garnet Barnsdale	2,687.30	3.20	2,690.50	14th	1,986.20
16th	Michael Carter	2,676.90	0.00	2,676.90	15th	1,999.80
17th	Ray Cotolo	2,033.70	95.00	2,128.70	17th	2,548.00
18th	Brandon Valvo	1,834.40	21.10	1,855.50	18th	2,821.20
19th	Mark Deutsch	1,197.10	0.00	1,197.10	19th	3,479.60

The HANA handicappers will be back in action with three exciting days of competition this coming week.  We are back at Dover for the Matron on Thursday.  A total of six HANA legs to be raced.  That is followed with both Friday and Saturday evening action at The New Meadowlands.  There are two eliminations of the TVG Open Mares on Friday and TVG FFA on Saturday.

A Pick Six for Giwner, Hinckley Retains Lead

 by Rusty Nash for HANA Harness

November 3, 2015 – 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 had a relatively quiet week after all the excitement on Breeders Crown night.

There were eight races on Friday evening at Hoosier Park and two on Saturday at Vernon Downs.  Just as one of our contest sponsors, Vernon Downs, turned back the clock on Saturday evening, we will take a look at Saturday’s results before moving back to Friday.

With only two races you would think there might not be a lot of points to be made but it could have been a huge night.  Could have when the favored Takter entry failed to hit the board in one of the Kindergarten divisions it was won by Wildflower and Ake Svenstedt at $185!  Unfortunately none of our handicappers were able to land the biggest win price of the HANA contest this season.  Two of our handicappers did not pick a winner but topped the night chart.  Both had Sweet Ashley T and received 52 points for the show price!  Those two very smart souls were Garnet Barnsdale and Jay Hochstetler.  Garnet won the evening’s tie breaker with Mavens Way to show.  In the other Kindergarten event six handicappers finished tied for third winning with Dog Gone Lucky for 10 HANA contest points.  They were Ray Cotolo, Mark Dezii, Sally Hinckley, Rusty Nash, Earl Paulson and Anne Stepien.

Friday evening saw quite a bit more action and one clear winner.  Accepting the accolades of all involved was Derrick Giwner who selected six of eight winners.  That was two more winners than his closest competitor.  For his excellence Derrick earned 374 HANA contest points.  Three other players were able to select a different set of four winners each. Jonijosi Verlingieri (203) out pointed both Bryan Owen (166) and Jay Hochstetler (161).  Ms. Verlingieri’s key was Foiled Again who had the best return win price among the quad winners.

There were no major moves in the standings given the difficult and short prices on Friday evening at Hoosier Park.  The top five remain the same as last week, Sally Hinckley, Mark McKelvie, Anne Stepien, Dennis O’Hara and Gordon Waterstone.  Sally was able to pad her lead over Mark to 308 points.  However the field continued to tighten up behind Mark.  There are now ten handicappers separated by less than 1,000 points.

Standings as of October 31, 2015 - Leg 56
Pos	Handicapper	Total Points Prior Week	Points Earned This Week	Overall Total Points	Position Last Week	Points Back
1st	Sally Hinckley	4,374.60	42.60	4,417.20	1st	-
2nd	Mark McKelvie	4,108.50	0.00	4,108.50	2nd	308.70
3rd	Anne Stepien	4,008.60	62.70	4,071.30	3rd	345.90
4th	Dennis O'Hara	3,967.80	61.80	4,029.60	7th	387.60
5th	Gordon Waterstone	3,873.40	30.00	3,903.40	4th	513.80
6th	Rusty Nash	3,518.70	46.60	3,565.30	5th	851.90
7th	Bob Zanakis	3,466.60	38.90	3,505.50	6th	911.70
8th	Josi Verlingieri	3,271.40	203.20	3,474.60	9th	942.60
9th	Derick Giwner	3,079.80	374.30	3,454.10	11th	963.10
10th	Bryan Owen	3,279.30	166.30	3,445.60	8th	971.60
11th	Earl Paulson	3,245.10	54.70	3,299.80	10th	1,117.40
12th	Ray Garnett	2,909.20	107.30	3,016.50	12th	1,400.70
13th	Jay Hochstetler	2,763.50	213.60	2,977.10	13th	1,440.10
14th	Garnet Barnsdale	2,557.90	129.40	2,687.30	15th	1,729.90
15th	Michael Carter	2,676.90	0.00	2,676.90	14th	1,740.30
16th	Mark Dezii	2,462.50	75.60	2,538.10	16th	1,879.10
17th	Ray Cotolo	1,977.80	55.90	2,033.70	17th	2,383.50
18th	Brandon Valvo	1,783.80	50.60	1,834.40	18th	2,582.80
19th	Mark Deutsch	1,174.40	22.70	1,197.10	19th	3,220.10

We have a very busy two days on tap this week.  We kick things off with six races Thursday evening at Dover with the Matron for 2 year olds.  Saturday we shift north and west to Balmoral Park for the American National where we will have at least eight more puzzles to try and solve.