Hochstetler takes week;
No Change in Top Two
(November 16,
2017) – Rusty Nash
maintains his lead for the sixth straight week going into the penultimate leg
of the 2017 Hambletonian Society Grand Circuit Handicapping Challenge with
Gordon Waterstone in hot pursuit. However,
the top handicapper for the week was last year’s champion, Jay Hochstetler, who
correctly selected three winners out of the four races on the Matron Stakes card
contested on Thursday, November 16.
With
his three winners for the day, Hochstetler had a daily net profit of $21.40,
$9.20 ahead of Matt Rose who had two winners on the card. Finishing third for the day was Dennis O’Hara,
who had a net profit of $1.40.
As
Nash and Waterstone came up with the same horses this week, Nash maintains his
23.7 point advantage over Waterstone.
While next week has eight races scheduled for the contest slate, it
appears the two leaders are competing for gold and silver positions while the
next five handicappers (Anne Stepien, Megan Maccario, Sally Hinckley, Rose, and
O’Hara) will be competing for the final pay-off position over the final two
contest legs.
|
Standings thru Thursday, November 16, 2017 -
Leg #77
|
|
|||||
|
Pos
|
Handicapper
|
Total Points Earned
|
Legs Won
|
Points Back
|
Last Week
|
Streak
|
|
1st
|
Rusty Nash
|
1,459.70
|
7
|
|
1st
|
6
|
|
2nd
|
Gordon Waterstone
|
1,436.00
|
11
|
23.70
|
2nd
|
|
|
3rd
|
Anne Stepien
|
1,344.82
|
9
|
114.88
|
3rd
|
|
|
4th
|
Megan Maccario
|
1,334.90
|
9
|
124.80
|
5th
|
|
|
5th
|
Sally Hinckley
|
1,327.48
|
9
|
132.22
|
4th
|
|
|
6th
|
Matt Rose
|
1,320.88
|
10
|
138.82
|
7th
|
|
|
7th
|
Dennis O’Hara
|
1,319.85
|
10
|
139.85
|
6th
|
|
|
8th
|
Steve Horoky
|
1,258.83
|
5
|
200.87
|
8th
|
|
|
9th
|
Russ Adams
|
1,218.54
|
8
|
241.16
|
9th
|
|
|
10th
|
Ray Garnett
|
1,090.61
|
6
|
369.09
|
10th
|
|
|
11th
|
Bryan Owen
|
1,047.90
|
9
|
411.80
|
11th
|
|
|
12th
|
Jay Hochstetler
|
1,029.50
|
5
|
430.20
|
12th
|
|
|
13th
|
Michael Carter
|
885.03
|
3
|
574.67
|
13th
|
|
|
14th
|
Ray Cotolo
|
834.33
|
5
|
625.37
|
14th
|
|
|
15th
|
Terry Wilson
|
813.47
|
5
|
646.23
|
15th
|
|
|
16th
|
Rich Mattei
|
644.30
|
2
|
815.40
|
16th
|
|
Next Up: November 25 is the final Saturday night of the handicapping
challenge with the Final Four and TVG series finals being contested at the
Meadowlands.
On November 30, the
contest concludes with the Progress Stakes at Dover Downs.
The 2017 Hambletonian Society Grand Circuit Handicapping Challenge is sponsored by Adam Friedland, DRF Harness,
Green Acquisition Corporation, The Hambletonian Society, Hoosier Park Racing
and Casino, Meadowlands Racing and Entertainment, Northfield Park, Ontario
Harness Horse Association, Red Shores Charlottetown/Summerside, Tioga Downs,
Vernon Downs, Wellbourne Farms, and WEG Entertainment. The contest is administered by HANA Harness,
the harness racing division of HANA, the Horseplayers Association of North
America. Fans may follow the challenge
by visiting the contest site at http;//hanaharnesscontest.blogspot.com.
