New Leader in HANA Harness’ Grand Circuit Challenge

 June 21, 2015 – After the three latest 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, another handicapper stakes his claim to the top slot as Bob Zanakis trades places with Ray Garnett, taking the lead with 610.9 points to Garnett’s 588.2.

Leg 14 was pretty uneventful as the only race in the contest was the Battle of Lake Erie with two handicappers maximizing the opportunity provided by the veteran Foiled Again winning resulting in Earl Paulson and Gordon Waterstone earning 24.2 points for the leg.

In leg 15, Mark McKelvie earned top honors, earning 51 points, the result of selecting JL Cruz and Doo Wop Hanover to win their respective legs of the Graduate series for four year olds.  Several others correctly selected the winner of one leg of the Graduate.

Leg 16 contained the stakes races of North America Cup Night and with a number of favorites going down to defeat, those who relied on the favorites to come through were disappointed.  On the other hand, Sally Hinckley (75.8 points for the night) took advantage of the implosion of the top two favorites in the Goodtimes Trot, earning 54.5 points with her selection of The Bank who finished second in the race.  Due to the failure of many of the favorites, the best some handicappers could accomplish was selecting two winners out of the six races, with Bob Zanakis, Garnet Barnsdale, and Dennis O’Hara earning between 66 - 64.8 points

Standings as of June 20, 2015 - Leg 15
		Total Points	Points Earned	Overall	Position
Pos	Handicapper	Prior Week	This Week	Total Points	Last Week
1st	Bob Zanakis	528.40	82.50	610.90	2nd
2nd	Ray Garnett	539.70	48.50	588.20	1st
3rd	Michael Carter	509.70	74.80	584.50	3rd
4th	Brandon Valvo	453.80	34.10	487.90	4th
5th	Gordon Waterstone	434.80	28.20	463.00	5th
6th	Ann Stepien	409.10	37.30	446.40	6th
7th	Derick Giwner	383.00	51.80	434.80	7th
8th	Josi Verlingieri	365.80	36.00	401.80	9th
9th	Jay Hochstetler	374.50	22.20	396.70	8th
10th	Garnet Barnsdale	302.30	81.30	383.60	13th
11th	Earl Paulson	321.00	45.00	366.00	12th
12th	Bryan Owen	333.30	29.10	362.40	10th
13th	Mark Dezii	329.80	24.90	354.70	11th
14th	Sally Hinckley	242.70	95.20	337.90	15th
15th	Dennis O'Hara	237.30	75.10	312.40	16th
16th	Rusty Nash	257.20	53.00	310.20	14th
17th	Mark McKelvie	170.20	51.00	221.20	17th
18th	Ray Cotolo	152.80	7.80	160.60	18th
19th	Mark Deutsch	152.10	6.10	158.20	19th

This week, only one event is on the contest calendar with the Meadowlands hosting trotters for a leg of the TVG series on Friday evening.  The Fourth of July weekend features seven races giving handicappers a chance of improving their position in the standings.   For further information on the contest, you are invited to visit the contest website at http://hanaharnesscontest.blogspot.com.  

Garnett Assumes the Lead in HANA Harness’ Grand Circuit Challenge

 June 11, 2015 - With stakes season now in high gear, Ray Garnett. Previously in 6^th place, assumes the lead 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, as the standings have been shaken up with plenty of movement.  Garnett, with 539.7 points (268.2 for the week) finds himself in front by a slim 11.3 point lead over Bob Zanakis whose  528.4 (292.8 for the week) points leapfrogged him from 8^th to 2^nd place.  Previous leader Michael Carter finds himself in 3^rd place with 509.7 points, just 30 points from the top spot.  Other handicappers who distinguished themselves during this past reporting period are Jay Hochstelter (214.2 pts for week) and Brandon Valvo (212.4 pts for week).

In the 11^th leg of the competition, Mark Dezii and Brandon Valvo were both 2 for 2, including the winner of the Lismore at Yonkers Raceway, Purrfect Bags $24.20, which resulted in each of them earning 70.2 points for the evening. 

Mark Dezii along with Josi Verlingieri and Gordon Waterstone went 3 for 3 in the 12^th leg at The Meadows in the 3 divisions of the Currier & Ives stake for 3yo filly trotters which earned each handicapper 71.4 points.

In leg 13, a total of 8 races were contested at the Meadowlands, The Meadows, Mohawk Raceway, and Scioto Downs and Ray Garnett and Bob Zanakis took advantage of the situation by exploding with 5 winners on the card earning 257.6 points taking down 3 of the 4 Graduate legs at the Meadowlands, the Currier & Ives for 3yo open trotters, and the Charles Hill Memorial Trot at Scioto Downs.  Jay Hochstetler earned 205.4 points with 4 winners for the evening.  The other 4 race winner for the evening was Brandon Valvo who scored 181.8 points.

Standings as of Saturday, June 6, 2015 - Leg 13
		Total Points	Points Earned	Overall	Position
Pos	Handicapper	Prior Week	This Week	Total Points	Last Week
1st	Ray Garnett	271.50	268.20	539.70	5th
2nd	Bob Zanakis	235.60	292.80	528.40	9th
3rd	Michael Carter	379.80	129.90	509.70	1st
4th	Brandon Valvo	241.40	212.40	453.80	8th
5th	Gordon Waterstone	268.50	142.10	410.60	6th
6th	Ann Stepien	291.00	118.10	409.10	2nd
7th	Jay Hochstetler	160.30	214.20	374.50	13th
8th	Derick Giwner	256.20	114.60	370.80	7th
9th	Josi Verlingieri	272.00	93.80	365.80	4th
10th	Mark Dezii	235.50	94.30	329.80	10th
11th	Bryan Owen	275.10	46.60	321.70	3rd
12th	Garnet Barnsdale	160.50	141.80	302.30	12th
13th	Earl Paulson	148.30	148.50	296.80	15th
14th	Rusty Nash	138.80	106.20	245.00	16th
15th	Sally Hinckley	188.30	54.40	242.70	11th
16th	Dennis O'Hara	157.20	80.10	237.30	14th
17th	Mark McKelvie	98.00	72.20	170.20	17th
18th	Mark Deutsch	92.20	59.90	152.10	18th
19th	Ray Cotolo	88.40	52.80	141.20	19th

This week, the Battle of Lake Erie at Northfield Park is the only race on the contest calendar.  The following week is another big week for the handicapping challenge as the third leg of the Graduate series for 4yo trotters and pacers is on tap at the Meadowlands (6/19) while Saturday night (6/20) has the North America Cup, Roses Are Red, Fan Hanover, Goodtimes, and Armbro Flight being contested at Mohawk while a leg of the TVG series for trotters takes place at the Meadowlands.

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

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. 

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. 

2015 HANA Harness Grand Circuit Handicapping Challenge Begins Friday

(April 20, 2015) – The sponsors have stepped up and the handicappers selected 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.  With the handicappers chomping on the bit, the contest finally gets underway with The Meadows Maturity on Friday afternoon, April 24, 2015, followed the next evening with racing action at Yonkers Raceway where the Blue Chip Matchmaker and George Morton Levy Memorial series finals will be contested.

This year the sponsors have allowed the handicapping challenge to secure a record $5,250 in prize funds to be divided between the standardbred rescues of the top three handicappers at the conclusion of the contest.   In addition to the presenting sponsors, additional sponsors are Green Acquisition Corporation, Harness Racing Update, Isle of Capri Pompano Park, The Raceway at Western Fair District, and Scioto Downs Racino.  HANA thanks all the sponsors for stepping up to support the contest and standardbred rescue.

Handicapper selections will be available on the contest website the morning of each day’s events.   Race fans and horseplayers may find those selections and additional contest information at the contest website http://hanaharnesscontest.blogspot.com .  In addition, fans may follow the contest on social media by searching for the hash tag #hanagc2015.

New Sponsors Announced; Last Call for Sponsors in 2015 Handicapping Contest

HANA Harness welcomes the Bellino Stables as a Gold Sponsor and The Raceway at Western Fair District as a Silver sponsor in the 2015 HANA Harness Grand Circuit Handicapping Contest presented by the Hambleotnian Society, Bellino Stables, DRF Harness, Meadowlands Racing and Entertainment, Northfield Park, Tioga Downs, and Vernon Downs

With less than two weeks prior to the commencement of the contest on April 24, it is Last Call for becoming a sponsor.  While naming rights for the handicapping contest have been sold out, affordable sponsorship opportunities remain, starting with our Bronze Level ($100), Silver Level ($250) and topping out at $500 for the Gold Level.  If you are a racetrack, horsemen association, racing stable, or a vendor who does business in the harness racing industry, sponsorship is a perfect way to get your name out within the industry as supporters of standardbred rescue.

The deadline for becoming a sponsor is Friday, April 17.  To become a sponsor or for further information, you may contact allan@hanaweb.org.

For further information on the 2015 HANA Harness Grand Circuit Handicapping Challenge, visit the contest website at http://hanaharnesscontest.blogspot.com .