For Opinion, click here for View from the Racetrack Grandstand

Thursday, November 16, 2017

Nash Leads into Penultimate Leg of Handicapping Contest

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.