(October 15,
2017) – With the Red Mile meet in the books, the Hambletonian
Society Grand Circuit Handicapping Challenge moved on to Hoosier Park for the
start of a three-week residency which culminates with the 2017 Breeders Crown. Week one had two nights (10/12 &10/14) of
Circle City and Madison County stakes contested and once the races concluded,
Anne Stepien was the winner while Rusty Nash returned to the perch as the
overall leader for the contest with roughly six weeks remaining on the
schedule.
Stepien
was the top handicapper for the week with 72 points vs. the 57 points for
Dennis O’Hara in what could be called a tale of two nights. Thursday night, O’Hara was victorious without
having a single winner thanks to his selection of Danceinthepines in the Circle
City for 3yo trotting fillies; the longshot paying $14.80 and $6.40 for coming
in second. The longshot provided him the
winning margin despite four handicappers each having two winning picks. Saturday evening was a new day with Stepien
tabbing four winners for the night, including the Courageous Lady Stake added
on from Northfield Park, where her selection of Rosemary Rose ($20.60) made her
one of two handicappers to have a positive ROI for the day.
In
what seems to be a pattern late in the contest, Nash and Maccario once again
swapped spots with Nash coming out on top with a margin of 4.3 points. While the two handicappers have been locked
in battle for the top spot, Stepien and Gordon Waterstone are lurking behind
the duo, less than 22 points behind the leader and are clearly contenders to
watch.
|
Standings thru Saturday, October 14, 2017 -
Leg #69
|
|
|||||
|
Pos
|
Handicapper
|
Total Points Earned
|
Legs Won
|
Points Back
|
Last Week
|
Streak
|
|
1st
|
Rusty Nash
|
1,245.20
|
6
|
|
2nd
|
1
|
|
2nd
|
Megan Maccario
|
1,240.90
|
9
|
4.30
|
1st
|
|
|
3rd
|
Anne Stepien
|
1,230.82
|
9
|
14.38
|
4th
|
|
|
4th
|
Gordon Waterstone
|
1,223.50
|
10
|
21.70
|
3rd
|
|
|
5th
|
Dennis O’Hara
|
1,154.85
|
10
|
90.35
|
6th
|
|
|
6th
|
Matt Rose
|
1,148.88
|
10
|
96.32
|
5th
|
|
|
7th
|
Sally Hinckley
|
1,121.98
|
8
|
123.22
|
8th
|
|
|
8th
|
Russ Adams
|
1,099.54
|
8
|
145.66
|
7th
|
|
|
9th
|
Steve Horoky
|
1,066.83
|
4
|
178.37
|
9th
|
|
|
10th
|
Ray Garnett
|
1,025.11
|
6
|
220.09
|
10th
|
|
|
11th
|
Bryan Owen
|
920.90
|
7
|
324.30
|
11th
|
|
|
12th
|
Jay Hochstetler
|
841.50
|
4
|
403.70
|
12th
|
|
|
13th
|
Ray Cotolo
|
762.33
|
4
|
482.87
|
13th
|
|
|
14th
|
Michael Carter
|
750.03
|
3
|
495.17
|
15tg
|
|
|
15th
|
Terry Wilson
|
747.47
|
5
|
497.73
|
14th
|
|
|
16th
|
Rich Mattei
|
569.30
|
2
|
675.90
|
16th
|
v
|
Next Up: Week two at Hoosier Park has a weekend of Breeders Crown
eliminations with the distaff tilts being contested on Friday (10/20) and open elms
contested Saturday (10/21).
The third and
concluding week of the Hoosier Park residency begins with the final preliminary
leg of the Kindergarten Classic being raced at Vernon Downs while the weekend features
the Breeders Crown finals and Pegasus stakes.
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.
