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.
