Hochstetler on top in Grand Circuit contest

Week two is in the books of the 2016 harness racing Hambletonian Society Grand Circuit Handicapping Challenge sponsored by DRF Harness, Green Acquisition Corporation, The Hambletonian Society, Hoosier Park Racing and Casino, Meadowlands Racing and Entertainment, Northfield Park, The Raceway at Western Fair District, Red Shores Charlottetown Driving Park, Tioga Downs, and Vernon Downs and Jay Hochstetler continues to be in front, expanding his lead slightly.

While Hochstetler remains ahead of the field, the top handicapper for week two was Russ Adams, whose 76.7 points for the weekend narrowly beat out the overall leader by 1.4 points, allowing him to move from 13th to 8th position.

Another big mover, Dennis O'Hara moved from 10th to 5th thanks to his 59.1 point performance.

With a trio of races on Friday night, three handicappers managed to get two thirds of the puzzle solved. Of the three handicappers, Anne Stepien came out on top with 33.5 points followed by Matt Rose (31.3) and Joe Bengston (28.5).

While no one ran the table on Saturday's quintet of races, Hochstetler managed to pull down four winners earning 61.6 points, missing only the seventh race longshot Melmerby Beach.

Despite Hochstetler's handicapping acumen, the winner for the evening was Russ Adams, who despite having only one winner (the aforementioned Melmerby Beach; $27) earned 65.8 points as he had three second place finishes.

Other handicappers of note were Bryan Owen (44.9) and Dennis O'Hara (39.6) as both managed hat tricks for the evening.

The current standings are as follows:

Standings as of March 26, 2016 – Leg #4
Pos	Handicapper	Total Points Prior Week	Points Earned This Week	Overall Total Points	Position Last Week	Points Back
1st	Jay Hochstetler	164.90	75.30	240.20	1st	–
2nd	Matt Rose	78.70	67.00	145.70	2nd	94.50
3rd	Bryan Owen	71.60	52.30	123.90	4th	116.30
4th	Adam Friedland	75.40	44.88	120.28	3rd	119.93
5th	Dennis O'Hara	54.20	59.10	113.30	10th	126.90
6th	Anne Stepien	54.23	50.60	104.83	9th	135.38
7th	Rusty Nash	56.65	41.83	98.48	7th	141.73
8th	Russ Adams	21.60	76.70	98.30	13th	141.90
9th	Mark Deutsch	54.53	43.63	98.15	8th	142.05
10th	Gordon Waterstone	58.55	35.70	94.25	5th	145.95
11th	Ray Garnett	57.20	22.60	79.80	6th	160.40
12th	Sally Hinckley	44.80	30.40	75.20	11th	165.00
13th	Joe Bengston	17.70	43.70	61.40	14th	178.80
14th	Michael Carter	15.30	34.28	49.58	15th	190.63
15th	Ray Cotolo	26.80	16.50	43.30	12th	196.90

The 2016 Hambletonian Society Grand Circuit Handicapping Challenge continues with the third round of the Matchmaker and Levy Memorial series at Yonkers Raceway on Friday (4/1) and Saturday (4/2).  For further information regarding the contest, you may visit http://hanaharnesscontest.blogspot.com.

Allan Schott