Longshots propel Ray Cotolo in Grand Circuit contest

(April 10, 2016) – Week four of the 2016 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 in the books saw Ray Cotolo take advantage of longshots in the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series Friday night to leapfrog into fourth place from fifteenth place.

With his 118.68 points for the week, Cotolo was the top handicapper for the week while Jay Hochstetler continues to be the overall leader with 326.73 points, 80.8 points in front of his closest competitors Mark Deutsch (245.93), closely followed by Matt Rose (240.33) who was just behind the duo in third. Honorable mention goes to Russ Adams whose 65.1 points for the past weekend moved him from twelfth to fifth place.

While running off the board in the last of the Matchmaker series, Cotolo took advantage of the first two races by selecting CarolsIdeal ($19.80) in the fifth race and Yagonnakissmeornot ($37.80) in the sixth to earn 110.88 points of his 118.68 of his weekend total. Russ Adams had only one winner on Friday but made the most of it by earning 58.8 of his weekend total of 65.1 by connecting with Yagonnakissmeornot.

With Saturday night having favorites winning three of the four contest divisions it was hard to make any real movement based solely on Saturday's performance and it was evident by the performances of Sally Hinckley and Matt Rose as both earned 29.85 of their weekly total, having three out of four winners on Saturday, missing only in the fifth race where Take It Back Terry finished a neck back denying both of them the evening grand slam. Eight other handicappers had two out of four winners Saturday evening.

The current standings are as follows:

Standings as of April 9, 2016 – Leg #8
Pos	Handicapper	Total Points Prior Week	Points Earned This Week	Overall Total Points	Position Last Week	Points Back
1st	Jay Hochstetler	286.10	40.63	326.73	1st	–
2nd	Mark Deutsch	213.15	32.78	245.93	2nd	80.80
3rd	Matt Rose	197.98	42.35	240.33	3rd	86.40
4th	Ray Cotolo	59.50	118.68	178.18	15th	148.55
5th	Russ Adams	112.00	65.10	177.10	12th	149.63
6th	Adam Friedland	136.88	32.75	169.63	6th	157.10
7th	Dennis O'Hara	141.20	24.85	166.05	4th	160.68
8th	Sally Hinckley	125.45	36.95	162.40	9th	164.33
9th	Anne Stepien	133.93	27.98	161.90	8th	164.83
10th	Rusty Nash	137.48	13.90	151.38	5th	175.35
11th	Gordon Waterstone	125.15	24.75	149.90	10th	176.83
12th	Bryan Owen	133.70	11.00	144.70	7th	182.03
13th	Ray Garnett	91.00	53.43	144.43	13th	182.30
14th	Joe Bengston	119.50	24.20	143.70	11th	183.03
15th	Michael Carter	78.48	28.93	107.40	14th	219.33

The 2016 Hambletonian Society Grand Circuit Handicapping Challenge continues with the fifth and final preliminary round of the Matchmaker and Levy Memorial series at Yonkers Raceway on Friday (4/15) and Saturday (4/16).  For further information regarding the contest, you may visit http://hanaharnesscontest.blogspot.com.

by Allan Schott, for HANA