by Dan Leary, USTA director of marketing and communications

Columbus, OH — Michael Rosenthal of Las Vegas, Nev., and Ira Schwartz of Sunny Isles, Fla., won the weekend’s two USTA World Harness Handicapping Championship Free, Online Qualifiers to earn berths ($1,000 value) to the $100,000 World Harness Handicapping Championship at the Meadowlands on April 13. Both contests had the maximum 1,000 players entered.

Rosenthal had eight winners and a total bankroll of $194.20, $38.00 more than runner-up Matthew Robins’ $156.20, on the 15 races from The Meadows on Friday night to post the largest winning margin of the contest so far. He had three winners that paid more than $20 to win — Action SJ (fouth race, $21.40, $10.20), Bergerac (seventh race, $24.20, $11.60) and Fearless Chip (14th race, $23.00, $8.80).

On Saturday’s 12 races from Yonkers Raceway, Schwartz jumped out to a quick lead among a small group who correctly selected longshots in the first three races, then sealed the win with a $2.90 place payout in the last race. He earned $95.80 of his $133.10 in the first three races by picking Cigar Hall ($22.20, $8.50), Shortstacked ($33.80, $7.60) and Four Starz Kyle ($16.40, $7.30), but it was Electric Oui, who paid $2.90 to place in the last race, that clinched the tournament by $2.50 over second-place finisher Jay Jones ($130.60), who led by $0.40 going into the finale. Schwartz selected six winners and one runner-up overall.

Free entries, limited to 1,000 per contest, for the next two contests at Northfield Park on Friday (Feb. 8) and Pompano Park on Saturday (Feb. 9) opened at 9 a.m. on Monday (Feb. 4) at www.horsetourneys.com.

A link to Free TrackMaster Platinum Past Performances on their site will be available for each weekend’s contests two days before each event at www.horsetourneys.com.

Following are the top 10 finishers in the fifth and sixth USTA free, online qualifiers for the WHHC:

Qualifier 5–The Meadows, Friday, Feb. 1
No.-Name-Earnings
1. Michael Rosenthal–$194.20
2. Matthew Robins–$156.20
3. David Guy–$151.60
4. Mike Maguire–$150.20
5. Gary Arceci–$143.00
6. Christopher Warner–$142.40
7. Joseph Karas–$141.60
8. Pavlos Kanakis–$135.80
9. Robert Beauregard–$134.80
10. David Brownfield–$133.40

Qualifier 6 –Yonkers, Saturday, Feb. 2
No.-Name-Earnings
1. Ira Schwartz–$133.10
2. Jay Jones–$130.60
3. Walter Andrasi–$124.20
4. Rich Zenor–$121.10
5. Chris Bouchard–$120.60
6. Harold Paulson–$119.40
7. Brady Kosic–$118.10
8. Stanley Koper–$117.50
9. Gary Johnson–$108.70
10. Leon Przytula–$107.30

The USTA World Harness Handicapping Championship Free, Online Qualifying Series consists of 10 tournaments during January and February over five consecutive weekends and involves handicapping races at 10 different USTA member racetracks.

Following is the schedule/results with featured racetracks for the USTA Free, Online WHHC Qualifying Series:

Date-Track-Winner
Fri. Jan. 18–Meadowlands–Sally Goodall
Sat. Jan. 19–Balmoral Park–Brenda Hogan
Fri. Jan. 25–Maywood Park–Paul Groffie
Sat. Jan. 26–Cal Expo–William Woodrum
Fri. Feb. 1–The Meadows–Michael Rosenthal
Sat. Feb. 2–Yonkers Raceway–Ira Schwartz
Fri. Feb. 8–Northfield Park
Sat. Feb. 9–Pompano Park
Fri. Feb. 15–Northville Downs
Sat. Feb 16–Buffalo Raceway