from HANA Harness

This past week, three different handicappers took top honors in HANA Harness’ The Pen vs. The Chip Handicapping Challenge sponsored by the Hambletonian Society, Meadowlands, Tioga Downs and Vernon Downs. By the time the dust settled, Pen Handicapper Mark McKelvie barely held on to the lead in the overall standings with a 1.0 Win ROI, just a .02 lead over Trackmaster’s Chatsworth Consortium.

There’s no place like home goes the old adage and Pen handicapper Bobby Z made the most of it this past Tuesday (June 5) when the contest visited his hometown track, The Meadows. Zanakis led all handicappers at The Meadows with a Win ROI of 1.58 by selecting seven winners on the 16-race card followed by fellow Pen handicapper, Mr. Trifecta who was close behind with a ROI of 1.34. When it came to exactas, the Chips took top honors as Trackmaster’s Chatsworth Consortium scored an Exacta ROI of 2.14.

On Friday night (June 8), the tables were turned at Vernon Downs with Trackmaster’s Chatsworth Consortium leaving the rest of the field in the dust as the 2010 Tioga Downs Pen vs. Chip champion scored a 2.29 Win ROI and an Exacta ROI of 2.98, nailing eight winners on the 12-race program. Closest to Chatsworth Consortium in the Win ROI was Bobby Z with a 1.33 but it was no contest when it came to exactas as Chatsworth Consortium came out $127.10 ahead of four other handicappers who were tied for second place.

Sunday afternoon (June 10) saw the handicappers battle on Tioga Downs’ 12-race program with Chip handicapper Ray’s Robot dominating the others by getting an impressive 2.48 Win ROI and also getting a contest high 5.04 Exacta ROI with his $48 worth of exacta wagers returning $242.10. The only other handicapper to get above the 1.0 Win ROI at Tioga Downs was fellow Chip handicapper Pandy, who had a 1.10 ROI.

Through the first 11 legs of the Handicapping Challenge, the overall standings are:

Position-Handicapper-$ Won -ROI
1. Mark McKelvie (P)-$284.60-1.00
2. TM’s Chatsworth Consortium (C)-$279.90-0.98
3. Ray’s Robot (C)-$239.10-0.84
4. Bobby Z (P)-$235.90-0.82
5. Mr. Trifecta (P)-$230.10-0.80
6. Earl the Pearl (C)-$201.10-0.70
7. Scott Alberg (P)-$198.50-0.69
8. Pandy (C)- $186.40-0.65

This coming weekend, the handicappers are on both sides of the border as they take aim at Mohawk Racetrack for their Saturday night stakes laden racing program which includes the C$1.5 million Pepsi North America Cup before heading back south to return to Tioga Downs for their Sunday afternoon card as the Historic Series makes its first appearance at the Nichols, N.Y., oval. As always, the pen and chip handicappers’ selections will be available the morning of the racing card.

Handicapper selections and additional statistical information are available at the contest website (hanaharnesscontest.blogspot.com).

Rescue Spotlight: This week, our rescue spotlight concludes with a look at the last of our Standardbred rescues selected by our handicappers, Racers Placers, Inc.

Recognizing the versatility and wonderful disposition of Standardbred horses, Racer Placers, Inc. was founded in 2008 to aid in the re-homing of horses whose racing careers are ending. Located in the rolling hills of Southeastern Wisconsin, Racer Placers, Inc. is a 501(c)3 all volunteer organization that has received verification by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries. Racer Placers is an “adopt to own” program, and after a predetermined time period, ownership of the horse is transferred to the adopter. Horses arriving at Racer Placers are usually given several months of pasture turn-out, and then begin re-training for life after racing. Racer Placers horses have found second careers as pleasure driving horses, family riding horses, search and rescue horses and hippo-therapy horses.