Matt Rose swept Friday night’s (March 26) three legs of the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series to take a solid lead early on in the 2017 Hambletonian Society Grand Circuit Handicapping Challenge by opening up a 50.5 point lead over Ray Garnett who managed to muscle into second place by one point over Rusty Nash by winning Saturday’s leg of the challenge by winning two of the four races. Rose has now won two of the four legs contested thus far.

Clearly, Rose is taking advantage of the early legs at Yonkers, his home track, by winning all three races on Friday’s slate, including Empress Deo ($25), Mackenzie A ($4.60), and Bedroomconfessions ($2.90) which allowed him to net $41.70 for the evening. However, even a home track can be cruel, as Saturday night was a different story, resulting in him having to settle for a couple of show placings.

Garnett and Russ Adams both had two winners on Saturday evening, but the difference was Garnett’s tabbing of Keystone Velocity ($13.20) in the first division of the Levy, which allowed him to eke out a net profit of $12.60. Also selecting Keystone Velocity was Anne Stepien.

In the overall net-profit competition, Nash ($62.10) remains on top, leading Rose ($58.80) by $3.30. Ray Garnett moves into third this week with a net profit of $36.80 as Ray Cotolo fills out the top quartet with a net profit of $22.60.

The standings thus far after four legs appear below.

Next Up: The challenge returns to Yonkers Raceway on Friday, March 31 and Saturday, April 1 for the third legs of the Matchmaker and Levy Memorial Series. The challenge remains at Yonkers Raceway until the conclusion of the two series on April 22.

(HANA)