Grand River Raceway’s latest winner in its weekly qualifying rounds of the Winter Wednesdays Handicapping Tournament is Chuck Hall. The resident of nearby Fergus, ON isn’t a champ by coincidence. Hall has fine-tuned his strategy after the 2012 tournament, and the secret recipe seems to be working.

He was a runner-up to Clare Cressman in week two, but on January 30, it was Hall who took the lion’s share of the $200 qualifying prize.

A keen thoroughbred player since he placed his first bet at the age of 16, Hall’s six contest selections for Tampa Bay Downs reaped a hypothetical bankroll of $166.10. Two zingers (45-1 and 32-1) put him $75 ahead of runner-up Kerria Hammond.

Hall’s connection to racing is in the family: he had an uncle who trained thoroughbreds and nephews who were jockeys at Woodbine Racetrack. His favourite jockey of all time is Hall Of Famer Willie Shoemaker, a four-time winner of Hall’s favourite stakes race, the Kentucky Derby.

Shoemaker often piloted Hall’s all-time favourite steed, Silky Sullivan. Best known for his come-from-behind racing style, Silky once allowed the field to get 41 lengths in front of him and still won by three lengths.

While he admires such qualities in a racehorse, Hall esteems to skip the 41-length comeback and stay three lengths ahead of his competitors heading into the last seven legs of the contest.

The top 10 finishers in each of the 10 legs of the Winter Wednesdays Handicapping Tournament advance to the $4,000 final on March 27.
February 6 is round four of the contest. Patrons can play for free at Grand River Raceway and its OTB site, The Bettor Club, in Kitchener, ON.

Complete rules and regulations are available on the Grand River Raceway website.

(Grand River Raceway)