Mark McKelvie picked up some ground on Sally Hinckley during the most recent week of the 2015 HANA Harness Grand Circuit Handicapping Challenge.
The week opened at the Meadows where the Nadia Lobell was won by Safe From Terror. Mark Deutsch was able to select the winner and he took the daily honours with 22.8 points -- the decimal point was needed because Bryan Owen just missed with longshot The Show Returns. The place and show prices returned 22.6 points. One fifth of a point separated the early weekly leaders. Divine Caroline finished third and that caused a four-way dead heat for the show spot between Sally Hinckley, Anne Stepien, Derick Giwner and Ray Cotolo.
Saturday evening, the HANA Grand Circuit Handicapping team visited Mohawk for another big night of racing, and the team witnessed perfection! There is a good reason that Mark McKelvie has been positioned near the top of the standings for so long -- he correctly selected all five winners. McKelvie scored with Southwind Frank, Caprice Hill, Bee A Magician, Mission Brief and Pinkman. The 5X multiplier earned Mark all 196 points that were available.
Three other handicappers had four winners each. They each had a different combination of winners and earned different scores. The place honours went to Buffalo’s own Michael 'Horsy Boy' Carter with 122 points. Bee A Magician was the key to his second-place finish. Josi Verlingieri took the show spot with 114 points and Earl Paulson was fourth with 109 points.
The final accent on the racing week was the Bobby Quillen Memorial at Harrington Raceway where Foiled Again was the featured headliner. Mach It So edged by him at the top of the lane, and while the old boy fought back with everything he had, Mach It So held on for the short neck win. Mach It So, who was sent off at odds of 8-1, returned 25 HANA contest points for a quartet of very sharp handicappers. Successfully beating the chalk were Ray Garnett, Jay Hochstetler, Earl Paulson and Anne Stepien. The rest of the HANA handicappers were grateful that there was no bonus multiplier available with the $18 winner!
McKelvie easily took the weekly honours with a total of 198 points. Paulson was second best with 135 and Carter was third with 124. Rounding out the super and the penta were Josi Verlingieri and Bryan Owen.
There was one change to the overall contest pentafecta. With Mach It So winning the Quillen, Paulson just edged out Gordon Waterstone for the fifth spot by a mere 8.5 points. Sally Hinckley continues to lead with McKelvie slowly closing the gap. Ann Stepien remains in third and Bob Zanakis maintained his fourth-place position. Things are sure to change next week with more than a dozen races lined up.
Jug week is upon us and we will have plenty of HANA Grand Circuit Handicapping action starting on Wednesday from Delaware, Ohio. The week kicks off with the Jugette, Buckette, Little Brown Jug, Old Oaken Bucket and the Miss Versatility. Saturday features the Milton from Mohawk and a nice set of stakes from Hoosier Park.
(HANA)