Handicapping finals get under way

After a slow start to the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship on Friday, with longshots few and far between, Mark Lowe of Bayonet Point, Fla., shot to the lead when Add Heat won Santa Anita's third race at 45-1, giving Lowe 121.60 points, ahead of early pacesetter Roger Warren Sr. of Fairhope, Ala., who was sitting at 109.50 through the contest's first six mandatory races.

The were to make 15 mythical $2 win-and-place bets each day of the two-day event, with eight selections being mandatory races and seven up to the players. Contest points are capped at 20-1 to win and 10-1 to place, so Add Heat's victory was worth 58 points.

The tournament was to conclude Saturday with Santa Anita's 10th, a mandatory race.