By Steve Davidowitz | The weekend was as action packed and as dramatic as anything I’ve seen on and off the racetrack in several years.
First, there were numerous tight finishes and sterling performances in the annualSunshine Millions that jointly was run atGulfstream Park and Santa Anita Parkon Saturday. Beyond that, simultaneously, the richest handicapping tournament of all time was being run at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Fact is, more money was on the table in that contest than all the stakes races at both tracks combined.
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The tournament, the 2012 National Handicapping Championship, with a pot of $1.8 million was a tournament I actually participated in, along with 491 other horseplayers who qualified from among 30,000 players during 2011. While I finished a decent 29th in this field, the real battle for top prize fought between two experienced horseplayers—Michael Beychok of Baton Rouge, Louisiana and David Flanzbaum of Rolling Meadows, Ill—would not be decided until the final race with a spellbinding ending that rivaled any of the races seen this year.
On the track—the performances that deserve to be chronicled—include these at Santa Anita Park:
The veteran turf miler COMPARI’S winning run in the $100,000 Sensational Star Stakes at 6-1/2 furlongs on the downhill Santa Anita turf course; HOLLADAY ROAD’s fast win in the $100,000 Crystal Water Stakes at 1-1/16 miles on the same glib SA grass; CHOKECHERYMARY’s desperate stretch running win in the one mile Valentine Dancer Stakes clocked in a sharp 1:34. 42; WILLA B AWESOME’S convincing triumph in the 1-1/16 mile, Grade-3, Santa Ysabel Stakes clocked in 1:41.73 and HOME SWEET ASPEN’S driving score by a neck at 5-1 odds in the $300,000 Santa Monica Stakes, a Grade-1 for fillies and mares at 7 furlongs.
At Gulfstream, the stars of the show were:
IT’S ME MOM, winner of the Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Distaff Sprint that was clocked in a strong 1:08.85; AWESOME FEATHER’S amazing 5-3/4 length win in the $300,000 Sunshine Distaff to remain undefeated through nine career starts dating all the way back to when she was the 2010 BC Juvenile Fillies winner and champion 2 year old filly. Then there was LITTLE MIKE’ s pressurized front running win over SLEW’S ANSWER in the Sunshine Millions Turf that was clocked in a sharp 1:45.94, barely .56 seconds off Gulfstream 1-1/8 mile course record and MUCHO MACHO MAN’S dominating win in the $400,000 Sunshine Millions Classic clocked in 1:47.91, that also threatened the track record of 1:47.49 for 1-1/8 miles on dirt.
But perhaps the most important result of the day, especially for the 492 horseplayers who were at the Treasure Island in Vegas, was turned in by HOOH WHY at 17.70-1 over 3-2 betting favorite ROMANACACA in the $150,000 Sunshine Million Turf. That was because horseplayer and political consultant Michael Beychok had this filly on his tournament ticket while most of the contenders in the contest did not.
And there is more to his story than that.
To wind up with a gross bankroll of $237.60 based on 30 bets of $2 win and $2 over two days of racing at seven tracks, Beychok stated that he made several winning plays based on the workout reports featured exclusively on my web site. “Without www.GradeOneRacing.com,” he said, adding emphatically, that he “would not have won this.”
And as flattering as that was, the story would not be complete without going to the very last race in the competition.
Trailing David Flanzbaum by a mere $11 going into that last contest race—a cheap maiden claiming sprint at Golden Gate Fields—Beychok picked the 3-1 winner, which gave him a combined win-place pari mutual payoff of $8.00 and $4.20 to leap frog over Flanzbaum by a mere $1, yes one measly dollar.
Yet, that single solitary dollar instantly translated to a cool $1 million winning payoff, the largest prize in the history of handicapping contests.
Meanwhile, after a brilliant tournament that fell so short of victory, Flanzbuam had to settle for a much smaller $150,000 prize for his second place finish.
While all this proved to be great theater and I for one appreciated the modest check I received for finishing ahead of 462 other finalists, with great pride, I most appreciated that the winning player had successfully used GradeOneRacing’s workout reports to make his historic score. If only I had done exactly the same!
The Action Never Stops.
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