Record payouts on DRF Tournaments

It was a record weekend on DRF Tournaments with over $75,000 in awards paid out over the three days. The highlights were two separate qualifiers for the World Championship of Handicapping as well as a lastchance qualifier for the Pegasus World Cup Betting Challenge.

In Saturday’s Grade 1 qualifier for the WCH, tournament stalwart Brent Sumja ($65.50) was best in a field of 25. Sumja started well enough with three collections in the first five races before going cold for four races. But Sumja rallied late with three collections in a row, the longest of which was Shining Copper ($18.80 win-place combined) in the Fort Lauderdale.

Sumja summed up the reason for his success. “It was a perfect grinder’s day with no crazy bombs,” he said. “Under those circumstances I’m going to be tough.”

Sam DeCicco ($59.60) ran second, also netting a WCH seat. He cashed in seven of the 12 contest races and his biggest hit came via King Tide ($18.80) in Tampa’s 10th race.

On Monday, Anthony Trezza ($76.30) and Thomas Saunders ($74.90) won berths to the WCH in an event that attracted 20 entries. Trezza, the man they call “Doczilla,” hit with Saratoga Giro ($23.10) in Aqueduct’s sixth race and followed that up with $13.80 from Boston Mine in Gulfstream’s ninth. Three collections in a row late, the longest of which was First Alternate ($15) in the anchor leg, Oaklawn’s seventh, sealed the deal.

Saunders had a stretch of four hits in a row in the middle of the contest, including the price horse Rossie Val ($32.90) in Aqueduct’s ninth. He looked in a great spot but then went four races in a row without improving his position. He would have hung on grimly for the second qualifying spot in any case but did get place points from Sassy Siena in the final race.

Also on Monday, Lorne Weiss ($106.70) and Joseph Calvo ($90.80) punched their tickets for the Pegasus World Cup Betting Challenge. Each wins $500 in travel plus his $12,000 buy-in, all of which will act as a live bankroll.

Weiss had built a decent bankroll already through four collections when he came up with the cap horse Trickonomics in Santa Anita’s fourth. Trickonomics paid $79 to win and 35.60 to place but those numbers were limited to $64 total for contest purposes. Impressively, four other players in the 30-entry contest had the horse as well, but none of them had enough other points to get into the qualification zone.

Calvo got off to a great start and was able to qualify despite not having the big capper. He collected in the first four races and six overall. Farcical Feline ($22.40) got him going in the right direction in the opener and Toasting Master ($19) in Oaklawn’s sixth pushed him over the top.

Qualifying for the World Championship of Handicapping continues this week on DRFT, with Round 1 events happening every operating day. In those, players put up $95 and one in seven will advance to Saturday’s $580 Grade 1 qualifier. Players looking to get involved for less can also feed into the Round 1’s for as little as $11.

Go to tournaments.drf.com to check out a full list of WCH events as well as full details of all the games happening at DRF Tournaments this week.