Good fortune and tough luck

If you think you had a tough beat last weekend, consider Andrew Muhlada, who competed in DRF Tournaments’ Keeneland Challenge qualifier on Saturday. Muhlada ended up with the exact same score as Justin Dew. Dew walked away with his $3,000 seat to Keeneland plus $500 in travel; Muhlada got $600 in site credit. That’s not nothing, of course, but it’s certainly less than what he hoped.

Both men ended the event with $44.30 over 10 races held at Belmont and Gulfstream. Dew had three winners: Gran Network ($18.40 winplace combined) in Gulfstream’s seventh, Honey Graeme ($10.70) in Belmont’s eighth, and Epping Forest ($9.20) in Belmont’s ninth. He also added $6 in place points from Money Come in Gulfstream’s eighth.

Muhlada also had Money Come and Holy Graeme, and was very much on the outside looking in as the final two contest races approached. In the penultimate leg, Gulfstream’s 11th, he got back in the game with winner Unbridled Courage ($16.20). In the anchor leg, Belmont’s 10th, he selected Lightworker, a 15-1 shot, who ended up second to 4-1 Troffissio.

Had Muhlada even picked up another dime along the way, in that race or anywhere else, the day would have been his. But the first tiebreaker is the number of overall outright winners, and Dew had him on that front, four to three. That’s got to sting a bit. Still, with an array of good games on DRF Tournaments, hopefully he can parlay his $600 in site credit to a significant prize.

Dew is a respected tournament player who has competed at Keeneland before. He’ll head back to the famed Lexington oval on Oct. 14 having won his entry, and that can often be a precursor to success. But before that, the Orlando, Fla., resident will head to Saratoga to compete in their two contests this summer.

Speaking of Saratoga, Sunday’s big winner on DRFT was Joe Pettit, the handicapping haberdasher. Pettit, who owns the Key West Hat Company, won his $2,000 seat to Saratoga’s Fourstardave Challenge on Aug.11. He built his total of $61.60 on five collections in the nine-race sequence, the longest of which was Fallen Leaf ($26.40) in Gulfstream’s 10th.

Contest action is back on DRFT on Wednesday with a busy week highlighted by a couple of free chances to start your journey to DRF’s World Championship of Handicapping, as well as feeders for next weekend’s featured game, a qualifier for both days of the Saratoga Betting Challenge. Wednesday’s feeder costs $95 to play, with one in five winning their $410 buy-ins for Saturday. Players can also buy-in to Saturday’s game directly for $410 and one in 10 will win prize packages worth $3,500: a $1,000 buy in for Friday, Aug. 10, a $2,000 buy-in for Saturday, Aug. 11, and $500 in travel.

To sign up and play, as well as have a look at all the things happening at DRF Tournaments, simply go to tournaments.drf.com.