On Friday and Saturday, April 12-13, Keeneland hosted two popular handicapping contests for several hundred players at the track and on various ADWs.
The action kicked off Friday with 200 entries in the on-track-only Spring Challenge at the Lexington, Ky., track. Matt Gumm of Glasgow, Ky., finished first with a bankroll of $4,823 from an initial $250, taking home a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC) at Del Mar in November and a first-place prize of $3,200.
Howard Kravets of Vernon Hills, Ill., was second with $4,269. Gregory Lewis of Columbus, Ohio, finished third, and Peter Rogers of Summit, N.J., was fourth.
For their performances, Kravets, Lewis and Rogers secured berths in the 2025 National Horseplayers Championships (NHC) in Las Vegas and prize money.
On Saturday, a field of 282 players contested the Grade One Gamble, a $3,500 contest widely considered one of the most prestigious handicapping events in the country. Darren Schweiger of New York, N.Y., crushed a $4,000 exacta in the Stonestreet Lexington (G3) on his way to a final bankroll of $42,360. Schweiger took home $68,000 in prize money, a BCBC berth and an NHC berth.
Runner-up Clay Sanders of Memphis, Tenn., cashed a $6,500 win bet on the horse who won the day’s final race to attain a bankroll of $27,365. That total was good for $34,000 in prize money, a BCBC berth and an NHC berth.
In all, six players punched their tickets to both the NHC and BCBC, and another four players earned an NHC berth. They include the aforementioned Gregory Lewis, who finished third with a total bankroll of $23,494 and won a BCBC berth and two NHC berths during this weekend, and Howard Kravets, who finished seventh with a total of $20,796 and double-qualified for the NHC.
Final standings are available at https://members.breederscup.com/bcbc/keeneland
Here are the top 10 finishers with prize money. The first six received BCBC and NHC berths. Players who finished seventh through 10th received NHC berths.
1. Darren Schweiger ($68,000)
2. Clay Sanders ($34,000)
3. Gregory Lewis ($18,000)
4. Cory Shorr ($9,000)
5. Rich Pawlowski ($6,800)
6. Dan Hartmann ($3,600)
7. Howard Kravets ($3,600)
8. Drew Keaton ($3,600)
9. Chuck Grubbs ($3,600)
10. John Fisher ($3,600)
Keeneland’s next handicapping contest is the BCBC-NHC Challenge on Saturday, Oct. 12.
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