king of the turf handicapping challenge

King of the Turf Handicapping Challenge Returns to Kentucky Downs

Kentucky Downs' King of the Turf Handicapping Challenge returns Sept. 7 with a new one-day format and is highlighted by six graded stakes each worth at least $1 million. The $2,500 per-entry buy-in includes $1,500 for the player's bankroll and $1,000 toward the prize pool. Based on 100 entries, the prize pool would be $100,000.

The first-place King of the Turf finisher will receive an entry to the 2025 National Horseplayers Championships (NHC) and an entry into the 2024 Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC), worth $10,000. In addition, the winner gets the designation as National Turf Handicapper of the Year and receives the Global Tote King of the Turf Championship belt.

At least five NHC packages and two BCBC berths are guaranteed to be awarded to the King of the Turf's top finishers. Additional prizes will be awarded based on the total number of entries. The tournament host takes no money out of the entry fees, with 100% going to the prize pool and players' bankrolls.

The 2024 meet will also feature two Play-In tournaments on Aug. 29 and Sept. 1. These competitions will have a $300 and $400 entry fee, respectively. Each event will feature two 2025 NHC entries plus entries to the $2,500 King of the Turf finals. Additional prizes will be awarded based on the number of entries. Online qualifiers for the King of the Turf finals and the Play-In tournaments will be announced later.

“We reconfigured the King of the Turf Handicapping Challenge into a single-day extravaganza that will offer more prize money and more prizes,” said Ted Nicholson, Kentucky Downs' vice president for racing. “We think the format will be attractive to big bettors and contest players while also providing play-in tournaments with much smaller entry fees. With inexpensive and sometimes free online qualifiers to both the play-in and championship, everyone has a chance to try to be King of the Turf and get the Global Tote belt.”

Phil Lam, the 2023 King of the Turf winner, will be presented his personalized Global Tote belt at the NHC at Horseshoe Las Vegas (formerly Bally's) March 15-17.

Players must bet a minimum of $300 per race for at least five races on the 12-race card, utilizing win, place, show, exacta and daily double wagering. The contest is conducted via online wagering through FanDuel/TVG, Xpressbet, NJBets and HPI Canada.

Online qualifiers for entries into the play-in tournaments and the 2024 King of the Turf Championship will be announced later.

For more information, click here.

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Handicapping Heavyweight: Kenny Mollicone To Receive First King Of The Turf Championship Belt

Kenny Mollicone established himself as the National Turf Handicapping Champion by winning the King of the Turf Handicapping Challenge last September during the FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs. Now he'll have the belt to prove it.

Mollicone, a 47-year-old real-estate developer from Somerset, Mass., will be presented the Global Tote King of the Turf Championship Belt during Sunday's awards dinner that wraps up the National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) at Bally's Las Vegas. The Global Tote belt was designed to mimic boxing's iconic world championship belts.

“I love it!” Mollicone enthused recently when texted a photo of the Global Tote Championship Belt. “Never had a trophy quite like that. Never had a championship belt. I'm going to put it right in my office. Put it right in a case.”

Asked if he's been getting the proper respect for being King of the Turf, he said with a laugh, “Believe it or not, I've had more than a few people who bet horses stop me and go, 'Hey, King of the Turf!' It's pretty funny.”

Mollicone won the six-day competition based on Kentucky Downs' races with an aggregate bankroll total of $5,783.90 after playing in all three of the individual two-day, live-money contests. That gave him a comfortable $1,163.90 advantage over runner-up Christy Moore of Fishers, Ind. Mollicone also earned $20,000 as the overall winner.

“Like Kentucky Downs, the King of the Turf Handicapping Challenge is one-of-a-kind in American racing,” said Dallas Baker, Head of International Operations for Global Tote's parent company, BetMakers Technology Group. “We wanted our King of the Turf to get a champion's trophy as unique as the tournament format and its venue. It's especially appropriate to use boxing's fabled world-championship belts as our inspiration for an event in Kentucky, which of course gave us Muhammad Ali.”

Eleven competitors earned Kentucky Downs-sponsored berths for the NHC, which runs Jan. 28-30. Moore, who already had earned the maximum two NHC qualifying seats, instead received an entry for the Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge, in which she finished fourth out of 522 entries.

“It's taken just two years for the Kentucky Downs King of the Turf Handicapping Challenge to become one of the most coveted prizes in the world of handicapping contests,” said Brian Skirka, Monmouth Park's marketing manager who has served as the Kentucky Downs' King of the Turf tournament director the past two years. “Andy Muhlada was a great inaugural champion in 2020, and 2021 champ Ken Mollicone – with the introduction of the new Global Tote King of the Turf Championship Belt – will literally carry his title into 2022.

“An unmatched layout and quality of turf racing gives Kentucky Downs such amazing content that serves as the ultimate ingredient with which to concoct a world-class contest series. I'm excited to work with the team to create this year's contest series.”

While the King of the Turf Handicapping Challenge features live money, with players keeping their final bankroll in addition to any prize money, the NHC's format utilizes mythical $2 win and place wagers on a single horse in mandatory and optional races. Competitors must play 18 races each of the first two days, after which the top 10 percent of entries based on mythical bankroll qualify for the third day's semifinals, where players pick their 10 races to play. The subsequent top 10 players advance to the Final Table, featuring seven mandatory races.

Mollicone finished 194th in last year's NHC out of 563 entries, his first time qualifying for the world's most prestigious handicapping competition.

“I had a horse that was 16-1 in the last race at Saratoga and got disqualified,” he said of the COVID-delayed 2021 NHC. “If he hadn't been taken down, I'd have been in the semifinals. I'm still sick about it. Watch the replay.”

Also qualifying for the NHC through Kentucky Downs, with hometowns are Marikate Carter (Saratoga Springs, NY), George Chute (Dedham, MA), Erin Doty-McQuaid (Nicholasville, KY), Gary Gristick (Lebanon, PA), Lawrence Kahlden (St. Petersburg, FL), Chris Larmey (Kennewick, WA), Nick Noce (Rochester, NY), Joseph Regan (Marlboro, MA), David Rink (Bannockburn, IL) and Gary Wright (Staten Island, NY). In addition to Moore, Ed Deicke (Lido Beach, NY) earned a Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge berth at Kentucky Downs after being double-qualified for the NHC.

With Kentucky Downs picking up a seventh racing day for 2022, the format for the King of the Turf Handicapping Challenge has not yet been set. Kentucky Downs will race Sept. 1, 3, 4, 8, 10, 11 and 14. Mollicone says he's participating however it's structured.

“One hundred percent,” he said. “I've got to defend myself. Have to go for another belt.”

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Kentucky Downs’ King Of The Turf Handicapping Challenge Expanded For 2021

Kentucky Downs' one-of-a-kind online handicapping tournament is getting super-sized: the 2021 King of the Turf Handicapping Challenge presented by Daily Racing Form will feature a trio of two-day handicapping contests spanning the all-grass meet's Sept. 5, 6, 8, 9, 11 and 12 dates.

Last year's inaugural event involved a pair of one-day contests with the cumulative winner, Andy Muhlada of Lawrenceburg, Ind., crowned the first National Turf Handicapping Champion. The separate online tournaments are live-money events, meaning that entrants use a real bankroll and get to keep whatever they might earn. All contest bets must be placed through the TVG, 4NJBets or Xpressbet ADW platforms.

“The philosophy at Kentucky Downs has been that if something works well, how can we make it even better?” said Kentucky Downs Vice President for Racing Ted Nicholson. “Those were the marching orders for our marketing team. The beauty of this format is the flexibility it provides for those who might face scheduling conflicts that prevent them from playing in one or two of the tournaments. But we also wanted to reward those who play all six days.

“With the ever-growing popularity of Kentucky Downs racing, with our big fields and low takeout, we believe the Turf Handicapping Challenge will be a big hit with simulcast players and NHC Tour members alike. We also wanted to award prizes to make it worth players' time and money. And as with last year, all the buy-in fees are returned to the players through either the prizes or their bankrolls.”

Seats at the National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) will be awarded to the top finishers in all three individual competitions, with seats for the Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC) also up for grabs in the final two contests. The overall winner who participates in all three contests over the six dates will be crowned National Turf Handicapping Champion and earn additional prize money, along with the National Turf Handicapping Champion Trophy presented by BetMakers.

“The 2020 Kentucky Downs Turf Handicapping Challenge proved to be a massive success,” said tournament director Brian Skirka, who also is Monmouth Park's director of marketing. “We look to build off that success this season with three, two-day contests encapsulating the entire Kentucky Downs meet. The uniqueness of all-turf cards combined with full fields, great betting opportunities, and the chance to become the National Turf Handicapping Champion make these contests a can't-miss for contest players across the country. I look forward to being part of the contest team yet again and thank Kentucky Downs for the opportunity.”

Based on conservative estimates, a projected minimum of 13 qualifying seats and prize packages (hotel and airfare up to $400) to the 2022 National Horseplayers Championship and three seats with the $10,000 buy-in to the Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge at Del Mar will be awarded. The exact numbers of automatic qualifiers to the NHC and BCBC buy-ins depend on entries, with more than $100,000 in cash projected to be paid out.

Muhlada says he plans to defend his title.

“The format looks intriguing and intense,” he said. “Seems fitting that this unique track and meet is hosting such a challenging tournament series. I am excited to participate!”

Half of the buy-in amounts for the three stand-alone tournaments goes to the entrant's live bankroll and the other half goes toward the prizes, including cash payments to the top 10 finishers in each contest. Players must wager on a minimum of five races each day, with no maximum. All contests are based on Kentucky Downs racing that day. Also new this year: doubles join the betting menu in addition to straight and exacta wagering.

Here's a quick look at the three contests (with projected prizes based on 175 entries per contest):

Sunday Sept. 5 and Monday Sept. 6: $600 buy-in, $30 minimum bet per race. Projected prizes: four NHC prize packs, $10,000 to the winner down to $800 for 10th.

Wednesday Sept. 8 and Thursday Sept. 9: $800 buy-in, $40 minimum bet per race. Projected prizes: One BCBC seat and $10,000 buy-in, four NHC seats and prize packs, $12,000 to the winner down to $1,000 for 10th.

Saturday Sept. 11 and Sunday Sept. 12: $1,200 buy-in, $60 minimum bet per race. Projected prizes: Two BCBC seats and $10,000 buy-in, five NHC prize packs, $18,000 to winner down to $1,500 for 10th.

The National Turf Handicapping Champion is the player with the highest aggregate six-day bankroll once scores are combined from the three individual contests. Based on 175 entries for each contest, the Turf Handicapping Champ will receive $25,000 in addition to prizes earned during the three tournaments.

“This is a unique tournament series with reasonable entry fees and great prizes for each individual tournament,” said Scott Coles, a Chicago futures trader who in 2019 became the youngest NHC champion at age 34. “If you play them all, you can win your entries into the major championships, pick up a lot of NHC Tour points and be crowned King of the Turf all in the same week. Get involved!”

For more information or to sign up, contact Brian Skirka at bskirka@monmouthpark.com.

Low-priced feeder contests will be available each week on www.horsetourneys.com, providing the opportunity to win fees-paid entry to all three contests. Click here for information about Sunday's Horsetourneys.com first feeder contest.

Click here for complete rules

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