The final Saturday of the 21st season of the Xpressbet Beat the Host handicapping contest provides extra sizzle this week. Contestant Greg Lesko has successfully outplayed 8 hosts to date, and after a pair of rivals went by the wayside last week, is the lone combatant left with a chance at the $6,500 Sweep the Host bonus. He’ll need to topple Gulfstream Park handicapper Ron Nicoletti, who will be in the host chair for the final week of the contest’s regular season.
As part of the tournament prize structure, Lesko already has netted $4,000 as the last player remaining in the “knockout” format for sweeping all the hosts. He’ll get the full $6,500 with a Week 9 victory over Nicoletti.
The Week 8 results saw Larry Klingensmith top all players with a $165.00 bankroll good for the $1,000 weekly first prize. He nosed out John Williams’ $162.50 total that netted second prize money of $750. Jerry Larsson was a close-up third at $158.50 and tallied a $250 prize. Only 15 eligible players topped host Zoe Cadman of Santa Anita last week to earn berths into next Saturday’s Beat the Host Championship Round tournament. That brings the current number to 568 players in the hunt for that title.
The $65,000 Beat the Host competition encompasses 10 races each contest Saturday, split between the final 5 Gulfstream Park races and first 5 from Santa Anita. Contestants place $5 win bets on the Xpressbet platform for each of the 10 Beat the Host races, earning their parimutuel winnings as well as prize pools.
All contestants who beat the cumulative bankroll total of the host each Saturday qualify for the Beat the Host Championship on March 7. Weekly prize pools of $2,000 are also in play for the top-3 finishers, while a $6,500 Sweep the Host bonus split is in store for those sharp enough to top the host totals all 9 weeks of the contest – which is now down to just Greg Lesko.
A check-in for the season-long leaderboard in contest earnings shapes up this way: Christopher Cupples has continued to lead for several weeks, now with $583.25. John Souza sits second with $544.25. He’s followed by Steven Busching ($536.75), Steven Dalbec ($529.00) and Ron Watson ($514.50). Note that Sweep the Host candidate Greg Lesko ranks seventh in season bankroll ($503.25).
The BTH Championship pits all weekly winning players against one another in pursuit of seats in the lucrative Pegasus World Cup Betting Challenge, Xpressbet Santa Anita Derby Challenge and Xpressbet Florida Derby Challenge tournaments.
Last season, 496 of 711 Beat the Host players were able to top the host total at least once during the season. Glenn Gulden paced all players in the cumulative season totals last year, while George Blanchard took down the top prize in the Beat the Host Championship round finale.
Tournament & Host Schedule:
Saturday, January 3, 2026 - Pete Aiello
Saturday, January 10, 2026 - Millie Ball
Saturday, January 17, 2026 - Michelle Yu
Saturday, January 24, 2026 - Scott Shapiro
Saturday, January 31, 2026 - Brian Nadeau
Saturday, February 7, 2026 - Tom Quigley
Saturday, February 14, 2026 - Samantha Perry
Saturday, February 21, 2026 - Zoe Cadman
Saturday, February 28, 2026 - Ron Nicoletti
Saturday, March 7, 2026 – Beat the Host Championship Round
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