Contestant Glenn Gulden scored a remarkable repeat victory in last week’s 20th annual Xpressbet Beat the Host handicapping contest, outpacing the competition in Weeks 2 and 3 of the contest. He’ll look for a 3-peat this Saturday when Jeff Siegel steps to the plate as the host to beat for Week 4. Saturday's contest races will include the main events on Pegasus World Cup Day at Gulfstream Park and more.
Last week’s host Tom Quigley whiffed on his 10 contest picks, opening the door for contest players to earn their share of $67,500 in weekly and seasonal prizes. Gulden led the way with a $144.50 mutuel bankroll and earned the $1,000 weekly prize.
Gulden’s $144.50 total was lowest so far this season in Beat the Host play for a weekly winner (he also had the high total $219 in Week 2). Week 3 runner-up Martin O’Connell ($128 mutuel total) earned an additional $750 in prize money, while Robert Neka ($122 mutuel total) finished third and added another $250. The hosts have struggled so far in 2025 with Pete Aiello (2), Millie Ball (2) and Quigley (0) totaling 4 winners in 30 contest races. So far, 404 players have qualified for the Beat the Host Championship by winning a weekly head-to-head against the hosts.
Beat the Host 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 rising up the leaderboard and potentially topping the experts.
Register here.
Beat the host’s total once to qualify for the March 8 BTH Championship (maximum 2 seats per qualifier). Weekly prizes include $1,000 to the contestant with the highest accumulated dollar total, as well as $750 to second and $250 to third. The BTH Championship will pit 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.
A sweep the host bonus ($6,500) and season leaderboard champion (Pegasus World Cup Betting Challenge, 1/ST Ultimate Betting Challenge seats) also are in prize play. Through the first week, 110 players remain eligible in the sweep the host bonus chase (10 fell by the wayside during Week 3).
The host lineup for the season:
Jan. 4—Pete Aiello (Gulfstream Park)
Jan. 11--Millie Ball (Santa Anita & XBTV)
Jan. 18--Tom Quigley (Santa Anita)
Jan. 25--Jeff Siegel (1/ST BET & XBTV)
Feb. 1--Brian Nadeau (Gulfstream Park)
Feb. 8--Frank Mirahmadi (Santa Anita)
Feb. 1--Jeremy Plonk (1/ST BET)
Feb 22--Ron Nicoletti (Gulfstream Park)
Registration is open: sign up today and play Saturday.
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