A total of 680 horseplayers will square off Saturday in the 19th annual Xpressbet Beat the Host Championship Round. They’ll play for $15,000 in prizes over the final five races at Gulfstream Park and the first five races at Santa Anita.
The 8-week Beat the Host regular season saw 67% of players win at least one head-to-head weekly matchup against the rotating group of hosts from around the 1/ST family. Those weekly victories earned the Championship Round berths and set the stage for Saturday. One player, Alexander Bertram, completed the Sweep the Host bonus by outplaying the hosts in all 8 weeks, earning him $6,500 in prize money. He took down Eddie Olczyk in the regular season finale to secure the big prize. It’s the second year in a row that a lone player won the Sweep the Host, following Thomas Bassett in 2023.
Bassett also is back in the final round as is 2023 Beat the Host Championship Round victor Andy Muhlada. The 680 finalists this year is up slightly over a year ago when 664 horseplayers earned their way to the Championship Round. The top-7 finishers Saturday will secure prizes, led by a $6,000 entry into the 2025 Pegasus World Cup Betting Challenge. Those placing second through seventh earn $1,500 entries into their choice of the March 30 Florida Derby Challenge or April 6 Santa Anita Derby Challenge.
The top-5 accumulated dollar totals for the season earned their choice of lucrative handicapping tournament seats valued at $6,000 each to either the 2024 1/ST Ultimate Betting Challenge or the 2025 Pegasus World Cup Betting Challenge. The aforementioned Bertram wound up third in the season standings and added to his Beat the Host haul.
$752.50 Kyle Newcomb
$631.00 Steve Terelak
$624.50 Alexander Bertram
$616.00 Brian Jones
$590.50 Adam Haskins
Players competed for $2,000 in weekly prizes during the 8-week regular season and we salute the individual week winners who took down the $1,000 top prize.
Week 1: Norma Mendoza ($257)
Week 2: Carl Baucom ($152)
Week 3: Joseph Piazza ($187)
Week 4: Kyle Newcomb ($214.50)
Week 5: Kyle Newcomb ($168)
Week 6: Rick Quayle ($164.50)
Week 7: Manuel Tolentino ($169)
Week 8: Steve Terelak ($119)
For more information on the season-long tournament scene at Xpressbet, visit the Tournaments page.
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