A total of 853 players qualified to square off Saturday in the 2022 Beat the Host Championship. These players each knocked off at least one of the expert hosts in the eight-week handicapping contest that began in January to earn the final-round berth. One player, Terry O’Brien, swept all eight hosts and took home $6,500 in prize money for his handicapping exploits.

The top-5 regular season leaders for Beat the Host all tallied more than $600 in pari-mutuel contest earnings (winners capped at 20-1 for contest purposes). They were:

Mark Mcguire | $682.50
Steve Burns | $615.00
Jon Lapczenski | $610.00
Bryan Ingram | $609.50
Paul Jannis | $605.50

McGuire and Burns earned 2023 Pegasus World Cup Betting Championship seats for their efforts, while other members of the top-5 scored free berths into the March 5 Ultimate Betting Challenge.

Saturday’s Beat the Host Championship will once again comprise 10 contest races, five each from Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita. The contest races, as chosen by Xpressbet officials, will be:

Gulfstream Park Races 6,8,10,11,12
Santa Anita Races 1,3,6,8,9.

Beat the Host Championship round play is the same as the weekly free-to-enter contest. Players will place $5 win bets on each contest race with the highest accumulated earnings topping the standings. Players also receive their pari-mutuel earnings on all bets.

The top-7 finishers in Saturday’s Beat the Host will be playing for contest prize packages valued at $15,000:

First prize: 2023 Pegasus World Cup Betting Challenge free berth ($6,000 value)
Second-seventh prize: players can choose between free entry into April 2 Florida Derby or April 9 Santa Anita Derby tournaments ($1,500 value each).

Hosts for the 2022 season who challenged the contestants for $60,000 in weekly and seasonal prizes included Jeremy Plonk, Millie Ball, Jon White, Jeff Siegel, Ron Nicoletti, Tom Quigley, Acacia Courtney and Eddie Olczyk.

Good luck to all of our loyal and appreciated Xpressbet and 1/ST BET customers.