Congratulations are in order to Lyle Nordby, winner of the July 20 opening round of the Xpressbet Fun in the Sun handicapping tournament. Week 2 of the FITS season returns this Saturday and features action from Saratoga and Del Mar. Players compete for weekly prizes and a chance to qualify for the $10,000-added Final Table contest on September 2.

Nordby outpaced 131 players during opening week of Fun in the Sun with a commanding $320.50 parimutuel bankroll following the 10 win bets of $10 each. He secured the $1,375.50 weekly first prize and a seat in the Final Table. Barry Hill ($262 bankroll) and Bob Rea ($209 bankroll) also earned cash prizes, while the top-5 (all of whom earn Final Table seats) included George Smith and John Alders.

Fun in the Sun offers its Final Table format for the fifth straight year and the progressive contest jackpot for 2024 stands at $10,982.50 with $10,000 seeded by Xpressbet.

Qualifying Weeks (Saturdays)

July 20, 27
August 3,10,17,24,31

Final Table

September 2 (Monday)

The weekly contest format includes a $100 buy-in and $25 entry fee, which includes the tournament’s 10 weekly $10 win bets from Saratoga (last 5 races) and Del Mar (first 5 races). The Top-5 finishers by earnings each of the seven qualifying weeks earn berths into the Final Table. With 100% of tournament fees paid back to players, weekly prize pools compromise of 70% paid out to the Saturday leaderboard, while 30% rolls over to the Final Table (in addition to the $10,000 seed from Xpressbet).

Last year, Joe Tambasco topped Week 2 of the contest and later earned the $8,911 first prize at the Final Table, which had a prize pool in excess of $16,000.

Fun in the Sun Final Table Winners

2020 Robert Rosen
2021 Wayne Tam
2022 Kevin Saunders
2023 Joe Tambasco