Congratulations to horseplayer Steve DeCaspers, who won Monday’s Xpressbet Fun in the Sun Final Table and took home top prize in the $16,367.50 summer finale. DeCaspers out-paced the 40 Final Table entrants, each earning their spot through 8 weekly Saratoga-Del Mar contests, to secure the $9,002.13 first-place check. His bankroll total of $463.30 (easily largest this season in the tournament) provided an absolute runaway on the leaderboard, some $53.60 more than runner-up Franco Pacione, who earned $4,0191.88 in prize money.

Fun in the Sun included $10,000 added by Xpressbet and 100% of the weekly contest fees were paid back in prize money during the qualifying rounds and the Final Table.

DeCaspers hit on 4 of his 10 contest plays, 3 of them at Del Mar, including 84-1 Marvelousmissmabel, 11-1 Miss Forza and 6-1 Dottie Hinson in succession in Races 2-4. He closed the Saratoga summer meet with 4-1 winner My Lil Army Girl in the Race 12 finale. Pacione made good on 5 of 10 selections, connecting on 3 of the same winners as DeCaspers, though Marvelousmissmabel was the obvious separator (which was contest-capped at $210 by rule).

Not only were DeCaspers and Pacione the only players over the $400 mark in bankroll, no other players scored in the $300s for their $10 win plays over 10 contest races. That’s no shame when you consider during 8 qualifying weeks, the season-best weekly mark was $374.10. Craig Kaufman ($298.50 bankroll) finished third and earned $1636.75. Fourth and fifth-place finishers each bagged $818.37 – namely Greg Knepper ($235.80 bankroll) and Joe Rotell ($184.80 bankroll).

DeCaspers’ qualifier to the Final Table came in Week 5 when he nosed into the lineup with a fifth-place finish. Pacione was a Week 4 winner and earned another $1,144.50 for that score along the way. Pacione was the only 1 of 8 weekly winners to earn a check at the Final Table. None of the season's 6 dual-qualifiers placed in the top-5 slots with their entries.

The Final Table format began in 2020 and DeCaspers adds his name to past champions Robert Rosen (2020), Wayne Tam (2021), Kevin Saunders (2022), Joe Tambasco (2023), Gordon Maruya (2024) and Andy Muhlada (2025).