Four down, four to go. Halfway home. As far from the beginning as near the end. If you haven’t already, now would be a good time to start playing our Fun in the Sun Tournament. The field already is ‘off and running,’ so you’ll need to hustle. That style worked well for Zenyatta—spotting foes a football field-sized head-start and then running them down late in the lane. It could make you famous, too.

However, don’t wait too much longer. You really must start now. This week. Saturday. After that we’ll be over the crest and headed downhill. The days will get noticeably shorter and by then it will be too late for sure. Too late, that is, to win a large stuffed animal. You know, one of four coveted seats to the Pegasus World Cup Betting Championship--a $12,000 value each.

Weekly prizes still will be available. And, by the way, they’re nothing to sneeze at--$8,500 in prize money, with $5,000 to the winner, $2,000 to second, $1,000 to third and $500 to fourth. All for a $100 investment in the form of a ‘live’ $10 win wager on one horse in each of 10 competition races. It’s a pretty decent deal. Especially because all you need to do is to cash one or two tickets at decent odds and you can actually make money while you chase a kewpie doll prize.  

The competition was designed to include five Saturday races from Saratoga and five from Del Mar, you know, to make it fair to those not specializing in either circuit. Plans were altered, however. First, a 2019 schedule adjustment launched Spa racing a week earlier than Del Mar. Then, the very next week, some nasty heat and humidity forced a Spa Saturday cancellation. In the end, it all worked out though. The first Fun in the Sun competition included all 10 races from Saratoga and the second was decided by 10 Del Mar events! Sometimes the racing gods actually do cooperate.

There have been exactly two horses each week that have paid at least $20 for a $2 wager. That’s at least a $100 return based on a $10 play. There have been two ‘cap-horses’ in the competition—First Star, July 20^th 5^th at Del Mar ($56.80) and New Girl in Town, July 27 at Saratoga ($47.40). ‘Cappers’ are worth $210 for competition purposes, but ‘live’ $10 wagers earn players real money--$293 for the former winner and $237 for the latter. Hit one of those to boost your weekly and seasonal contest scores as well as to pay for more than two weeks of competition wagers.

First-half Fun in the Sun contest results based on $10 contest win wager payoffs in all 10 races have produced weekly perfect scores of between $546 and $671. First prize-winning ($5,000) weekly totals have been $347, $360, $447 and $504. Minimum weekly ‘in-the-money’ totals have been $279, $317, $324.50 and $420, worth a minimum of $500 each. After four weeks there have been 17 unique prize winners.

Jose Suarez leads all players with the highest weekly total of $504, achieved during the July 27 competition. That’s not surprising because that Saturday was the most opportunity-filled card to date, with a season-topping possible perfect score of $671. Lucas Peltz ranks second with a top weekly earnings mark of $447, achieved on July 20 and out of a possible perfect score of $619.

Not surprisingly, those two players rank prominently in the race for seasonal honors. Peltz leads all players with $1,065 and Suarez is third with $870, just $37.50 behind Paul Weizer in second. A strong second week moved Peltz from nowhere to second in the standings. He then advanced to first by adding $197 to his total in week three. Cashing for $292 in week four kept him on top of the heap at the midway point.

On an encouraging note to current and new players hoping to join seasonal leaders: none of the top four present leaders was in the top 50 after the first week. That’s proof that players can quickly make up ground in Fun in the Sun.

With four weeks to go, Peltz’s top mark of $1,065 is a seemingly solid $473.50 ahead of the 25^th-ranked player and $555.50 better than the 50^th-ranked player. However, fortunes can turn quickly during Fun in the Sun. Teresa Newcomb, currently in fourth—the final position to earn a Pegasus World Cup Betting Championship seat--is a mere $258 ahead of players mired in 50^th place. That’s not a lot of breathing room to count on between now and August 31.

That’s precisely why now is a good time to start.  Register and play Fun in the Sun with Xpressbet. A lot of good things can happen between now and August 31. Make sure they happen to you!

Race On!