Robert Rosen turned a $318.50 mutuel total -- based on ‘live’ $10 win wagers on one horse in each of 10 competition races Monday — into a $16,308.25 payday in Xpressbet’s 2020 Fun in the Sun Handicapping Tournament. Play was offered each Saturday in August for just a $25 entry fee, and the top two weekly earners — 10 players total — qualified for Final Table action Monday based on the last five races from Saratoga and the first five from Del Mar.

Rosen outlasted Richard Powers at $296.50 and Anthony DeCaspers $206. Powers, who led the contest until the next-to-last race, collected $4,659.50 and DeCaspers pocketed $2,329.75 in additional prize money. Also playing at the Final Table were Phillip Gordon, Aner Carlstrom, Kevin Lynn, Mathew McAleer, Howard Bolte, John Velguth and George Chute.

Rosen scored with five winners overall, three at Saratoga and two at Del Mar, including Cem Sultan ($17.40) in the second and Harper’s Gallop ($15.80) in the fifth. Powers had four winners, two at the Spa and two Where the Turf Meets the Surf, including Moonoverthebayou ($28.80) in the first and Tarantino ($14) in the third. DeCaspers also broke alertly by tabbing Moonoverthebayou in Del Mar’s first race but could only add Proven Strategies ($12.60) in Saratoga’s 12th to his total. Rosen vaulted to the lead with Harper’s Gallop’s triumph in the next to last competition race and Powers and DeCaspers couldn’t manage a rally in the 14th at the Spa.

As for his horseplaying experiences, Rosen shared with Xpressbet:

"I remember being 10 years old and my dad taking me to Laurel Park where I hit my first exacta, 10-8, with Mario Pino riding. You can say I was hooked from that day forward. I grew up 20 minutes from Monmouth Park in Central New Jersey and now live in Orlando. Saratoga will always be my favorite track. I would even argue that Saratoga is the greatest town in the country for about 6 weeks every year. There is nothing like the feeling of watching a horse you bet come around the final turn and into the stretch."

Xpressbet congratulates all Fun in the Sun prize winners—16 players earned over $50,000 in prizes—and thanks everyone for playing with us. See you next summer for more Fun in the Sun!