Gregg Kingma was at it again this weekend. Last week, he played in his first-ever live format contest, winning his way to the World Championship of Handicapping. After winning that seat, he started thinking of other contests that might interest him, and he settled on the idea of the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge. There was just one problem.“I’ve never played in a live-bankroll contest and I was a little intimidated by the format,” he said. “A friend suggested that I warm up by playing in the Santa Anita Autumn Championship and said I should go ahead and try to win my seat for it on DRF Tournaments.”That’s exactly what Kingma did, making him now a perfect 2 for 2 in live-format contests. Kingma was best in a field of 70, finishing with a score of $82.50. He collected in seven of the 12 contest races, with the biggest hits being Seabhac ($17.50 win-place combined) in the Pilgrim at Belmont and Troublewithatee ($31.80) in Santa Anita’s sixth. Tournament veteran Brian Herrity also won a Santa Anita seat with a score of $67.30. He did well in the Breeders’ Cup preps, nailing Takaful ($16.70), Seabhac, Beach Patrol ($18.70), and Avenge ($10).Of that field of 70 in the last-chance qualifier, 14 players won their entries via the Outplay JK contest on Friday night, which was run in conjunction with the first-ever live broadcast of a DRF tournament. The contest, a feeder which allowed players who finished ahead of broadcast co-host Jonathon Kitchen to get their money back, attracted a lot of interest (144 entries and nearly 2,000 live views). Contest players can look forward to more low buy-in live games broadcast in real time in the near future.Dresens feeds into WCH finalsSaturday’s other main event saw Peter Dresens win his way into the $1 million, no-takeout finals of the World Championship of Handicapping. Dresens, the well-dressed, enthusiastic rooter, burst on the contest scene in 2016 at a rookie and continues to make an impact in his second year of play.On Saturday, Dresens had two entries, each of which he won feeding in from WCH Round 1 qualifiers. The contest had 18 entries, with one in 10 advancing to the finals and the rest of the prize money being distributed as site credit. He decided to take two distinct approaches. “One ticket I played normally and on the other I decided to go all in on the chalk,” he said. This strategy makes sense. Breeders’ Cup prep days often produce a lot of favorites winning as the best horses frequently show up in fields where they are set to dominate before facing tougher rivals in a few weeks’ time. Dresens’s chalk entry started out well as he caught four collections in the first six races. Meanwhile, his second entry was stuck on zero before catching place points on Fanciful Angel ($9) in the Pilgrim to break the ice. That’s when his plan paid off to a tee – Troublewithatee in this case. In Santa Anita’s sixth he played the favorite on his chalk ticket and went with the Phil D’Amato gelding on his other card. He won and paid $31.80, and Dresens was sitting fourth and fifth with his two entries, looming boldly as the field turned for home.In the Chandelier, he liked Alluring Star and Moonshine Memories, playing one on each card. When Moonshine Memories got it done and returned $9.20, he was on his way to the WCH finals. None of his closest pursuers were able to make up ground in the last few races, demonstrating once again the power of playing in smaller-field, good-ratio contests. Against a big field, he’d surely have been passed.Sunday’s featured event sent Thomas Abinanti ($75) to the Keeneland Fall Challenge. He just prevailed over an unlucky Tim Whelan ($74.20), with most of his points coming courtesy of Almost Carla ($49.40) in Santa Anita’s opener. From there he had two smaller collections and needed his alternate pick Devine Entry ($15.20) to come through after his first choice, Vital, was a late scratch.Contest action returns to DRFT on Wednesday with a free contest where players can start their journey to the WCH. There are also feeders, credit-builders, matchups, and winner-take-all contests every operating day, as well as Round 1 events for the WCH where contestants put up $95 and one in seven advance to the next Grade 1 qualifier on Oct. 7. As Pete Dresens proved this week, that can be a very lucrative path.For more information, go to tournaments.drf.com.