It’s been a good week to be a contest player from Ontario, Canada. Just a day before Ontarian Chris Littlemore’s victory in the National Horseplayers Championship, Chuck Lucas bested a field of 1,928 entries in a free-roll contest on DRF Tournaments to win an entry for the World Championship of Handicapping last Saturday. The 49-year-old Toronto native remembers the glory days of the 1970s. “I watched the [Canadian] Hall of Fame jockeys like Sandy Hawley, Jeffrey Fell, Avelino Gomez, and Robin Platts,” he recalled. “I fell in love with the beauty of the horses and the excitement of the crowd as a small boy.” He would regularly watch the Kentucky Derby on TV with his father, who passed away last year, and fondly remembers the poetic stories told by Jim McKay on those broadcasts, as he watched Seattle Slew and Affirmed win before going on to secure the Triple Crown. Lucas remained a fan, but racing didn’t become an important part of his life until his mid-30s. “I went out one day and grabbed a Daily Racing Form and started reading,” he said. :: Get bonus PPs for Saturday's Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie card at Laurel Park From there, he befriended a few regulars and asked questions, attending the local tracks, Woodbine and Greenwood, several times a week. He described himself as being in a transition phase from being an action-oriented player to one who takes the game more seriously. Part of that plan is playing in more contests. “I was just surfing internet eight or nine years ago and I stumbled on the Public Handicapper contests and started playing those for free. “I never realized that horse racing had tournaments the same way online poker had taken off,” he said. “I think tournaments are great for the sport and I hope they can help get younger people involved in the greatest game in the world.” These days he works in the transportation and logistics industry. He still reads the Form, he uses some computer software, and relies on his gut. “I try to think like a trainer would and try to follow what the public is doing,” he said. He’s played at various online sites but has found a home on DRF Tournaments. “I have been competing online through the DRF tournaments for the past seven years, and especially enjoy the new format that the DRF put in place.” He was referring to the WCH, with its no-takeout finals and cutlines, where a portion of the field advances through the tournament in various stages. One of things that DRFT is known for is favorable player ratios in its qualifiers, but last weekend Lucas took a far more difficult route, competing for one prize against a massive field. When he hit the front at the wire, he thought to himself, “Are you kidding me? I always believe in my abilities and how I read and study. After that win against a huge number of entries, maybe I belong with some of the best and I can hold my own. My goal is to be the best at this game, and tournament play is the way to show it.” :: The Road to the Kentucky Derby Player's Package His optimism extends to the WCH finals, and he likes the idea that he can play from home away from the distractions of the track or a casino. “I am there to have a shot just like everyone else,” he said. He is also partial to the idea that tournaments are a way to elevate all of horse racing. “Tournament play gives people like myself a chance to show that this sport of horse racing belongs where it used to be,” he said. “Handicapping is a true science and art and this is the hardest game in the world to predict, the difference between winning and losing is often a nose and anything can happen in a horse race. I truly believe this is the greatest sport there is.”