Gaspar gets boost from 30-1 bomber

John Gaspar and Paul Scott are headed to the World Championship of Handicapping after running one-two in a Grade 1 qualifier at DRF Tournaments on Saturday. The two will now compete for their share of the expected $1 million purse in the no-takeout finals of the online handicapping championship finals, which are scheduled to take place Feb. 3-4, exclusively at tournaments.drf.com.

Gaspar finished with $110.80 in the 27-entry event and Scott was second with $106.20. The pair were most deserving winners as they were well clear with the next closest participant in the field nearly $21 short of them. The third through fifth finishers – Gary Blair, Tim Darnell, and Bruce Dagostini – received breakage in the form of site credit. Players could buy in to the contest, which advanced one in 10 entries to the finals, for $580, or they could win in through a series of feeders.

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Both Gaspar and Scott started off well with Rainbow Heir ($23.40 win-place combined) in Aqueduct’s eighth race, the first contest race. Gaspar added three other small collections but his significant hit came in the form of Tiz a Chance in Aqueduct’s 10th. The Tiz Wonderful gelding returned $66 to win and $26.60 to place but those totals were limited to the max payout of $64 (20-1 on the win, 10-1 on the place) for contest purposes. Gaspar was the only player in the contest who had Tiz a Chance.

Scott’s path to qualification was similar: one big price and three smaller ones. He followed up Rainbow Heir immediately with Whirlin Curlin ($56.60) in Laurel’s seventh. From there, he missed five in a row but he came back strong connecting with Cause Ioya ($10), Boy Howdy ($8.40), and Channel Maker ($7.80) in the contest’s second half.

Contest action returns to DRFT on Wednesday with a special free game where players can start their journeys to the WCH finals. Next weekend’s featured game is Grade 1 qualifier for the WCH finals. It costs $580 to play and one in 10 entries will win their $5,000 buy-ins.

Players have additional ways to win in as well, the most popular being through Round 1 events, which take place every operating day on DRFT. For the Round 1’s, players put up $95 and one in seven entries advance to the Grade 1’s. Players looking for a lower point of entry can feed in to the Round 1’s for $11 or $22, and they can win into those $11 contests in the free events.

For a full list of all the games happening this week on DRFT, go to tournaments.drf.com.