Hey is for picking winning horses

This weekend’s biggest winner at DRF Tournaments was Ernest Hey Jr. He finished best in a field of 10 entries on Sunday, winning a $3,000 seat to the Keeneland Challenge in the process. The Keeneland Challenge is a live-bankroll contest that will take place on Sunday, Oct. 15. Contest players should note that Keeneland will also be offering a $400 buy-in contest on Saturday, Oct 14.

Hey prevailed in a low-scoring, all-in affair with a total of just $46.70. The top eight players in the field were separated by just over $12. Hey collected four times, the longest of which was Oathkeeper ($20.80 win-place combined) in Churchill’s 10th race. He had a small lead heading to the anchor leg, with the outcome was very much in doubt. Against a larger field, the result (Nothingbutasmile, $29.70) would have surely turned the leaderboard on its head. But with only nine other entries in the tournament, no one had the winner, and Hey prevailed.

The weekend’s most popular contest was Saturday’s $3,000 credit-builder. Vince Piscitelli proved best in the full field of 70 entries, winning $1,200 in site credit with a much-the-best score of $104.20. He got to that number via four cashes, the longest of which was the cap horse Patrona Margarita in Churchill’s 11th. Patrona Margarita paid $49.20 to win and $22 to place but those totals were limited to $64 combined for contest purposes. Victor Hanson, Donald Brodeur, Howard Yancovitch, and Paul Aussenhofer also cashed in the credit-builder.

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◗ Ali Aksoy was the big winner in the second annual running of the Woodbine Mile Day contest. Aksoy, who has accrued many top 10 finishes in tournaments over the past two years but had yet to win one, finished with $6,092. In addition to keeping his bankroll, he wins prizes worth over $20,000. Aksoy, a 70-year old native of Istanbul, Turkey, will be profiled here later this week.

In other important news from north of the border, local player Michael Eisen was named Player of the Year for performing best overall in Woodbine’s series of contests in 2017. Eisen will receive a Sovereign Award for his efforts.

◗ Contest action returns to DRF Tournaments this Wednesday. Next weekend’s featured event is the latest Grade 1 qualifier for the World Championship of Handicapping. Entries can be purchased for $580 or won via Round 1 contests every operating day at DRF Tournaments. Round 1 contests cost $95 to play, and one in seven entries will advance to the Grade 1. From the Grade 1, one in 10 entries will win their $5,000 shots at their share of $1 million.

For more information, including a list of all the DRFT contests, go to tournaments.drf.com.