Sunday DRF Tournaments contest turns into runaway

Fathers’ Day was a winning day for Michael Stich. Stich was the big winner on DRF Tournaments on Sunday, netting a $2,000 seat to the Wynn Challenge plus $500 in travel.

The Wynn Challenge is a mythical money contest that focuses on Del Mar and Saratoga. It takes place on Aug. 4-5 at Wynn Las Vegas.

Stich's total of $89.80 put him more than $20 over his nearest competitor in the all-in contest, where all picks had to be in before the scheduled post time of the contest’s first race. He built that number on eight collections in the 12-race tournament.

After missing the opener, Stich got back $20.80 from Loran Holiday in Churchill sixth. He got nothing in the next two races, but then came back with the same $20.80 return for Pocket Square in Churchill’s eighth. From there, he ran up the score, cashing in seven of the last eight events. None was larger than $10.80, but they were still good enough for the runaway win.

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The contest was originally slated for Saturday, but was canceled along with the Belmont card when torrential rains came mid-day. The format was a new one for a Wynn qualifier and it will likely be seen again soon: players put up $290 and 1 in 10 advanced. This type of higher-buy-in, better-ratio tournament has proved popular for the World Championship of Handicapping as well.

Speaking of the WCH, last week on DRFT seven more players advanced to the Grade 1 qualifier on July 8. Players can buy-in directly to that event for $580, where 1in 10 will win a full $5,000 entry for the $1 million, no-takeout finals. DRFT will also continue to run round-one contests for the WCH on every operating day.

Action returns to DRF Tournaments on Wednesday with a host of contests leading up to the weekend’s big qualifiers next Sunday, for the Wynn and the Del Mar Betting Challenge. Check the website for potential updates to the schedule as well as a full list of feeders, credit builders, matchups and winner-take-alls.