Everything Leo Vukmanovich needed to know about business he learned taking book on horses in the bars of Los Angeles. These days, the Cypress, Calif., resident is a regular at Santa Anita: a big, tall, beloved figure around the Eddie Logan Suite, the Great Race Place’s horseplayer VIP area.

If you’re considering playing in handicapping contests, there is no better time than now. With events like this weekend’s Belmont Betting Challenge and last weekend’s incredibly successful Monmouth Pick Your Prize contest, it’s clear that racetracks are embracing contests like never before.

George Chute was in a familiar spot when called for an interview this week. Even though it was a quiet Monday, he was sitting at home with his Racing Form spread out in front of him. Chute, 65, who double-qualified on the new tournaments.drf.com site, landed both of his entries in the money at last weekend’s Monmouth Pick Your Prize contest, where he walked away with a Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge seat, a National Handicapping Championship seat, and more than $11,000 in cash.

“It was a good visit to New Jersey indeed,” he quipped.

Before Mark Streiff finished second last year in the Santa Anita Gold Cup Challenge, he said he’d been “dead money” in recent contests because he hadn’t “been doing the work you need to do to be successful.” He clearly did the work heading into last weekend, when he won Monmouth Park’s first Pick Your Prize contest.

In addition to keeping his $4,740.75 bankroll, Streiff won a Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge seat plus $23,668 in cash. That’s a total haul worth more than $37,000 for the man who won the 2012 National Handicapping Championship Tour.

The main event in the DRF contest universe Saturday is a one-day qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge. With that in mind, let's meet some of the players who qualified online last weekend for the BCBC via BCQ.

Overall winner Lawrence Kahlden, 55, recently retired as the CEO of a mid-sized pawn shop company that operated in central Florida, where he lives, and Puerto Rico.

It’s a busy weekend in the contest world. Let’s start by taking a look online at the new DRF Tournaments site, tournaments.drf.com.

The headline event is a $162 buy-in, one-day qualifier for the National Handicapping Championship. Winners will get a chance to win their share of $2.5 million at the NHC, $1,000 for travel, and a four-night stay at Treasure Island in Las Vegas. This contest will use the all-in format. All picks must be made before the scheduled post time of the first contest event.

Six players won their way into the Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge this Saturday in the final contest on the old BCQualify.com. Future BCQ events will be held on the new DRF Tournaments platform, which can be found at

There are three contests on tournaments.drf.com on Sunday.

The marquee event is the one-day National Handicapping Championship qualifier. Buy-in is $162. In the live format, selections may be made until the off time of each race. One NHC package will be awarded for every 70 entries and players can purchase up to three entries. Packages include $1,000 in travel money and a four-night stay at Treasure Island, the NHC host hotel.

The great thing about the new feeder contests on tournaments.drf.com is that they offer players a low-cost way to win in to horse racing's best and richest tournaments.

Just ask "Jersey" Josh Kamis. Kamis, 48, a county government roadway inspector, who gained an entry for Sunday's National Handicapping Championship qualifier Thursday on the new DRF Tournaments site. Should he be one of the top finishers there, he will take a shot at winning his share of $2.5 million at the NHC in January.

There are three contests on the new tournaments.drf.com platform Saturday, a qualifier for an important live-bankroll event and two feeder contests, including one where you can start your journey to the 2017 National Handicapping Championship and its expected $2.5 million purse.