Melissa Margolis © Benoit Photo
Melisssa Margolis, from Thousand Oaks, CA, made "Across The Board" win, place and show wagers on Del Mar Race 6 winner Hit The Road, at odds of 9-1, to earn $24,000 and catapult into the lead at the time. Margolis held on from there over 107 total entries with a final bankroll of $42,650.
Garett Skiba from Hinsdale, IL and Brett Wiener from Clearwater, FL finished second and third to round out the top three.
Margolis wins $70,000 cash, a $10,000 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC) entry and an entry to the $2.8 Million National Horseplayers Championship (NHC). All in all, she netted more than $125,000 in cash and prizes. She is also eligible for a $1 million bonus if she wins the 2019 BCBC at Santa Anita.
Players started with a $6,000 bankroll in the two-day Challenge. The top seven finishers receive BCBC entries. A total of eight entries will be awarded to either the NHC or the Del Mar $5,000 Fall Challenge on November 9 and 10.
| 2019 Handicapping Challenge Placings | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Melissa Margolis | $42,650 |
| 2 | Garett Skiba 2 | $31,406 |
| 3 | Brett Wiener 2 | $25,790 |
| 4 | Loyal Sprague 2 | $23,200 |
| 5 | Gary West | $20,283.50 |
| 6 | Garett Skiba | $18,032 |
| 7 | Dan Kaplan | $16,015 |
| 8 | Louis Constan | $14,985 |
| 9 | Gregg Kingma | $14,706.45 |
| 10 | David Basler | $14,649 |