News & Barn notes
Phil Matzat Finishes 1st (and 4th) in 2024 Pick Your Prize; 331 Entries Sets Another Contest Record
June 05, 2024
Monmouth Park’s $2,000 Pick Your Prize Handicapping Challenge on Saturday, June 1 saw a record 331 entries – besting last year’s record total of 299. At contest’s end, two of the entries in the Top 5 were played by the same person.
Playing on-site at Monmouth, Phil Matzat of Boca Raton, FL had himself a day. His first entry – which started with his $1,000 contest bankroll – ended with a tournament-topping total of $10,345. His second entry finished with a bankroll of $8,328.50 – good for fourth place.
By finishing first and fourth, Matzat automatically received $25,300 in combined cash prizes. As part of Pick Your Prize’s unique and unparalleled prize structure, Matzat also received four prize selections from a prize board that included 25 seats to the National Horseplayers Championship (NHC), nine seats to the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC) and eight cash prizes ranging from $9,800 to $4,000.
With his first two selections, Matzat picked “NHC+$6,000” and $9,800. With his second two selections, his picks were a BCBC seat and $7,000. All told, Matzat walked away with his combined $18,673.50 bankroll, $48,100 in cash prizes, a seat in the 2025 NHC, and a spot in the 2024 BCBC.
Contest runner-up Mike Mulvihill, playing through Xpressbet, finished with a bankroll of $9,475. With his two prize selections, Mulvihill picked a BCBC seat and $8,500 – in addition to his second-place cash prize of $11,500
In total, the Top 8 finishers received two prize board selections. Finishers 9-34 received one pick.
All Pick Your Prize players had to bet a minimum of five Monmouth Park races. The minimum bet for those races was $200. Pools available for contest play were win, place, show, exacta and daily double. Contest players participated on-site or online through Xpressbet and FanDuel.
Monmouth Park’s next live money handicapping contest is the $1,000 Haskell Challenge on Saturday, July 20. Entries can only be played online through Xpressbet, FanDuel/4NJBETS or HPI.
For those looking for more immediate contest action, Monmouth Park has partnered with Horsetourneys.com for a $1 (yes, $1) online handicapping for the Saturday, June 15 Haskell Preview Day card. The Top 5 finishers in that Horsetourneys contest will receive a seat in the $1,000 Haskell Challenge.
For information on future Monmouth Park contests, please contact Brian Skirka at bskirka@monmouthpark.com.
$2,000 Pick Your Prize Official Contest Results & Prizes
| Name | Bankroll | Prize(s) |
| Phil Matzat | $10,345 | $20,700, NHC+$6,000, $9,800 |
| Mike Mulvihill | $9,475 | $11,500, BCBC, $8,500 |
| Roger Cettina | $8,510 | $6,900, BCBC, $8,000 |
| Phil Matzat | $8,328.50 | $4,600, BCBC, $7,000 |
| Chris Olsson | $7,915.60 | $2,300, BCBC, $6,500 |
| Gregory Lewis | $7,795 | BCBC, $5,500 |
| James Orban | $7,485.50 | BCBC, NHC+$4,000 |
| Ronald Tang | $7,145 | BCBC, $4,500 |
| John Zielinski | $6,008 | BCBC |
| Dick Jerardi | $5,860 | BCBC |
| John Kaiser | $5,734.50 | NHC+$3,000 |
| Chris Podratz | $4,939.50 | NHC+$2,000 |
| William Sadoo | $4,850 | NHC |
| Anthony Decaspers | $4,653 | $4,000 |
| Eugene Cahalan | $4,119.40 | NHC |
| Joseph Hardoon | $4,050 | NHC |
| Jim Benes | $3,818 | NHC |
| Mark Streiff | $3,752.30 | NHC |
| Mike McIntyre | $3,685 | NHC |
| Mark Hackworth | $3,509 | NHC |
| Lou Filoso | $3,468.20 | NHC |
| David Wolff | $3,422 | NHC |
| Jim Tipps | $3,355 | NHC |
| Justin Waitekus | $3,346 | NHC |
| Kevin Matties | $3,311.20 | NHC |
| Michael Stich | $3,217.50 | NHC |
| Mark Bogdanoff | $3,120 | NHC |
| Corey Lonberger | $3,087 | NHC |
| Roger Cettina | $2,970.20 | NHC |
| George Chute | $2,916.90 | NHC |
| Craig Kaufman | $2,855.90 | NHC |
| Mark Odorisio | $2,792 | NHC |
| GT Nixon | $2,786 | NHC |
| Rich Averill | $2,784 | NHC |