Columnist Ralph Siraco: Suncoast, MGM host contests

Ralph Siraco

Monday, Jan. 21, 2002 | 10:07 a.m.

Ralph Siraco's horse racing column appears Monday and his Southern California selections run Tuesday-Sunday.

It's tournament time in Las Vegas.

On Sunday, Coasts Resorts doled out more than $250,000 in prize money to the top 40 finishers in the Suncoast Invitational.

The three-day competition -- the first of four horse race handicapping tournaments Coast Resorts will host this year -- drew a field of 251 players, who each anted up a $1,000 entry fee to participate.

The winner, Steve Myers, needed a victory in the last race on the last day of the tournament to clinch it. He pocketed $87,850.

The team of Don Beardsworth and Dennis Decauwer placed second ($42,670), and Mark Anderson was third ($22,590). Next, the road show moves to the MGM Grand for the Daily Racing Form/National Thoroughbred Racing Association National Handicapping Championship. Unlike the Suncoast Invitational, where players need only come up with the entry fee, the NHC is by invitation only.

It's the culmination of a season-long series of NTRA-sanctioned handicapping tournaments conducted by racetracks, casino race books, off-track betting facilities and horse race handicapping websites.

The finalists advanced from 48 local sites, which conducted a total of 65 events from February to December of last year. If you didn't qualify you didn't get in --period.

In its third year, the NHC has become the U.S. Open of thoroughbred racing handicapping tournaments. The winner will earn $100,000 and will be crowned the "DRF/NTRA Handicapper of the Year." Last year's winner, Judy Wagner of New Orleans, heads a field of 177 horseplayers that also includes inaugural winner Steven Walker of Nebraska, who is competing for a third straight time.

Among the horseplayers in this year's field are an animal trapper, a dishwasher, an environmentalist, a longshoreman, a music teacher, a racetrack announcer, a restaurateur, a veterinarian and a webmaster. Horseplayers really do come from all walks of life.

This year's finalists hail from 26 states, with California topping the list at 39 qualifiers. Kentucky is next with 17, followed by Illinois and New York with 14 each and Texas with 10.

Nevada will be represented by five qualifiers, all Las Vegans.

They are:

The DRF/NTRA National Handicapping Championships will be held in the MGM race and sports book beginning Friday.