Columnist Ralph Siraco: Best handicappers compete in Orleans tournament

Ralph Siraco

Monday, March 22, 2004 | 9:32 a.m.

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

While the NCAA basketball tournament fills the sports books to the brim with games going from morning until night, there will be March Madness -- horse racing style -- this week at one local major hotel casino.

The Orleans hotel casino will host its monster horse race handicapping tournament that will boast not only races from around the country, but, most important, the horseplayers competing against each other while playing on those races.

It's the Championship at the Orleans and it truly pits the best horse handicappers in the business for a whole lot of money. The prize fund should billow past its $400,000 advertised total, again making it the biggest handicapping contest for horseplayers in the nation.

The $400,000 prize fund total is based on 700 entrants who pay $500 each to play in the tournament. However, tournament coordinator Debbie Flaig reported more than 650 have already anted up the cash before the deadline Thursday. All the entry fees plus an additional $50,000 from the Coast Casinos makes up the prize pool. So, when the 701st entrant puts up the cash, the prize fund will automatically surpass the $400,000 plateau.

Billed as the "greatest handicapping contest ever," the Championship has attained that status in a short period of time.

In 1997, then race operations director Robert "Muggsy" Muniz approached Coast Casinos Chairman Michael Gaughan about doing a handicapping tournament for horseplayers. After several revisions, the tournament had it's inaugural in the spring of 1998. Originally called the National Handicapping Challenge, it was the first tournament that returned all the entry fees plus added additional cash, making it a hit right out of the box. And, it was done in the Coast Casinos way.

The biggest tournament players from around the country converged on the Orleans for the Woodstock of horse race contests. And, the experience and hospitality that they received at that first tournament soon spread the word throughout the racing community. A fall edition was soon added. Now, the spring-fall editions are a staple on the horse race handicapping tournament calendar.

Although Muniz is no longer with the company, the Coast Casinos Race Operations Director Robert Gregorka has kept the tournaments a focal point on the company's race book events. With the help and expertise of the Orleans Race Book Manager Randi Muniz and the support of Gold Coast Race Manager Liz Lucas and Suncoast Race Manager Tom Timko, Gregorka and his staff conduct a major-league tournament to a full house of players with attention to detail. And, of course lots of money.

The Championship's successful formula hasn't changed. Each contestant makes a dozen mythical $100 win bets per day at the selected tournament racetracks. They are free to use their wagers on any race at any contest track. Full track odds are credited for the first $20 of the $100 wager with the remaining $80 bet capped at a 20-1 odds limit. This allows long shot players the chance to catch big winners while still giving the others a fair chance at catching such leaders.

The tournament is played over three days, starting on Thursday and ending on Saturday, with each day paying out a total of $10,000 in daily prize monies. So, even if a player blanks out on a given day, they can come back and compete for the daily prize money. The first-place prize is based on 32 percent of the entry fees, or at the $400,000 level $112,000. The three-day prize fund awards money to 80th place, which usually pays at least $700 (a $200 profit over the entry fee).

Although the racing industry continues its struggles with the popularity of the sport and it's dwindling live on-track attendance throughout the country, the tournament segment of the sport continues to thrive.

That fact will be eminently clear when the Championship at The Orleans renews on Thursday as the equine madness in March continues.