Welcome to another week of the Racing Dudes Handicapping Challenge! Each weekend we select 8 to 10 races from around the country and offer up a little handicapping challenge to anyone interested. We’ve received a massive amount of interest to take on the Dudes! So much so that we’ve had to resort to drawing randomly to see who gets to take on our back-to-back defending champ Mr. Halterman (Dude #1). Everyone will get a shot! And now, we’re adding one more challenger each week!

Rules:

Fake $2 Win/Place wagers ($2 to Win and $2 to Place) and (1) mandatory $4 Win/Place wager will be made on the horse a player selects in each race. Only one horse may be selected per race. If a player’s horse wins, the player score is credited on both the Win and Place payouts. If the horse finishes second, the player score is credited only on the Place payout. And just so we’re clear, all wagers and payouts from races are NOT REAL and will be used for scoring purposes only.

In the event of a late scratch or change of track conditions, players may change picks provided given race has not started. If picks have already closed, the scratched horse will be replaced with the post-time favorite for that race.

Past results:

Week 1: Aaron Halterman (Dude #1) defeats Kelby Von Hemel $43.60 – $21.00

Week 2: Paul Mazur defeats Dude #1 $25.00 - $17.80

Week 3: Aaron West defeats Dude #1 and Paul Mazur $31.30 - $28.80 - $8.00

Week 4: West defeats Dude #1 and Oaklawn Wizard $53.30 - $27.00 - $25.60

Week 5: West defeats Dude #1 and Chance Moquett $42.40 – $37.40 – $22.20

Week 6: Dude #1 defeats West and Zack Gillham $68.00 – $49.80 – $35.40

Week 7: Dude #1 defeats Nicolle Neulist and Brady Lukas $30.00 - $29.20 – $13.80

This week’s challengers:

Jared Black

Jared is 23 years old and a Finance/Business Management major at Henderson State University (graduating in May) where he also played college golf for 4 years.

Jared started going to the races with his dad when he was 3 years old and now visits Oaklawn once a week. His family actually owns racehorses as well. His favorite track besides Oaklawn is Delta Downs because of the huge payouts. You can find him around the paddock area when Danny Caldwell has a horse running, as he is in the “Danny Caldwell Fan Club” along with Justin Lewis (@JustinLewisLR).

His favorite wager is the Win/Place bet. Show money is no good! His biggest win was a 60/1 winner at Delta Downs last year! You can follow him on Twitter at @JaredWBlack.

 Ryan Rapko

Ryan Rapko was born, raised, and still lives in Aliquippa, PA, just outside of Pittsburgh. Ryan started getting involved in handicapping in the Summer of 2008 after getting a job at his local OTB. He taught himself how to wager and how to read the form. For the past 6 years, he has continuously been improving his handicapping skills whether it would be wagering and learning from acquaintances at the OTB or from his long time good friend @Whattasurprise.

He bets a variety of wagers, but mostly likes to focus in on Win/Place, Pick 3′s, and Pick 4′s. His biggest day of wagering came at the 2012 Kentucky Derby. He cashed 2 Pick 3′s totaling roughly $2,500 as well as the Exacta and Trifecta in the Derby for another $1,500.

If he is not wagering online, Ryan can either be found at either Mountaineer Park or the Meadows Casino reading the form, building tickets, and cashing winners. His favorite tracks he would like to visit someday are Del Mar, Saratoga, Keeneland, and Gulfstream.

Outside of racing, Ryan enjoys watching and wagering on sports. He is a fan of the Yankees, Big Blue Nation, and the Chargers. He is also a fan of the WWE.

Currently, Ryan is partaking in a mythical bankroll challenge for the Keeneland Spring Meet. He posts full card selections, Challenge Plays that affect the bankroll, and, after each racing day, updated stats. All of this, as well as other horse racing handicapping thoughts, can be found on his twitter page @Chuckles375.

Challenge races:

Saturday

1  Toyota Blue Grass S. (4:45 CT)

2  Arkansas Derby (6:07 CT)

Sunday

3  Keeneland Race 6 (2:40 CT)

4  Keeneland Race 7 (3:11 CT)

5  Keeneland Race 8 (3:42 CT)

6  Santa Anita Park Race 4 (4:00 CT)

7  Keeneland Race 9 (4:13 CT)

8  Santa Anita Park Race 5 (4:30 CT)

9  Santa Anita Park Race 6 (5:00 CT)

10  Santa Anita Park  Race 8 (6:00 CT)

Picks:

* Denotes player’s $4 Win/Place wager

You think you can hang with the big boys (or girls)? Want to take the winner? Shoot us an email by visiting our contact page and let us know you’re interested! We’ll even plug your website, blog, Twitter feed, handicapping skills, etc. And who knows… defend your title long enough and we may even throw in a prize!