Racing Dudes Handicapping Challenge: Halterman vs. Mazur vs. West

Two weeks ago we held the first installment of the Racing Dudes Handicapping Challenge. Nine races were involved in the competition between our very own Racing Dude, Aaron Halterman and Super Farrier, Kelby Von Hemel. Mr. Halterman defeated Von Hemel $43.60 – $21.00.

Then, a week later, the Windy City Handicapper, Paul Mazur comes in to the Dudes’ arena to offer up a challenge. It didn’t end well for the Dudes as we were defeated by the first up challenger, $17.80 – $25.00. Advantage Mazur.

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 defending champ (Mazur) and the Dudes. Everyone will get a shot! And now, we’ve decided to add even one more challenger each week!

The rules are simple. Fake $2 Win/Place wagers ($2 to Win and $2 to Place) 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. (Had to say it)

In the event of a late scratch, 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. Alright, let’s meet the contestants:

Resident Champion: Paul Mazur

Paul Mazur has played the thoroughbred racing circuit of Arlington Park and Hawthorne Race Course since 2008 and blogged about it since 2011. His blogs focus on the Chicagoland tracks of Arlington Park and Hawthorne Race Course with occasional road trips to horse racing’s biggest days (Breeders’ Cup, Kentucky Derby, etc.).

His work has also appeared at other racing sites, such as WirePlayers,IronMaidens Thoroughbreds, Thorofan, Graded Stakes, Danonymous Racing and Racing Dudes.

He’s also appeared on the “Post Parade” podcast and the “JTL Sports Show” on Chicagoland Sports Radio.

He also votes in the “NTRA Top 10 Thoroughbred Poll” Media Division.  (Poll results are released each Monday/Tuesday)

His posts were selected as Best Posts by Chicagonow for July 2012 andDecember 2012.  He lives, writes, and wagers in Chicago.

Click here to contact “Picks and Ponderings”. You can also follow him on Twitter at @heylaserbeam.

New Shooter: Aaron West

Aaron West started handicapping when he went to college and has been handicapping for 9 years now, particularly taking his game to a new level the last 5 years. Like so many of us, he learned how to read a form from my dad.

While he’s a fan of the Pick 3 and Pick 4 wagers, Aaron’s money maker is the Kentucky Derby Trifecta wager, hitting them in 3 of the last 4 years (2010: $2,337.40, 2012: $3,065.60, 2013: $6,925.60). He attends Oaklawn Park regularly and has been to the Breeders’ Cup twice and Kentucky Derby once.

You can follow him on Twitter at @amwest85.

Alright, let’s check out today’s challenge races:

1  Tampa Bay Downs  Race 4 (12:55 CST)

2  Parx Racing  Race 6 (1:40 CST)

3  Oaklawn Park  Race 2 (1:57 CST)

4  Aqueduct  Race 6 (2:45 CST)

5  Hawthorne  Race 5 (3:43 CST)

6  Gulfstream Park  Race 9 (4:10 CST)

7  Oaklawn Park  Race 7 (4:14 CST)

8  Oaklawn Park  Race 8 (4:42 CST)

9  Santa Anita Park  Race 6 (5:00 CST)

10  Gulfstream Park  Race 11 (5:11 CST)

The picks:

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!