No payout in Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge as contestants claim collusion
The outcome of the year’s richest live-money horse racing tournament is in doubt, as a group of prominent players raises questions about the winning entry in the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge.
The horses left the winners’ circle nearly a week ago, but the outcome of the year’s richest horse handicapping tournament is still very much in doubt after a group of well-known handicappers and contest players sent a letter detailing irregularities with the winning entry in last weekend’s Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge.
Tournament officials are withholding payment of the top prizes while an investigation is conducted.
The entries that raised eyebrows belonged to Nisan Gabbay — the winner — and his business partner Kevin McFarland. It appears that no wagers were made in Gabbay’s entry until McFarland – who was eligible for an additional $1 million bonus had he won – was eliminated from the competition.
Gabbay then had two big scores late on Saturday to win the contest.
The implication is that the duo coordinated to play a more potentially-lucrative entry first, while holding the other in reserve. Gabbay and McFarland have described themselves as friends going back to high school and have a limited liability corporation they use to manage the financial aspects of their tournament play.
Another player, Kevin Moomey, is also facing scrutiny for having allegedly made plays in someone else’s entry. Players are only allowed two entries in the BCBC.
The Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge is the most lucrative “live-money” tournament of the year. Players put up $10,000 to enter, with $2500 of that going into the prize pool and the remainder serving as their bankroll for the contest. The contest runs in tandem with the Breeders’ Cup races, which were held on Nov. 3 and 4 at Del Mar.
Collusion between players is expressly forbidden in the official contest rules. That said, many regular contest players have working relationships – it is not uncommon for husbands and wives, brothers or lifelong friends to compete in the same handicapping contests, which makes enforcement of those rules particularly difficult.
A little-known rule change may have given Gabbay an additional advantage, as explained on the DRF Players’ Podcast with Peter Thomas Fornatale and Jonathon Kinchen. Players who did not bet races on the first day of the tournament were docked “points” — that is, a portion of their winnings. But those penalties were not applied to the players’ bankrolls. Gabbay’s entry was hit with penalties for not having participated in the first day’s races, but he still had a full bankroll of $7500 late on day two, even though the leaderboard showed far less.
Kinchen was one of the tournament players that signed the letter that sparked the investigation.
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Handicapping tournaments like the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge have become increasingly popular in recent years, as a way for the racing industry to bridge the gap between traditional parimutuel wagering and daily fantasy sports games.