Smyth defeated a field of seasoned high-rollers in handicap tournaments to earn the top prize in the official handicap tournament of the Breeders’ Cup World Horse Racing Championships. The 2025 BCBC carried a purse of $1,587,500. Notably, the handicap tournament’s proceeds exceeded many of the weekend’s actual Breeders’ Cup championship races.
Smyth converted two entries worth a total of $20,000 (two entries worth $10,000 each) into a final day of payout, including his final real money pari-mutuel bankroll of $144,800 plus $463,000 in prize money.
Smyth, not normally a tournament player, was convinced by friends to join the BCBC during a summer visit to Saratoga Race Course. He won his BCBC entry playing in a $500 feeder tournament on Hoseplayers.com.
“I told my wife, ‘We have to go! We have to go to Del Mar,'” Smyth said.
Smyth was asked if he ever expected this win to happen: “I wouldn’t have been surprised [to win]. I’m a winner,” Smyth said, before immediately acknowledging: “I’m just not always a winner when it comes to horses.”
The BCBC offers deep-pocketed participants the chance to win big and big money by betting big in large pari-mutuel pools of the Breeders’ Cup. It annually attracts a field of big name bettors and handicap tournament aces from all over the country who focus on these types of handicapping competitions all year round.
“I trade stocks for a living. I love the financial markets. So it’s putting the puzzle together,” Smyth said of his disability. “Horse racing is the same, except you’re not dealing with CEOs and CFOs, you’re dealing with horse athletes.”
The BCBC format bets $7,500 of a player’s entry fee into a real money bankroll, while the remaining $2,500 is put into the expanded prize fund, which is returned to the top 20 finishers in the form of cash.
Entrants must wager a minimum of $600 per race (no maximum) on at least three Breeders’ Cup races on Friday and seven Breeders’ Cup races on Saturday. Allowed bet types are Win, Place, Show, Exacta, Trifecta and Daily Doubles, excluding special doubles.
Smyth started the tournament slowly during Friday’s Breeders’ Cup races. He cashed in some tickets, but ultimately lost the Friday portion of his bankroll as Saturday’s deciding day of play began. Breeders’ Cup Saturday, however, proved to be a hugely successful day for Smyth.
Smyth built his bankroll significantly through the first four of Saturday’s nine Breeders’ Cup races. He turned $840 in bets into $2,164 in the PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, turned $1,100 in bets into $3,150 in the Turf Sprint, turned $900 in bets into $1,800 in the Sprint, and turned $6,900 in bets into $10,700 in the Distaff using a mix of win, place, show and double bets on Splendora, Shisospicy, Bentornato and Scylla.
Since his bankroll was solid at that point in the tournament, Smyth started to capitalize on it. After suffering a $5,300 loss in the Ethical Diamond upset in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf, Smyth’s bankroll took off. He won a total of $12,500 on win, place, show and exacta bets on Forever Young and Sierra Leone in the Classic, and after losing some money in the Mile, he scored the decisive knockout blow in the tournament by betting all of his remaining $19,000 bankroll on late Daily Double bets in the Dirt Mile and Filly and Mare Turf. These bets included a winning $8,000 double on Nysos and Gezora returning his winnings. winning pari-mutuel total of $144,800.
Smyth’s final bankroll gave him the second-place victory Ken McMahan45, from Lexington, Ky., which itself earned an impressive pari-mutuel total of $139,930 and second-place prize money of $304,800. McMahan is well known on the tournament circuit and has qualified for the National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) 13 years in a row. He is already double qualified for his 14th trip to the NHC finals in 2026. McMahan also finished eighth in a second appearance, and his two top 10 performances made him the second major winner of the weekend along with Smyth. Between the bankroll from his two entries and his prize money, McMahan took home $578,480.
There was a significant bankroll margin for the rest of the top 10 finishers. Michael Martinelli finished third with a bankroll of $105,000, which was good for $165,100 in prize money. The top five was completed with Phillip Shelton in fourth place with $101,000 ($114,300 in prize money), and Fahad Allhani who finished fifth with a bankroll of $98,737 plus $88,900 in prize money. The rest of the summit was Dave Nichols, Linda RodriguezKen McMahan’s second entry, Laurens BergenAnd Tyler Hoffman. The tournament paid off for the top 20 finishers.
The BCBC also served as a 15-seat qualifier for the next National Horseplayers Championship to be held in Las Vegas from March 13-15, 2026. The NHC is the only tournament in existence with a richer purse than the BCBC, exceeding $3 million annually.
The 2025 BCBC attracted a field of 635 competitors, which was 50 more than the 585 competitors played in 2024. Steven Wellsa bar owner from Fordville, ND, emerged victorious. Other recent BCBC champions are included Sean Boymana 43-year-old professional gambler from Lexington who topped a field of 571 in 2023; And Drew Coatneya 34-year-old racing fan who booked an all-in ticket on Flightline in 2022 to topple a field of 549 entries.
The highest number of 2025 BCBC players competed at the Breeders’ Cup host site track in Del Mar. Players were also allowed to participate online on ADW platforms including Xpressbet, TwinSpires, TVG, NYRA Bets or HPIbet. Some others played at the official satellite location on the course at Santa Anita. The winner, Dave Smyth, played on the court at Del Mar, while runner-up Ken McMahon played online at Xpressbet. All top eight finishers played at Xpressbet or Del Mar.
#Lexington #Financial #Advisor #Dave #Smyth #Wins #BCBC #Payday