Veteran Gulfstream Park handicapper Ron Nicoletti anchors the 20th annual Xpressbet Beat the Host Handicapping contest this Saturday for the eighth and final week of the regular season. Horseplayers taking on Nicoletti have one more shot at qualifying for the Beat the Host Championship Round and winning their share of $67,500 in weekly and seasonal prizes. Last week’s host, Jeremy Plonk, managed a single winner from the 10 contest races and provided little barrier to the competition.

Among the contestants during Week 7, John Fallon paced the field with $205.50 in mutuel earnings and collected the $1,000 weekly top prize. Runner-up William Voith ($200.00 mutuel total) earned an additional $750 in prize money, while Lawrence Wise ($195.00 mutuel total) finished third and added another $250.

Wise made a huge move on the seasonal leaderboard to $604, just $12.50 behind long-time season leader Glenn Gulden ($616.50). Two other players are within $100 for the top heading into the final week.

So far, 462 players have qualified for the Beat the Host Championship by winning a weekly head-to-head against the hosts.

Beat the Host encompasses 10 races each contest Saturday, split between the final 5 Gulfstream Park races and first 5 from Santa Anita. Contestants place $5 win bets on the Xpressbet platform for each of the 10 Beat the Host races, earning their parimutuel winnings as well as rising up the leaderboard and potentially topping the experts.

Register here.

Beat the host’s total once to qualify for the March 8 BTH Championship (maximum 1 seat per qualifier). Weekly prizes include $1,000 to the contestant with the highest accumulated dollar total, as well as $750 to second and $250 to third. The BTH Championship will pit all weekly winning players against one another in pursuit of seats in the lucrative Pegasus World Cup Betting Challenge, Xpressbet Santa Anita Derby Challenge and Xpressbet Florida Derby Challenge tournaments.

A sweep the host bonus ($6,500) and season leaderboard champion (Pegasus World Cup Betting Challenge, 1/ST Ultimate Betting Challenge seats) also are in prize play. With one week to play, just 4 players remain eligible in the sweep the host bonus chase (1 fell by the wayside during Week 7).

The host lineup for the season:

Jan. 4—Pete Aiello (Gulfstream Park)
Jan. 11--Millie Ball (Santa Anita & XBTV)
Jan. 18-- Tom Quigley (Santa Anita)
Jan. 25--Jeff Siegel (1/ST BET & XBTV)
Feb. 1--Brian Nadeau (Gulfstream Park)
Feb. 8--Frank Mirahmadi (Santa Anita)
Feb. 1--Jeremy Plonk (1/ST BET)
Feb 22--Ron Nicoletti (Gulfstream Park)

Registration is open: sign up today and play Saturday.