Tuesday, January 21 is the date when ‘Horseplayers’ will debut on the Esquire Network. The reality television program will follow a group of handicappers as they vie for a spot in the National Handicapping Championship (NHC).
The Esquire Network is inviting viewers to ‘enter the high-stakes world of professional horse race handicapping, where the only thing bigger than the bets are the characters placing them.’
The series, produced by Go Go Luckey, will follow a group of handicappers from Churchill Downs to Saratoga to Santa Anita as they compete for the title of America’s top handicapper.
To view a video covering an extended first look at the series and its handicappers, visit the official Horseplayers page by clicking here.
An overview of the cast appears below.
Matt Bernier
At 23 years old, Matt Bernier was the youngest competitor in last year’s National Handicappers Championship. A realtor by day, the Massachusetts’s native first came to horse racing through a love of baseball and statistics. As his racing hobby grew into more of an obsession, Bernier upgraded his cable and started watching races from parks across the nation — all from the comfort of his living room. Soon he was watching from the tracks themselves, and, after a few years, he felt ready to pursue a seat at the NHC. Although Bernier didn’t qualify for the Final 50 or take home any prize money in the 2013 NHC, he is more confident than ever that he can make it back to the Championship. And this time, he says, he’s going to win it all.
Michael Beychok
A political consultant from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Michael Beychok grew up betting on horses with James Carville. His most recent claim to fame was parlaying a third-place finish in the TwinSpires.com Online Handicapping Championship into first prize at last year’s NHC. On the last race of the two-day tournament, Beychok needed $11 to reach the top of the standings. His horse won by a nose, and Beychok won by one dollar, earning him a purse of $1 million. He used some of that money to buy the horse that helped him win, and when she suffered a minor injury a few races later, he retired her to a farm in Louisiana. Beychok is the man to beat in this tournament. But with all eyes on him, can he continue his hot streak?
John Conte
From his long black hair to the gigantic magnifying glass he uses to read racing forms, John Conte is a character, through and through. In the 13-year history of the NHC, he has qualified seven times and already won once, giving him some of the most solid credentials in the handicapper community. What makes Conte most unique, however, is not his personality. It’s his approach. Instead of math, Conte goes with what — and who — he knows: Conte is on a first name basis with many of the sport’s owners, trainers, and jockeys. Plus, he knows the horses, everything from their foaling dates to their form cycles to their best distances and favourite surfaces. He knows which horse is ready and which horse isn’t. And he knows all of this without the help of a computer.
Kevin ‘The Brooklyn Cowboy’ Cox
A retired NYPD mounted police officer, Kevin Cox (aka ‘The Brooklyn Cowboy’), is on a bit of a hot streak. This two-time NHC qualifier has already won two of the coveted seats for this year’s tournament. More important, he’s in the running to be the 2013 NHC points leader. If, at the end of the year, he has the most points of any NHC player in the United States, Cox stands to receive a $2 million bonus (on top of the tournament’s $1 million purse) if he wins the championship. Needless to say, he expects to be $3 million richer by the end of the tournament. Supporting him throughout will be his wife, who has come just 10 cents away from qualifying for a seat of her own.
Christian Hellmers
Christian Hellmers has been a fixture at Del Mar racetrack since his father first took him to a race at age 14. A true devotee of the laid-back, Southern California lifestyle, Hellmers is as attuned to the spirit of racing as he is to the statistics. The vegan bases his bets on everything from mathematics to aromatherapy. And it seems to work. At 20, he and two friends became known as the ‘Pick 6 Boys’ after they won three tournaments and $30,000 and shortly thereafter hit a pick 6 for $45,000. His skill and luck has grown ever since. For the last two years, Hellmers has come in second place at the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge, one of the biggest real-money betting challenges on the circuit. He attributes last year’s finish, a disappointment in his eyes, to being too tentative with his final bet. He guarantees that won’t happen again.
Team Rotundo
Although the members of ‘Team Rotondo’ are not a biological family, they behave as one. The team is headed by Peter Rotondo Sr. and Lee Davis, former currency traders and fast friends who decided to apply their business skills to picking horses. Rotondo Jr. started attending races with his father at the age of six, which led to some interesting ‘How I Spent My Summer Vacation’ essays in school. At 63, he was recently remarried... to a 22-year-old, Liana. Liana is a fixture on Team Rotondo, as well, but given her inexperience and youth, her abilities are frequently called into question.
(With files from Esquire)