Manhattan Resident Wins Aqueduct Handicapping Tournament
Making his first-ever appearance in a handicapping tournament, Jeffrey Siskin of Manhattan took down top prize of $37,500 and earned a trip to Las Vegas for the $1.5 million national championships as he coasted home to victory in the New York Handicapping Series presented by NYRA Rewards on Sunday at Aqueduct Racetrack.
The tournament, which attracted 229 entries, produced the final four representatives from the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) to move on to the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championships on January 24-26 at Treasure Island Las Vegas, where the first prize will be $750,000.
Siskin, who was in sixth place after Saturday's first day of tournament action, moved up steadily in the standings and held a commanding lead late in the day to finish with a grand total of $1,278 in mythical wagers, $133 more than runner-up George Longobardi of Marlboro, N.J.
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"I just handicapped like I always do," said Siskin, 66, who is retired from the apparel industry and also owns several racehorses. "I got lucky and had five winners today, most of them here at Aqueduct. I never had the time to enter a handicapping contest before. I'm very excited."
Joining Siskin in representing Aqueduct in Las Vegas will be Longobardi, who collected $12,500 in prize money; third-place finisher Mitch Schuman of Brightwaters, N.Y. ($9,000), and fourth-place Eric Moomey of Elwell, Mich., who won the bonus seat provided by NYRA Rewards. In addition to $5,600 in prize money, Moomey also won $1,500 as the leader after the first day of the tournament.
Each player had to make 10 selections a day on each day of the two-day tournament, nine $20 plays and a single $40 play.
