Matthew Taylor of Tewksbury, Massachusetts correctly selected nine of the 12 props and won the first week of the 2021 TIF BetMakers Summer Prop Contest on the tiebreaker. Taylor guessed the $1 trifecta dividend from the United Nations Stakes would be $78, which was closer to the actual result ($1,248) than the guess of Mike Sutton of Toronto, Ontario, who also had nine correct props.
Taylor chose to direct $1,000 to New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program while Sutton directed $600 to the Backside Learning Center at Churchill Downs.
Shane Anderson from Copenhagen, Denmark was the only contestant with eight correct props and claimed third for the opening week. He chose to direct $400 to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.
A player’s four highest scores over the eight weeks of the contest count towards the overall standings, and many players are likely thankful for that provision as the average number of correct props was just 5.1. For perspective, only one week of 2020 contest had a lower overall average (Week 4 – 5.01).
Overall standings of the contest will be updated from Week 4 onwards once players record a qualifying four-week score. Below, find the winning responses and the selection percentage of each answer.
Props for week 2 of the contest will be set by Steve Byk and available from late Thursday.
#1 HEAD TO HEAD: Which horse will have the better finishing position in the Haskell Stakes (Race 12) at Monmouth?
#3 MANDALOUN (36%)
#4 HOT ROD CHARLIE (64%)
#2 HEAD TO HEAD: Which horse will have the better finishing position in the Haskell Stakes?
#1 FOLLOWING SEA (30%)
#6 MIDNIGHT BOURBON (70%)
#3 Which horse bred in South America will have the better finishing position in the United Nations Stakes (Race 11) at Monmouth?
#4 IMPERADOR (ARG) (17%)
#5 FANTASIOSO (ARG) (28%)
#8 MASTER PIECE (CHI) (55%)
#4 Which of the four of Chad Brown’s runners will have the better finishing position in the Matchmaker (Race 5) at Monmouth?
#2 GREAT ISLAND (18%)
#3 COUNTERPARTY RISK (IRE) (27%)
#6 NAY LADY NAY (IRE) (36%)
#7 KALIFORNIA QUEEN (GER) (19%)
#5 According to the Equibase charts, which race will feature the longer winning margin?
Monmouth Cup (Race 8 – Monmouth) (35%)
Sanford Stakes (Race 9 – Saratoga) (65%)
#6 Which bet will have the higher return at Saratoga on Saturday?
The early pick five (Races 1-5) (54%)
The late pick five (Races 7-11) (46%)
#7 According to the Equibase chart of the race, what will be the winning margin in the Sanford (Race 9) at Saratoga?
1.5 lengths or shorter (28%)
Between 1.75 lengths and 3 lengths (40%)
3.25 lengths and longer (32%)
#8 In the Sanford (Race 9) at Saratoga, which horse will have a better finishing position?
Any horse that made their last start at a Kentucky track (#2 Candy Landing, #7 Ottoman Empire, #9 Headline Report, #11 Seize the Night) (81%)
Any horse that made their last start at a track in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware or Florida (#3 Catch the Smoke, #5 Dance Code, #6 Maryland Brando, #8 Due Vini, #12 Lucago) (19%)
#9 What will be the final win odds of #1 Wit in the Sanford?
8-5 or under (58%)
Over 8-5 (42%)
#10 HEAD TO HEAD: Which Godolphin-owned filly will have the better finishing position in the Diana (Race 10) at Saratoga?
#6 SUMMER ROMANCE (54%)
#8 ALTHIQA (46%)
#11 Which team of trainers will accrue more points on Saturday at Saratoga (point scale: 5 points for a win, 3 for second, 1 for third)?
Team 1 - Chad Brown (8 entries) and Bill Mott (5 entries) MINUS 0.5 points (39%) – 17.5 points
Team 2 – Todd Pletcher (5 entries + 1 AE), Steve Asmussen (4 entries + 1 AE) and Mike Maker (3 entries) (61%) 20 points
#12 Will there be a winner at Saratoga with win odds of 14.00-1 or higher?
Yes (82%)
No (18%)