Caposio tuned up for King of the Turf

Car dealer Caposio tuned up for King of the Turf

Los Angeles car dealer and horseplayer Michael Caposio loves betting Kentucky Downs. That includes playing in the track’s online, live-money King of the Turf Handicapping Challenge.

“When it’s running, I’m playing,” Caposio said of Kentucky Downs’ seven-day meet that opens Thursday Aug. 29. “Absolutely. I love it. It’s completely different. The fields are full. Really good turf racing. Purses are crazy, right? It’s very competitive, and that’s awesome for a handicapper.

“I like playing the tournament, because I really love the racing that goes on there. So for me, it’s one of the tournaments I really like to play in.”

By playing and winning HorseTourney qualifying tournaments on July 26 and Aug. 3, Caposio earned the maximum two entries (which include the $2,500 per-entry buy-in) into the Kentucky Downs tournament, which this year will be held as one standalone tournament on the Sept. 7. Even so, Caposio said he’ll quite likely still play in Kentucky Downs’ online play-in tournaments on opening day Aug. 29 ($300 buy-in) and Sept. 1 ($400 buy-in).

Why? Because Caposio will be playing Kentucky Downs anyway, and if he wins, he can gift the King of the Turf spot to a friend, he said.

Players don’t have to qualify in advance to get into the King of the Turf, but it saves springing for the $2,500 buy-in, for which $1,500 is bankroll and $1,000 goes toward prizes.

“If I didn’t have the berth, I’d be buying it, yes,” Caposio said.

In live-money tournaments, players keep any bankroll they have after the contest.

The Aug. 29 contest will award four entries to the King of the Turf, based on 140 entries, and two seats to the 2025 National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) in Las Vegas. The Sept. 1 contest will award seven King of the Turf entries, as well as two NHC berths.

The Sept. 7 King of the Turf Handicapping Challenge awards two Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC) seats (a $10,000 buy-in), five NHC seats and $53,250 in prize money, based on 100 entries.

And King of the Turf boasts something no other handicapping tournament can offer: the winner is feted as the National Turf Handicapper of the Year and is awarded the coveted Global Tote King of the Turf championship belt, designed after boxing and MMA belts. The winner will receive the belt at the 2025 NHC awards dinner.

Caposio has two car dealerships, Chevrolet and Buick GMC. Former Dodgers star pitcher Orel Hershiser is a partner in the Buick GMC. Both stores have rooms dedicated to sports memorabilia, and Caposio also owns a sports memorabilia store, gallery and destination called Legends Attic with Hershiser and another friend, Eddie Allizadeh, in Claremont, Calif.

“If I can win it, I’ll display it somewhere, for sure,” Caposio said of the belt.

“My employees know I’m very big into horse racing; I own a couple of horses,” he said. “I have a trophy room with (items commemorating) many athletes from horse racing to baseball to football. I’d probably display the belt in one of those areas.

“Usually it’s just about money,” he said of handicapping competitions. “The contests where you get something on top of whatever it is you’re going to win, that’s pretty cool.”

Caposio has never been to Kentucky Downs, but it’s on his bucket list. “I have to make a trip there,” he said. “One of the guys who works for me says, ‘You’ve got to see this place. It’s like no other.’ I really do want to get out there one of these days.”

Contest notes: Email King of the Turf Handicapping Challenge Tournament Director Brian Skirka at bskirka@monmouthpark.com with questions and to register for the King of the Turf and the Aug. 29 and Sept. 1 play-in tournaments. All play is online only and everyone must be preregistered. All TVG/4NJBETS players must be pre-registered with Skirka by 3 p.m. Eastern on the day before the contests. Xpressbet players can sign up directly on Xpressbet up until post time for Race 1 on contest day.

HorseTourneys continues to have qualifiers for King of the Turf, allowing the opportunity to get into the contest at a much lower price.