News & Barn notes
Darren Schweiger Cashes Big Bet, Beats Record Field of 379 in $2,000 Pick Your Prize Handicapping Challenge
June 17, 2026
With two races remaining in Monmouth Park’s biggest Pick Your Prize Handicapping Challenge to date, Darren Schweiger sat in position to pounce.
After going “all-in” with his first contest bet to hit a $1,000 cold exacta, and subsequently playing a few show bets, he sat near the top of the leaderboard with $5,420. That total had him chasing – at the time – Christian Hellmers who had accumulated north of $9,000 through the day’s first eight races.
In Race 9, the Grade 3 Salvator Mike, Schweiger decided to pounce!
After sweating out a tight photo, Schweiger all-in pounce of $5,420 to win on East Avenue sky-rocketed him to the top of the leaderboard with a unpresented tournament total of $19,512.
Over $12,000 worth of earnings in the Saturday finale wasn’t enough for contest runner-up Phil Lam to overtake Schweiger, and the 2026 Pick Your Prize Championship was his.
Schweiger’s record bankroll handily defeated a record field. Pick Your Prize, moved to Haskell Preview Day for the first time in 2026, saw a record 379 entries that combined to wager north of $656,000.
By finishing first, Schweiger – who played the contest on Xpressbet – automatically received $25,515 in cash. As part of Pick Your Prize’s unique and unparalleled prize structure, Schweiger also received two prize selections from a prize board that included 25 seats to the National Horseplayers Championship (NHC), 10 seats to the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC) and nine cash prizes ranging from $9,800 to $4,000.
With his two selections, Schweiger picked a BCBC seat and (NHC+$6,000). All told, Schweiger walked away with his $19,512 bankroll, $31,515 in additional cash prizes, a seat in the 2027 NHC and a seat in the 2026 BCBC.
Lam, playing on-site at Monmouth, finished second with a bankroll of $12,761.60. With his two prize selections, Lam picked BCBC and (NHC+$4,000) – in addition to receiving his second-place cash prize of $14,175.
In total, the top 8 finishers received two prize board selections. Finishers 9 through 36 received one.
All Pick Your Prize players had to bet a minimum of five Monmouth Park races. The minimum bet for those races was $150. Pools available for contest play were win, place, show, exacta and daily double. Contest players participated on-site or online through Xpressbet, TVG and HPI.
Monmouth Park’s next live-money handicapping contest is the $1,000 Haskell Handicapping Challenge on Saturday, July 18. That contest is expected to award two NHC seats plus at least six seats to the BCBC.
For information on future Monmouth Park contests, please contact Brian Skirka at bskirka@monmouthpark.com.
$2,000 Pick Your Prize Official Contest Results & Prizes
| Position | DisplayName | Score | Location | Prizes |
| 1.00 | Darren Schweiger2 | $19,512.00 | Xpressbet | $25,515+BCBC+(NHC+$6,000) |
| 2.00 | Phil Lam | $12,761.60 | Monmouth Park | $14,175+BCBC+(NHC+$4,000) |
| 3.00 | Howard Kaplan | $9,928.10 | Xpressbet | $8,505+BCBC+(NHC+$3,000) |
| 4.00 | Evan Trommer | $9,570.00 | Xpressbet | $5,670+$9,800+$8,500 |
| 5.00 | Larry Smitley2 | $8,888.00 | Monmouth Park | $2,835+BCBC+$8,000 |
| 6.00 | David Basler | $8,645.50 | Xpressbet | BCBC+$7,500 |
| 7.00 | Christian Hellmers2 | $7,702.00 | Xpressbet | BCBC+$7,000 |
| 8.00 | Robin Buser2 | $7,372.00 | Monmouth Park | BCBC+(NHC+$2,000) |
| 9.00 | Greg Lewis2 | $7,004.00 | Monmouth Park | BCBC |
| 9.00 | Sally Goodall | $7,004.00 | Monmouth Park | BCBC |
| 11.00 | Drew Trommer | $6,292.00 | TVG | NHC |
| 12.00 | Jeff Bussan | $6,120.75 | Monmouth Park | BCBC |
| 13.00 | Clay Sanders2 | $6,050.00 | Xpressbet | $6,500 |
| 14.00 | Joshua Isner | $5,998.10 | Xpressbet | NHC |
| 15.00 | Richard Jerardi | $5,260.00 | Xpressbet | $5,500 |
| 16.00 | Steven Wells 2 | $5,241.50 | TVG | $4,500 |
| 17.00 | Chris Kinum2 | $5,060.00 | Monmouth Park | NHC |
| 18.00 | Mark Rudy | $5,013.50 | Monmouth Park | $4,000 |
| 19.00 | Zachary Agamenoni | $4,825.00 | Xpressbet | NHC |
| 20.00 | Jeff Pesot | $4,540.00 | Monmouth Park | NHC |
| 21.00 | Brendan Fay | $4,440.00 | Monmouth Park | NHC |
| 22.00 | Mark Rudy2 | $4,400.50 | Monmouth Park | NHC |
| 22.00 | Matt Walsh | $4,400.50 | Xpressbet | NHC |
| 24.00 | Douglas Otani | $4,400.20 | Xpressbet | NHC |
| 25.00 | Chick Matties | $4,139.00 | Xpressbet | NHC |
| 26.00 | Jeff Falconio | $3,674.50 | Xpressbet | NHC |
| 27.00 | Rafael Lopez | $3,439.25 | Xpressbet | $4,000 (double qualifier) |
| 28.00 | Tom Lenberg | $3,430.30 | Xpressbet | NHC |
| 29.00 | Joe Koury | $3,306.50 | Monmouth Park | NHC |
| 30.00 | Howard Kravets | $3,186.00 | Xpressbet | NHC |
| 31.00 | John Gaspar | $3,120.00 | Monmouth Park | $4,000 (double qualifier) |
| 32.00 | Mike Gillum | $3,080.00 | Xpressbet | NHC |
| 33.00 | Bradley Anderson2 | $3,000.00 | Xpressbet | NHC |
| 34.00 | Sean Spinello | $2,922.40 | Monmouth Park | NHC |
| 35.00 | Paul Weizer2 | $2,860.00 | Xpressbet | NHC |
| 36.00 | Nick Noce | $2,830.00 | Xpressbet | NHC |