Travis Culver Rallies Late to Win Saturday $25,000 Game

This week's Saturday $25,000 Game included thirteen races from Belmont, Keeneland and Santa Anita, two chaotic sprint races and one winner of $10,000. If mayhem is what's desired, it was Christmas morning for one hundred four players and Travis Culver's stocking was overflowing. 

Culver (Tculver) had his eye on the prize from the start, collecting $21.60 when Bottle Rocket and Brian Hernandez Jr. took the contest opener at Keeneland. Culver was set on price and after a few favorites were first under the wire, he collected on more. Bitty Kitty ran a strong second paying $10.20 in Keeneland's eighth before Stellar Path ($20.90) won a chaotic turf race at Belmont. 

A good start had Culver staring down multiple Saturday $25,000 Game winner Travis Reese (Tsreese), who looked to do it again from the top of the leaderboard. Reese had cashed in five of the first six including Bottle Rocket and Stellar Path. His six race total of $79.70 put him $27.00 ahead of Culver, but time would tell neither of them were done yet.

The contest's seventh and featured race, the Grade III Raven Run at Keeneland, produced a long-priced winner which would produce six of the top ten players at the close of the contest. Sarah Sis and Florent Geroux made a bold run to the wire and added $45.80 to nineteen players' totals. Things were shaking up and Culver's early effort needed to be superseded by a late effort, and it was. 

The contest's tenth race marked the first of four closing races at Santa Anita. While Swiss Cheese crossed the wire first at five to two, Culver was collecting a small place price on Boompa ($5.20) marking the start of a $10,000 rally. Santa Anita's sixth race, the eleventh contest race, was littered with speed, but Culver's selection left the field in his dust. Ty Kennedy piloted Image of Joplin ($46.40) to a gate to wire score and airlifted Culver to third on the leaderboard, the perfect striking position with two races to go. 

Mayhem wasn't letting up anytime soon. Santa Anita's seventh was a wide open six furlong dirt race, but not many could have predicted Papa Turf the winner at forty-seven to one; except Joe Koury (Joek). The cap horse catapulted him to the top spot on the leaderboard with one to go, but mayhem was still hovering with one to go. At the top of the stretch of a one mile turf affair, it was down to Koury and Culver. Koury's Paulina's Love battled from the inside as Culver's Belle Hill fought for a half mile to get by. The leaders were inseparable until Belle Hill put a head in front in the shadow of the wire and paid $29.80, more than enough to crown Culver as Saturday $25,000 Game champion. 

Travis Culver's final score of $134.10 landed him his biggest DerbyWars win to date, the $10,000 top prize. Joe Koury fought hard for second and took home $5,000. Travis Reese fell short of another Saturday $25,000 Game victory, but still banked $2,875.