Eric Moomey Wins DerbyWars $100K February Game!

Eric Moomey is the newest DerbyWars $100,000 Game WINNER!

This weekend's big win is the latest in a string of great finishes for Moomey (Moomeyer), who capped 2014 as NHC Tour Champion. Moomey cashes out with the $50,000 First Prize!

The game started with a $25.20 winner in Jewel of the Cat at Gulfstream, but even bigger prices were to come. Moomey hit the board in the second contest race, the Davona Dale. He was one of only 5 players to tab 25-1 longshot Ekati's Phaeton in the 1-mile Kentucky Oaks prep. The winner was the first $50 cap horse of the game. Another player to have the filly on his ticket was Garett Skiba (Skibasher), who had also selected the $32.40 winner of the first race. Skiba would take the lead at that point in the game.

 

In the fourth contest race, the Mineshaft Handicap at the Fair Grounds, Moomey struck again with 21-1 winner, Street Babe. The Street Sense gelding upset the salty field of older horses and gave Moomey another $50 score. Moomey seized the lead, but the game was far from over!

 

In the Fountain of Youth, a controversial DQ went in Moomey's favor, as he had selected Itsaknockout for that leg of the contest. The $17.80 padded his lead, but there were others gunning for him. Dustin Haluska (Dhaluska) managed to get only 80 cents from a tie after Danish Dynaformer was placed first in the Gulfstream finale, another controversial DQ. Also playing with a strong closing kick was Anthony Trezza (Youare2020). Trezza hit the final four races in the game, including back-to-back winners in Meinertzhageni and Betty's Bambino, who added $34.40 to his score and brought him to within $7 of Moomey. In the final race, both Moomey and Trezza landed on winner Gimme Da Lute - which was enough to secure Moomey's First Place finish!

 

 

"I knew there was a 90% chance that Eric would choose the 3/5 favorite, but from a strategic standpoint it made sense for me to play it," said Trezza of his narrow defeat. "If there had been more distance between me and the 3rd through 5th place guys, I would have gone to the #10 (Barbara Bowley's suggested pick at 12-1) and could have taken down the tournament with that pick. But there was too much difference between 2nd and 6th in cash reward, so I decided to stick with the favorite and hoped that Moomey flinched. He played it correctly and deserves the title."

 

Trezza took home $20,000 for the runner-up finish.

 

"Real happy about my play lately and my confidence is growing each day," he said. "I know that the 100K is the last title to tackle for me (until you come up with a new game), so I will be gunning for it. I already have my 2 entries in for April 4th! Locked and Loaded."

 

Haluska finished third to cash out with $10,000. In fourth place was early leader, Garett Skiba, for the $5,000 cash prize. The top 4 automatically earn berths in the next $100K on April 4!

 

We'll have much more with Eric Moomey later this week. Until then, check out these Five Questions about his contest success!