TwinSpires player ahead after Day 1 of Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge

To the list of big winners on the first day of the 2025 Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar, add the name of Dean Maliza.

It’s not a name you’re likely to be familiar with, but Maliza ended the first day of the World Championships as the leader of the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge after a great day of betting on TwinSpires.

Maliza ended Day 1 of the Betting Challenge with a score of 49,400.00, putting him 9,000 clear in the lead.

Two win bets propelled Maliza to the front. He didn’t join in the betting until the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1) but showed great faith in Cy Fair in that race, betting $7,000 on her to win the race. The Algonquin Stakes winner ran out an easy winner at odds of 5-1, returning $42,000 for Maliza.

He then earned another $8,000 in profit on Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) winner Ted Noffey, who won at 4-5 odds.

In second place on 40,400.00 was Ajax Bjorn, betting on course at Del Mar. After earning $3,100 on a show bet on Juvenile Turf Sprint third-place finisher Aspect Island, Bjorn won big with Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) winner Balantina. Betting $1,000 to win, $1,000 to place, and $1,500 to show on the Irish filly returned Bjorn a total of $40,900 on the 20-1 shot.

Third on the list after the first day was Dick Jerardi. Betting via Xpressbet, Jerardi earned $11,760 in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) after a successful $400 bet on the Super Corredora-Explora exacta, and then earned $21,600 for a $1,000 win bet on Balantina in the Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Of the 643 contestants, 15 had balances above $20,000 after day one, while a total of 218 contestants still had at least the $7,500 they started betting with – though 14 of them face either penalties or a disqualification from the tournament for not betting the minimum of $600 on at least three of the five Breeders’ Cup races on Friday.

With 643 contestants, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge, in addition to keeping their winnings from their bets, is set to earn a first prize of an estimated $450,000. Prizes are paid down to 20th on the leaderboard.

Of the 643 contestants, 78 were playing on TwinSpires. The second-best of the TwinSpires players on day one behind Maliza was Douglas Nachman, who shot up 65 places to 15th on the leaderboard on 20,234.80 after winning $10,089.80 on the Gstaad-Stark Contrast-North Coast trifecta in the last race of the day, the Juvenile Turf. He earlier won $4,340 from Balantina’s victory.

Out of the 78 TwinSpires players, only 14 played the tournament on TwinSpires last year; 33 did not play the tournament at all in 2024, while the other 31 were either on track at Del Mar or on other betting forums last year.

The tournament winds up tomorrow. Bettors must invest at least $600 on seven of the nine Breeders’ Cup races on the Saturday card, and bet at least $7,500 in total over the two days.