B.R. man wins $1M in track betting championship

Michael Beychok of Baton Rouge has parlayed a third-place finish in the TwinSpires.com Online Handicapping Championship into a $1 million first prize as the winner of the National Handicapping Championship, which wrapped up this weekend at Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas, ESPN.com reports. Beychok needed $11 to reach the top of the NHC standings on the last race of the two-day tournament, and he did so by a nose when Glorious Dancer rallied top nip Greeley’s Agenda to pay $8.20 to win and $3.80 to place. Beychok entered the final stages of the tournament within striking range of Dave Flanzbaum, who led throughout most of day two, but did not make up the necessary ground until the final race. “After the last mandatory race, I still had four options left to play,” Beychok says. “I started thinking about likely winners in the 2-to-1 and 5-to-2 range, which isn’t my normal strategy, but I knew I could win this thing.” In addition to being involved in Thoroughbred racing as a horseplayer via TwinSpires.com, Beychok is managing partner of That’s Me Stable, a racing partnership that campaigns horses in Louisiana. “I definitely plan to invest this back into racing,” Beychok says. “I own a few horses and would like to own a few more.”