Mark McGuire Spends 4th of July at Sports Grill, Wins $20,000 Tournament

 

Americans across the country looked forward to taking off work last Thursday, July 4, to celebrate our nation’s independence and spend the day doing something enjoyable. For Mark McGuire of Newbury Park, California, it was an opportunity to close down the sports bar he owns and focus on taking down DerbyWars’ $20,000 4th of July Tournament.

“A bunch of my friends were going to Hollywood Park for the day,” said McGuire. “I probably could have gone with them and still played, but I would have been distracted. So I stayed at my sports bar and really focused on the tournament.”

(Pictured to the left: Mark McGuire in a moment of zen.)

McGuire defeated 129 other DerbyWars players to secure the $10,000 first-place kitty in a blanket finish. It took a bankroll of $150.60 to clinch the victory over runner-up Michael Elsass ($137.50) and tied third place finishers Brent Sumja ($120.60) and Eric Pineiro ($120.60)

It was certainly a tournament that required focus. With the top bankrolls having not achieved significant separation from each other, it was a contentious affair all the way to the last race of the contest. After the gates open and selections were revealed, McGuire knew that the 9-1 shot Uno Pecador was a potential trouble-maker for his tournament chances. Uno Pecador would go on to inherit an uncontested lead in the five furlong affair and it would take the length of the stretch for McGuire’s horse, Jost Van Dyke, to run him down to secure the victory.

While McGuire was quick to attribute his uninterrupted focus as the key to his victory, he was similarly quick to give kudos to contest players who had to divide their attention between the online contest and alternative holiday rituals.

“I’m really good friends with the player who led the contest early on and for most of the way, and he may have been a little distracted,” McGuire chuckled mischievously. “He was having a 4th of July barbeque and kept sending me pictures. He was playing DerbyWars from the pool!”

A longtime racing fan, McGuire was first introduced to the sport at the age of 12 when his parents took him to Los Alamitos and he placed a bet on a 60-1 winner. While he hasn’t continued to play quarter horses, he has very much continued to pick good longshots, which may be a contributing factor to his savvy tournament strategy.

McGuire has been playing in horse racing tournaments for over a dozen years and has qualified to play in the Daily Racing Form/ NTRA National Handicapping Championship (NHC) each of the last six years. He was an active member of the NHC Tour last year, finishing third on the Leaderboard and qualifying for the NHC ‘probably five times over.’

Adopting a different tournament strategy this year, McGuire has yet to secure a qualifying spot to next year’s NHC but has a busy upcoming schedule aimed at changing that situation. Over the next few weeks, McGuire plans to hit up big money tournaments in Las Vegas, Saratoga and Canterbury in search of both an NHC seat and financial spoils, but also in search of good times.

“I enjoy the brick and mortar tournaments because I really like the camaraderie. I have never met a better group of people,” McGuire warmly noted. “They are the friendliest, nicest, best bunch of people I have ever met in my entire life. Nowhere else are your competitors constantly cheering you on. Even to their own detriment, they always cheer you on.”

With the $10,000 winner’s share of DerbyWars’ $20,000 4th of July Tournament, one can be sure that plenty of good times lie ahead for McGuire at each of those contest venues, and for all horseplayers lucky enough to cross paths with the propitious prognosticator.

2 Responses to Mark McGuire Spends 4th of July at Sports Grill, Wins $20,000 Tournament

  1. Marc Doche says:

    Well done. I guess I can attribute my fade from the lead to a 16th place finish to a BBQ at the pool as well.

  2. James Henry says:

    Magoo…Congrats boss!!!…this photo is one of the funniest pics I’ve seen in a while…..not as good as ball shorts, but real close..lol…see u at surfside, JH

Leave a Reply