In one of the most furious slugfests since Creed-Balboa I, Joseph Zuer of Fountain Valley, Calif., gained the lead from John Schimpf late in the tourney, lost it, then took it back to earn the $187,425 top prize in the 5th annual Spa & Surf Showdown. 

This year’s renewal—arguably the tightest, most exciting major in HorseTourneys history—had a field of 238 entrants and a total prize pool of $521,411. The $2,500-buy-in competition required players to make mythical $2.00 win-and-place selections on one horse in every race of the Saratoga and Del Mar cards on Saturday and Sunday, August 3-4.

Early in the day on Saturday, contestants were, as usual, jockeying for position. An 11-1 winner (Smilensaycheese) struck in the second contest race of the Showdown, race 2 at Saratoga, but there weren’t too many big prices for the next several hours. In fact, two races at Saratoga—both grass stakes—didn’t take place at all, having been postponed until the following Saturday due to overnight rains in upstate New York.

It wasn’t until race 5 at Del Mar—shortly after Saratoga finished up—that Day 1 of the Spa & Surf Showdown really began to take shape.

When Pleasanton dirt-to-turfer Top Harbor captured the 5-furlong dash at odds of 42-1, it rocketed several players up the leaderboard—and Rich Constatine to the lead. Not too far behind him was fellow Top Harbor backer John Schimpf. And Steven Meier had Top Harbor on each of his two entries, putting him in the enviable position of occupying both 3rd and 5th places.

Three races later, the “haves” really began to separate themselves from the “have-nots”. 

John Schimpf took the lead for the first time (but not the last time) when Full Serrano ($21.80, $12.00) made his U.S. debut a winning one for the John Sadler barn. Schimpf wasn’t the only one who connected with both Top Harbor and Full Serrano. So did Hesham Ragab and Joseph Zuer, who were now in 3rd and 8th places, respectively.

The final three Saturday races at Del Mar didn’t change the Day 1 leaderboard too drastically.

John Schimpf guaranteed himself $13,106 for finishing with the top Saturday score. Other Day Money prizes went to the next three in the standings—Rich Constatine ($7,809), Hesham Ragab ($3,906) and Steven Meier ($1,302).

Here’s a look at how Schimpf’s splendid Saturday went:

The closeness of the top three on the leaderboard certainly portended a competitive Day 2. Little did we know what we were in for, however.

One of the beauties of a multi-day contest is that there is almost always ample time to overcome a lackluster first day. The first big development on Sunday came when May Day Ready took the 7th at Saratoga at odds of 25-1.

In this case, the big May Day Ready movers came not from the top of the leaderboard, but from the lower sections of it. John Schimpf still had a nice $31.60 lead, but suddenly, the list of potential winners seemed a lot bigger.

A half hour or so later, Clear the Air ($25.60, $9.70) took race 8 at the Spa. That was good news for Steven Meier. In fact, you can say that again.

As was the case with Top Harbor, Meier used Clear the Air on both of his entries. To that, he added Desert Rhapsody ($34.20, $9.00) in race 2 at Del Mar with his “lesser entry”. He was now in 2nd and 3rd places—and a very close 2nd and 3rd at that.

Then Meier caught a $15.60 place with 16-1 runner up On the Equinox in the 3rd at Del Mar on that former “lesser entry” that was now his “good entry”. However you categorize it, Meier was the new leader.

Schimpf wasn’t done fighting, though. He nailed Ricks Red Storm ($21.60, $8.60) in the 6th at Del Mar to regain the lead. Joseph Zuer—still plugging away after concluding Day 1 in 6th place—also used Ricks Red Storm, and now Zuer was in 2nd, just $6.80 behind Schimpf.

During the stages of a HorseTourneys major when there are multiple tracks running simultaneously, the action seems hot and heavy. Then, at the end when just one track (in this case, Del Mar) is left, things take on a much more dramatic feel. Even those of us not participating can sense post parades being studied; odds boards and will-pays being scrutinized; plays being entered, then changed, then changed yet again. Of course, when the leaderboard is close, the intensity of all this gets multiplied even further.

Welcome to the final five races of the 2024 Spa & Surf Showdown.

In race 7 at Del Mar, Schimpf landed on #2 Irish Royalty, who went off at 9-2. Zuer opted for Bob’s Blue Moon, an 8-1 proposition. On the far turn, both Irish Royalty and Bob’s Blue Moon came charging hard at the early pacesetter. But Irish Royalty got blocked behind rivals, while Bob’s Blue Moon enjoyed a much cleaner trip. Bob’s Blue Moon won. Irish Royalty could only manage to finish 3rd. And now Zuer was in front for the first time.

At this point, it might not have been unfair to assume that Schimpf was toast. He had played great to take the lead twice, only to lose it twice, including this last time on a tough-trip third. Now he was over $20 behind with just four races left. Even for the toughest competitors, at some point, things just fall apart.

It turned out, though, that Schimpf had a little bit more left in the tank. In race 9, contested over the same 5-furlong turf layout that led to a 9-1 Schimpf victory with Full Serrano, the two-time-leader-now–back-in-2nd went with Irish Corn at odds of 9-2.

Make that a three-time-leader. Irish Corn won wire to wire. Zuer’s pick ran next to last. Now just two races remained. Much like the four or five that preceded them, these two heats looked like difficult handicapping puzzles.

In race 10, a Cal-bred stakes for 2-year-old fillies on the dirt, Zuer went for In the Air Tonight, while Schimpf went with Broadway Venus. Both had won their lone starts, though Broadway Venus looked like the main speed…on a day when speed looked like the way to go on dirt.

As expected, Broadway Venus gunned to the lead, but In the Air Tonight, widest of all ran her and the others down. Now for the second time on Sunday—the second time in three races, actually—Zuer was in front, albeit by just $5.20.

Here’s who they had when the gates opened for the 11th and final race from Del Mar, a one-mile turf event for $25,000 claimers:

Zuer went with Spirit Maker, who was 12-1 on the morning line, but was taking money before drifting up to 7-1 at the end. Schimpf went for Mackinnon, who was 4-1 on the morning line but got hammered down from 5-1 to 2-1 very late. They each took a pass on 6-5 favorite #2 Margot’s Boy.

Again it was, to some degree, a tale of two trips as Zuer’s horse experienced a relatively trouble free outside run while Mackinnon, running for Schimpf, got stopped briefly behind horses turning for home. It’s questionable, though, if anyone could have beaten Margot’s Boy, who powered home late for the victory. Spirit Maker got second, but that was like a giant victory for Zuer who held off Schimpf and 3rd-place finishing Mackinnon for the Spa & Surf Showdown championship—and the $187,425 that went with it. 

Zuer had the 6th highest score on Saturday and the 5th best tally on Day 2. That’s what championships are made of. Here’s a race-by-race look at how his two days went:

What a competition. Contests aren’t always exciting at the end, but this one was. Starting with race 7 at Del Mar, Zuer and Schimpf exchanged the lead amongst themselves three times in a four-race span. And throughout all of that, many others were well within winning range had their horses come in.

For his gallant, runner-up performance, John Schimpf was rewarded with $74,970 plus the $13,106 in Day Money he got for doing best of all on Saturday. That adds up to $88,076.

Here’s one more view of all those who won money for finishing in the top 20 of the final standings:

There were also Day Money prizes awarded to the four players who amassed the highest Sunday scores:

There was another “winner” of sorts in the Spa & Surf Showdown—54th place finisher Christian Orscher. “Why is he a winner?” you ask.  Good question.

For finishing 54th, Orscher is now the leader in the cumulative HorseTourneys Grand Slam bonus standings.

The series concludes on November 23-24 with the inaugural Pick & Pray Classic ($2,000 buy-in). Points are awarded to the top 100 finishers in each Grand Slam event on a 100-for-first, 99-for-second, 98-for third basis, etc. basis. 

The third-place finisher in the final standings gets a free entry into a 2025 HorseTourneys Grand Slam tourney of his or her choice. The second-place finisher gets an entry into two Grand Slam events of his or her choosing, The overall winner wins a free spot in all four. 

Special thanks go out to The New York Racing Association, Inc., and Del Mar Thoroughbred Club for allowing us to use their content and for carding such terrific races last weekend. As I alluded to earlier, most of those last 10 on Sunday at Del Mar seemed like real skullbusters—which undoubtedly contributed to the exciting finish of the competition.

Most of all, though, we thank you for participating. Qualifiers have already begun for the $300,000 Gtd. Pick & Pray Classic. We hope you make it into the starting gate for that one too.