Handicappers gathered far and wide across the internet on Friday night via a chat room for the Derbyologist Triple Crown Fantasy Horse Racing League. Fantasy Football is estimated to be a 3 billion dollar annual economic impact by Forbes magazine. Horse Racing has yet to tap into this un-developed market.
Seven men and one women decided to take matters into their own hands and started a league, we gathered from Illinois, Florida, Minnesota, and North Dakota, New York – far and wide with a common connection of the love of the game.
With a season running from the Holy Bull through the Belmont Stakes with 3 year old races only we will challenge our minds, to prospect for developing horses and with monthly claims and a salary cap experience the thrill of buying(claiming), and owning horses and making decision on a monthly stable.
Below is a quick recap of the Fantasy Format
Season: Holy Bull Stakes through Belmont Stake
Monthly Claims: $500 Total Budget (Fake Dollars) The entry fee is just one payment. to use through June. On the last Thursday of each month each person will email claims to commissioner listing horse they want to claim and the price. They also list the horse they want to drop. Claims will be blind. Meaning all claims will be submitted by designated date and time. Highest Bid gets the horse. In case of tie the person lower in the standings will get the horse claimed. It is the responsibility and strategy of each owner to allocate the $500. If you spend $400 the first month then you only have $100 to use the rest of the season.
Claim Dates:
Feb. 27 Mar. 27 April 27 May 22 June 19
Triple Crown Special 12 8 6
Kentucky Oaks Kentucky Derby
Preakness Stakes Black Eyed Susan
Belmont Stakes Acorn Stakes
Big Races 10 5 4
Wood Memorial Arkansas Derby Bluegrass Stakes
Santa Anita Derby Wood Memorial Stakes Florida Derby
Louisiana Derby Santa Anita Oaks Fairgrounds Oaks
Gulfstream Oaks
Rest of schedule 8 4 3
Holy Bull, Sunland Derby
The rest of the schedule is comprised of all the major preps leading to the big races. Races for both fillies and colts will be included.
Ideally in the future we would like to have a league of 10 to 12 teams with 12 horses. Some people joined for the money, some joined for the thrill of competition and one of the “owners” joined with hopes of forcing herself to become a better handicapper. Nicole will be blogging in more detail about her experience in the league and strategy.
The Triple Crown Season is highly anticipated across america. The fact that no main stream thoroughbred organization or racetrack has taken advantage of this potential growth industry for horse racing is just another sign that marketing and forward thinking vision is lacking in the industry. According to Quantcast the number of visits to DRF.com rises from 276,00 in April to 440,000 in May.
The league kicks off this Saturday with the Holy Bull and Davona Dale. I will have a few updates throughout the season on the Derbyologist Fantasy Horse Racing League. Maybe next year with increased interest and awareness we will expand with more teams and divisions.