Brothers set for national handicapping contest

The Grand Island Independent

09 March 2023

Brothers set for national handicapping contest

Fonner Park fans might not know the name Mark Odorisio, but you might recognize his face.

He’s the guy who sells programs, forms and the blue sheet down by the main entrance at Fonner. But it’s more than a job for him.

Horse racing is a passion for him and brothers Tim and Mike.

He’ll put that on display this weekend at the National Handicapping Championships in Las Vegas, and he won’t be alone. Tim and Mike also qualified for the three-day championships that run Friday through Sunday.

Tim, who sets the morning line for the Fonner Park program every day, is the oldest of the Odorisio boys from Omaha, but he readily admits he’s learned plenty from his younger brothers.

“It’s really great that I can go with my two younger brothers to a tournament that I wouldn’t be playing if they didn’t say, ‘You need to start playing,”’ Tim said. “I’ve learned a lot. They’ve taught me how you need to accumulate points and play the contests. It’s a different style.”

This tournament indeed does have a different format than some. Competitors bet just win and place with imaginary $2 bets.

No exactas or trifectas or Pick 5s or any exotic bet. Just win and place.

And only $2 on each.

“So you’re hopeful of getting horses that pay $20 to win and $10 to place,” Tim said. “At the end the top 10 percent get paid.”

Mark has been there. He got into the money a few years ago. So has Mike.

The brothers flew to Las Vegas on Wednesday to play in the “first chance-last chance” tournament on Thursday. Although they were already qualified for the main tournament, this is a way to get into the swing of things.

Four years ago, Mike used the first chance-last chance tournament to qualify. He won $25,000 in the process.

“So he’s $25,000 ahead,” Tim said. “He said, ‘I don’t care what happens to me.’ He carried that lucky streak into three days of handicapping and finished 10th overall and got another $50,000.”

This year, Tim won a seat in May. Mark won around Thanksgiving.

Mike didn’t win a seat, but he was accumulating points all along. At the end of the year, anybody that has not won a seat, they go to the point system and the top 75 point scorers win a seat.

“Mike finished 75th,” Tim said. “He’s Mr. Irrelevant.”

The contest will use races from Oaklawn, Fairgrounds, Golf Stream, Tampa, Aqueduct, Laurel, Goldengate and Santa Anita. That way no matter where the player is from, he’ll have a couple of tracks he’s familiar with to play.

The format on Friday and Saturday will be each player gets 18 wagers. Ten of those are optional races and eight are mandatory that everybody has to play.

“Our goal, we just hope to be playing on Sunday,” Mark said.

On Sunday, the top 10 will have an additional eight races to play. The difference between 10th place ($50,000) and 11th place ($25,000) is substantial.

“You can’t go to these tournaments and just play the favorites, because there are guys who play the long-priced horses,” Tim said. “He has a horse that wins and pays $20 to win and $10 to place, he’s got $30. You play this horse (a favorite) who pays $3 and $6. You’ve got $9.

“You have to win more of those races to match him.”

The Odorisio family goes way back to the early days of Ak-Sar-Ben. Fonner Park CEO Chris Kotulak grew up with the Odorisio boys.

“I have known the Odorisio family since my freshman year at Ryan High School in 1977 in Omaha and they are an incredibly honest, dedicated and generous family,” Kotulak said. “They have been crucial to Nebraska Thoroughbred horseracing and it’s a wonderful story that the three brothers involved in the family business have qualified to the pinnacle handicapping tournament in the world.”

If only Dad was still here.

Their father, Derry, is in the Nebraska Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame. He passed away in 1998.

“He would have more fun with this,” Mark said. “Dad, if he were alive, he’d want to go to all these contests.”

So this year it’s left to Mike, Mark and Tim to carry on the handicapping for the family. How well they do this year remains to be seen.

But the brothers, along with some other friends who play regularly in handicapping tournaments, have a saying.

“As long as we have $6 million worth of laughs, it’s OK,” Tim said. “And we do.”

Fonner Park Standings

Jockeys

Name;Sts;1st;2nd;3rd;Total $

Kevin Roman;72;18;12;11;$114,622

Roberto Morales;56;14;17;8;$98,037

Jose Angel Medina;59;14;12;9;$98,023