Calia breaks maiden in National Horseplayers Championship

Paul Calia wasthe human equivalent of a maiden pulling off an upset in the Kentucky Derby.

Never beforea winner in any handicapping contest anywhere, Calia broke his maiden by conqueringthe biggest of them all. Using the two entries he earned as an also-ran inqualifying events, Calia finished first and fourth Sunday in the 24th annualNational Horseplayers Championship at Horseshoe Las Vegas.

“This was myfirst win ever in a contest,” said Calia, 57, a retired Social Securitydisabilities examiner from Kansas City, Mo. “I never won any of the qualifiers.I think I hit fifth, something like that. It was the top five or six that madeit. The other one was one of those where maybe I was in the top two or three. Icame third or something. You know what I mean?”

Calia may notremember the details of how he got to the NHC. But he will not forget theunlikely feat he pulled off in the biggest handicapping contest in the world,what with a record 779 entries vying for $3,115,350 in prize money. With$800,000 for first place, $150,000 for fourth and a $10,000 bonus for havingthe highest score within the third and final day of the competition, Caliaearned a total of $960,000.

And to thinkhe never even entertained the notion of actually winning the darn thing.

“You don’treally think about winning, because I’ve never won one,” Calia said. “Why wouldI? I’m just trying to pick someone to win the exacta. I’m not thinking aboutwinning.”

Not that he hadnot shown a penchant for the mythical $2 win-place format of the NHC. The onlyother time he qualified for the contest, he finished fourth. That was in thesummer of 2021.

Think aboutthat. In his two times in the NHC, he has finished fourth, fourth and first.

“I got lucky,”said Calia, who grew up going to the races in Nebraska with his father. “Thefirst time I felt like it was a day at the races. I’m here to gamble. I wasrunning up to the windows gambling. I’d put down my $2 win-place (for thecontest) every now and then. I had to do it. Then all of a sudden, I’m in contention.So I had to quit playing trifectas and Pick 4s and concentrate on what I was tryingto do. The first time I came out, I just didn’t want to embarrass myself. Ididn’t want to be last.”

Last? Considerthis. In the two times he made it to the NHC, only three people have beaten him.This year no one finished close to him. Francis Boustany, 72, the dentist and cancersurvivor from Lafayette, La., who led after each of the first two days of thecontest, was far back in second place, $32.30 behind Calia’s $362.50 from 53races.

In truth, thefinal table of seven pre-determined, mandatory races for the top 10 players wasanticlimactic. Calia went in with a $42.40 lead that he started buildingSaturday with “a couple of good long shots at Oaklawn.” That and PrairieMeadows are the two tracks he plays the most.

Caliaadmitted, however, that his current form has been diametrically opposite of howhis 2022 ended. Late in a year when he lost his mother and three cousins, hesaid he abandoned racing and focused his betting on football.

“I was reallystarting to lose faith, because I was getting tired of having to drive 200miles one way to Prairie Meadows. Oaklawn is seven hours,” he said, explaining onlinerace betting is not permitted where he lives in Missouri, and there was asportsbook that had just opened across the river in Kansas. “I thought I’lljust bet on the NFL. Why should I drive 200 miles to bet into a 25 percenttake? … I basically quit watching horse racing for about two or three months atthe end of the year.”

The main reasonCalia said he came back to racing was the fact he already had the two entriesinto the NHC.

“I knew I wascoming here,” he said. “I started practicing. I started going over the racingform and picking winners. I had the cross-country Pick 5 last week, and Ichanged my bet. It cost me six grand, but I knew I was on.”

Little did heknow. Calia’s hot streak reappeared after he stood 187th and 299th with his twoentries after Friday’s first day of competition. Not only did he overtake Boustany,he left the rest of the top finishers in his wake.

Gary Fenton, whochairs the Thoroughbred Owners of California, finished a distant third with$309.60. Calia scored $305.50 with his second entry that came in fourth. DavidBrowning, an insurance auditor from Kentucky, wound up fifth at $302.80.

The 10finalists were assured of earning at least $65,000 each. The other 68semifinalists were guaranteed at least $12,050.

Now flushwith his big check plus the 2022 Eclipse Award for being the champion horseplayer,Calia said he wants to visit Europe.

“The weekbefore the Derby, I was planning on going to Copenhagen or Switzerland,” hesaid. “That’s what I’ve been looking at. I figured that’s a good week to takeoff right before the Derby. That’s a good week to go and not even think aboutit.”

So it is not a new car he will run out and buy for his drive back to KansasCity. It is a plane ride this spring across the Atlantic.

“I’m moreinto experiences than I am into things,” Calia said.

None betterthan the one he enjoyed Sunday.

Coverage of the National Horseplayers Championship was made possible inpart by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, which provided hotelaccommodations to Horse Racing Nation.