Trailing by $34.30 with just Sunday’s 12th race at Santa Anita remaining, Brian Graziano of Manahawkin, N.J., made his final mythical win-place wager on 11-1 shot Kawazaki. When the son of Holy Roman Emperor prevailed in deep stretch by a neck and paid $24.60 to win and $11.40 to place, it moved Graziano from third place to first—just $1.70 ahead of runner up Evan Trommer, who had spent much of the Players Championship’s Day 2 atop the leaderboard.
For the victory, Graziano earned $126,000 plus an additional $5,250 in bonus money for having the second highest scoring total during Day 1 on Saturday. Trommer had to settle for $50,400 plus another $8,750 for having the top score on the Day 2 races. The Day 1 leader, Phil Hoedebeck, who also connected with Kawazaki, wound up third. He collected $25,200 plus $8,750 for recording the best Saturday score. (We’re told that Hoedebeck also won Saturday’s Texas Two Step Championship at Sam Houston.)
The 5th annual Players Championship, a two-day competition, offered a total purse of $350,000 and went off with a takeout to players of 8.9%. It required players to make 15 mythical $2.00 win-and-place plays from among 30 eligible races each day from Aqueduct, Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita Park. The entry fee was $2,000, and 194 entries were attracted.
The Players Championship serves as the second leg of the 2025 HorseTourneys Champions Series, which began in February with the Flo-Cal Faceoff—won by Eric Boyd. The series continues with the inaugural edition of the New York, New York Challenge in early June, followed by the Spa & Surf Showdown in August and the Pick & Pray Classic in late November or early December. At the conclusion of the series, the overall points leader will receive a paid entry into all five Champions Series events in 2026. The second- and third-place finishers in the Series will also earn bonuses.
On the first day of the 2025 Players Championship, there weren’t a lot of big prices to be had…but there was definitely one such: Landmark Friday ($41.40, $16.40) in the 10th race at Gulfstream. That turned the afternoon into a landmark Saturday for Phil Hoedebeck, who had the Danny Gargan-trained second-time starter as the first of six straight solid collections that closed out his day.
Brian Graziano also smoked out Landmark Friday.
Hoedebeck and Graziano ran one-two in the standings at the conclusion of Saturday’s action, and they each picked up Day Money bonuses.
Also claiming Day Money prizes on Saturday were Dave “Gambling Actuary” Nichols ($2,625) and the 2023 winner of the Players Championship Lucas Van Zandt ($875). They finished the day in third and fourth, respectively.
Not listed on the Saturday leaderboard above is Evan Trommer. That’s because he ended the day in 23rd place. He sure made his presence felt on Sunday, however.
Trommer went on a crazy run once Sunday play began. He picked his spots judiciously, but when he played, he was deadly. From his first nine Sunday selections, he recorded eight winners and one runner up. With six races to go and four of his 15 plays remaining, he was pretty firmly entrenched in the lead.
Trommer’s lead shrank a bit over the next couple of races, but a 5-2 winner in the next-to-last contest race, the 11th at Santa Anita, helped restore his cushion.
But then came the last race…and Kawazaki…
…and $126,000 for Brian Graziano.
Do not shed too many tears for Evan Trommer, though. In addition to competing in the Players Championship on Sunday, he entered six of the day’s 12-race featured tourneys.
He won all six.
So in addition to the $59,150 he made in the Players Championship, Trommer picked up another $32,544 or so in cash and seats from his, ahem, “side action”.
It wasn’t quite the result he was hoping for, but Lucas Van Zandt also had to be smiling about his Players Championship performance, The event’s 2023 champion again found the All Optional Live format to his liking, and he reported home in fourth, earning $18,900. Hayden Leibrock ($15,750) rounded out the top five.
You know by now that Evan Trommer led the way in the “Day 2 only” standings, but William “23” Sadoo ($5,250), Randall Miller ($2,625) and Shad Walton ($875) also collected bonuses for their Sunday acumen.
Miller doesn’t play in many HorseTourneys events, but he makes a special point of turning out for our “majors”.
Some of you may recall that Miller was the victor in the 2021 Spa & Surf Showdown.
In the end, the paucity of bombs in this year’s Players Championship led to an exciting and tightly-contested competition. Here’s a look at all those who finished in the money after two intense days of play:
Next up in the HorseTourneys Champions Series will be the $250,000 Gtd. New York, New York Challenge on the Friday and Saturday (June 6-7) of Belmont Stakes weekend at Saratoga. That one will be a Pick & Pray with a buy-in of $1,500.
In the meantime, come back to this space tomorrow (Tuesday). We’ll be profiling the latest winner of a HorseTourneys major—Brian Graziano.
