Up until now, one of Martin Kasich's biggest thrills as a horseplayer was the time he nailed Seabiscuit against War Admiral in the 1938 Pimlico Special. They made War Admiral 1-5 that day, many figuring Seabiscuit didn't stand a chance against the great horse. Kasich knew better.

"I figured Seabiscuit could outbreak him," said Kasich, who can't remember if his bet placed at a clandestine bookie shop was for 25 cents or 50 cents. "I had six winners that day."

A 25-cent bet on Seabiscuit, who was sent off at 2.20-1, would have netted Kasich a 55-cent profit. Some 65 years later, it remains a fond memory, but he is hoping for a far greater horseplaying thrill. Kasich, an 85-year-old retiree who resides in San Francisco, will be one of 213 horseplayers vying in this weekend's $212,000 Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship and for the title of Handicapper of the Year. First prize is $100,000.

"I feel okay about my chances," he said. "I have as good a chance as anyone. There's a lot of luck involved in horse racing. You can be the best handicapper in the world and a lot of times it won't do you any good. You can pick what you think is the best horse in the race and he'll run last. I'm not a chalk player and I think that will give me a better chance in this contest."

The contest, which takes place Jan 17. and 18 at Bally's Las Vegas, attracts some of the sharpest and shrewdest handicappers in the country. Some are huge bettors. Many come equipped with every sort of handicapping paraphernalia there is, from the sheets to trip notes to pedigree data. But it's unlikely any can top Kasich in the experience department. A San Francisco resident, he's been playing the horses for 63 years.

"It was my mother who got me started," he said. "We lived close by the old Tanforan track and used to go there. My mother just loved playing the horses and so did all my brothers."

Back then, they looked at handicapping differently. No one had heard of Beyer figures or bouncing or track bias. It was a simpler pursuit and class handicapping, which seems to have gone the way of the $6 combine ticket, was in vogue.

"I think I'm a pretty good handicapper and I love class in a horse," he said. "There are some cheap horses that can beat you, but it won't happen the majority of the time. I caught a horse that paid $73 lately and he had run dead last in three straight starts, but he had more class than the rest."

He'd get to the Bay Area tracks as much possible. He can recall watching Silky Sullivan close from as much as 40 lengths back to win in the late 50's and he saw Seabiscuit run in person in 1937 at Tanforan when he won the Marchbank Handicap.

In 1982, he retired and headed straight to his newest haunt, Bay Meadows, where he goes at least three times a week. He tries not to get fancy. He rarely makes win bets and likes to stick to $1 bets in the exotics, mainly the trifectas. He likes to key one horse on top with a couple of others underneath on tickets that will rarely cost more than $6.

"I've just missed on hundreds of them that way, but it gives me a chance to win a big one every once in a while," he said. "I hit one for $2,500 at Santa Anita a while back. It gives me a lot better chance of making some money than if I bet $20 win on some horse."

Though the oldest participant in the contest, Kasich, who qualified during a handicapping contest at Bay Meadows, is just one of five octagenarians who will take part this year. For most, it is horse racing that keeps them active. Staying active keeps them young.

"I love to go to the track because I enjoy the people so much," Kasich said. "It's my hobby now and I love watching the people, with all the screaming and hollering that goes on. Before I retired, I always said I'd like to go to the track every day."

The Las Vegas contest will be a new experience for him. He'll come with his wife, Hortense, but won't seek her advice. "She can't pick her nose," he said. He knows the odds are not in his favor, but he hopes to have a good time and maybe come home with some extra money. And who knows, maybe there'll be a winner with a class edge that everyone else will have overlooked. After all, this is the man who caught Seabiscuit at a juicy 2-1.