A big-money, high-profile onsite handicapping tournament will again be taking place during the last weekend of January next year. But—for the first time in about 15 years—it won’t be the NHC.
No matter what your plans are Saturday…no matter from where you plan to watch Always Dreaming’s attempt to win the second jewel of the Triple Crown, you need to devote at least part of your day to HorsePlayers where the very best type of Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC) qualifier will be offered—a free one!
Congratulations to Kevin McFarland, winner of this weekend’s Kentucky Derby Betting Championship.
Kevin keeps his live-money bankroll o $50,325, and including tournament prize money, he wins a total of $282,325, plus a $10,000 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge entry and an NHC berth.
For the complete KDBC standings, visit: https://members.breederscup.com/bcbc/leaderboard.aspx
(From Keeneland press office) – In the storied history of Keeneland Race Course, many patrons have had memorable (and profitable) weekends. We would venture to guess, however, that not many have equaled the weekend that Blaise Brucato just experienced at this venerable racetrack.
There’s a major twist to this weekend at HorseTourneys and HorsePlayers. Normally our biggest tourney of the weekend takes place on a Sunday. Some weeks it might take place on Saturday. But this week, Friday is the day you absolutely don’t want to miss.
I can’t say enough about Ray Arsenault’s performance. (His $407.70 final total was an NHC record.) When the final table participants were determined, the standings were very tight, with one exception—Ray Arsenault had a nice $30 or so lead on his nearest pursuer.
We went a little easy on the contest schedule this weekend because we know that a whole bunch of you are out in Las Vegas playing for $800,000. But I’ll say this—what we did schedule this weekend is really good. And even if you ARE fortunate enough to be out at Treasure Island right now, you’ll want to get in on these tourneys. To make things a little easier for you, we’ve structured our top Friday/Saturday events so that they utilize the NHC mandatory races (eight each day). So, heck, a lot of you will have already “done the work” anyway!
FROM NTRA PRESS RELEASE
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sunday, July 31, 2016) – – A $3 million National Handicapping Championship (NHC) Tour bonus – the largest prize ever offered in the handicapping contest world – will be awarded to any horseplayer who wins the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC) November 4-5 and the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship (NHC) next January 27-29, the NTRA and Breeders’ Cup announced today. The “NHC Tour $3,000,000 Double” starts with the $1 million-estimated BCBC, a lucrative live bankroll contest with a $10,000 buy-in, and continues with NHC 18, the world’s richest and most prestigious handicapping contest, worth an estimated $2.8 million in cash and prizes.
The bonus was first announced during today’s NBC broadcast of the $1 million Betfair.com Haskell Invitational from Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J.
Last year’s BCBC winner earned more than $300,000 and first prize at the NHC is $800,000, meaning that successful completion of the NHC Tour Double would be worth more than $4.1 million. Participating individuals must be a member of the NHC Tour ($50) to be eligible to win the lucrative bonus.
“This bonus ties together and strengthens the two most prestigious handicapping contests in the world,” said NTRA Chief Operating Officer Keith Chamblin. “Winning the BCBC in November and the NHC in January would be unprecedented and a feat worthy of the richest pay day in handicapping contest history.”
Now entering its eighth year, the $1 million-estimated BCBC has become one of the most sought after prizes on the tournament calendar. The BCBC, which offers 15 seats to the NHC in addition to cash prizes, is a highly lucrative and exclusive live bankroll handicapping contest with a $10,000 buy-in required to participate. Players enjoy first class access to the two best days of racing in the world with VIP seats that include buffet lunch each day and other amenities. Online and on-site qualifying tournaments, offering $10,000 berths into the BCBC as prizes, continue throughout the summer and fall leading to the November Breeders’ Cup. For more on the BCBC, visit breederscup.com/bcbc.
Qualifying for NHC 18 continues through January in scores of contests held on-site and online. Next weekend’s contest menu includes a Free-to-Play NHC online contest atNHCqualify.com offering four spots to the NHC. For more information on the NHC Tour and a complete contest schedule, visit NTRA.com/nhc.
In its 18th year, the NHC is the most important tournament of the year for horseplayers and is the culmination of a year-long series of NTRA-sanctioned local tournaments conducted by racetracks, casino race books, off-track betting facilities and horse racing and handicapping websites, each of which sends its top qualifiers to the national finals.There are no bye-ins to the NHC. Each year, the NHC winner joins other human and equine champions as an honoree at the Eclipse Awards. In addition to the founding title sponsor, the NHC is presented by Racetrack Television Network and Treasure Island Las Vegas.
About the NTRA
The NTRA, based in Lexington, Ky., is a broad-based coalition of more than 100 horse racing interests and thousands of individual stakeholders consisting of horseplayers, racetrack operators, owners, breeders, trainers and affiliated horse racing associations, charged with increasing the popularity, welfare and integrity of Thoroughbred racing through consensus-based leadership, legislative advocacy, safety and integrity initiatives, fan engagement and corporate partner development. The NTRA owns and manages the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance, NTRA.com, the Eclipse Awards, the National Handicapping Championship, NTRA Advantage, a corporate partner sales and sponsorship program, and Horse PAC, a federal political action committee. NTRA press releases appear on NTRA.com, Twitter (@ntra) and Facebook (facebook.com/1NTRA).
About Breeders’ Cup
The Breeders’ Cup administers the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred racing’s year-end Championships. The Breeders’ Cup also administers the Breeders’ Cup Challenge qualifying series, which provides automatic starting positions into the Championships races. The 2016 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, consisting of 13 grade I races and purses and awards totaling $28 million, will be held November 4-5 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., and will be televised live by the NBC Sports Group. Breeders’ Cup press releases appear on the Breeders’ Cup Web site, www.breederscup.com. You can also follow the Breeders’ Cup on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter,Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube
LAS VEGAS (Monday, January 19, 2015) – Mike Mayo, a National Handicapping Championship (NHC) mainstay and longtime chairman of the NHC Players’ Committee, and 2006 Champion Ron Rippey have been elected to the inaugural class of the National Handicapping Championship (NHC) Hall of Fame, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) announced today.
Mayo and Rippey will be inducted at the NHC Champions Dinner on Sunday, January 25, at the conclusion of the 16th Daily Racing Form/NTRA NHC Presented by Racetrack Television Network, Sovereign Stable and Treasure Island Las Vegas, set for this weekend, Friday to Sunday, at the Treasure Island.
Mayo, a native of Richardson, Texas, was an accomplished tournament player and longtime chairman of the NHC Players’ Committee. He played an integral role in the growth and development of the NHC and was instrumental in the establishment of the NHC Tour and the expansion of the event to three days and a Final Table format. Mayo passed away September 18, 2014, at the age of 60, at his home in Texas.
Rippey, a resident of Wayne, N.J., was the 2006 NHC Champion and an 11-time qualifier. A longtime public handicapper for the Newark Star-Ledger, Rippey won multiple tournaments and excelled at all formats throughout his contest playing career. Rippey passed away on August 26, 2014, at the age of 70, while being treated at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
“Both Mike and Ron left indelible marks on the National Handicapping Championship and, through it, contributed to the widespread promotion of Thoroughbred racing in general,” said NTRA President and CEO Alex Waldrop in announcing the inaugural Hall of Fame class.
The inaugural Hall of Fame inductees were chosen by the NTRA after consultation with the NHC Players’ Committee. In future years, nominations will be accepted and a slate of finalists will be announced. Each year, as many as two individuals from the list of finalists will be elected by the NHC Hall of Fame Council consisting of existing NHC Hall of Fame members, a panel of media, the NHC Players’ Committee, and selected tournament operators.
The main criteria for the NHC Hall of Fame are as follows:
· Competed in NHC-sanctioned tournaments;
· Played consistently well over a period of time;
· Gained the respect of peers;
· Or, for tournament players and non-tournament horseplayers, contributed to the overall growth and success of NHC tournament play, with indelible positive and lasting results.
In its 16th year, the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship is the most important tournament of the year for horseplayers and is the culmination of a year-long series of NTRA-sanctioned local tournaments conducted by racetracks, casino race books, off-track betting facilities and horse racing and handicapping Web sites, each of which sends its top qualifiers to the national finals. Each year, the NHC winner joins other human and equine champions as an honoree at the Eclipse Awards. In addition to the founding title sponsor, the NHC is presented by Racetrack Television Network, Treasure Island Las Vegas and Sovereign Stable.
NTRA Press Release
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Thursday, December 11, 2014) – The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) announced today that the 2015 Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship (NHC) Tour will offer record prize money of $250,000, a 25 percent increase over the 2014 prize money of $200,000. Signups for the 2015 DRF NHC Tour are now being accepted at ntra.com/en/nhc/2015-become-a-member. The complete rules are posted at ntra.com/en/nhc/2015-nhc-tour-official-rules.
The DRF NHC Tour is a yearlong series that, in addition to offering record prize money, will offer 22 or more qualifying berths to the 2016 NHC in Las Vegas. The 2015 Tour officially kicks off Monday, January 26, and continues through December 31. A tentative schedule of 2015 NHC qualifying events will be released in coming weeks.
DRF NHC Tour participation requires an annual NTRA individual membership fee of $50. Membership is mandatory in order to compete for a berth in the 2016 NHC and must be in place prior to participation in any given qualifier tournament in order for top finishers of sanctioned NHC qualifying events to be eligible to compete in the January 2016 NHC – the lucrative culmination of the year’s qualifying schedule. The 16th renewal of the NHC will be held January 23-25 at Treasure Island Las Vegas, where Jose Arias of Bell Gardens, Calif., will defend his title. The 2016 NHC will offer a record purse of well over $2 million.
As was the case in 2014, the top 150 Tour points leaders at the end of the year will be guaranteed entry into the 2016 NHC, where the overall, season-ending NHC Tour points leader will be eligible for a $2 million bonus should he or she capture the 2016 NHC and become the first person to earn a seat to the 2017 NHC.
The NHC Tour prize pool of $250,000 includes a total of $50,000 in mid-year payouts to the top five individuals (who will receive $10,000 each) in the standings as of July 31. End-of-year payouts will total $175,000, with points based on a member’s top six scores (including at least one score from a brick and mortar tournament location). The overall Tour winner will receive $75,000 and a seat to the 2017 NHC, and the top two finishers will each receive a trophy.
The top 20 finishers at the end of the year will each receive prize money and be eligible to compete for a $25,000 bonus to be paid to the individual who achieves the highest overall finish at the 2016 NHC. This individual also will earn a berth in the 2017 NHC. The bonus money is in addition to any other prize money won at the NHC.
In addition to making one eligible to earn a coveted seat to the NHC, other NHC Tour benefits include:
Entering its 17th year, the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship is the most important tournament of the year for horseplayers. There are no “buy-in” entries at the NHC. It is the culmination of a year-long series of NTRA-sanctioned local tournaments conducted by racetracks, casino race books, off-track betting facilities and horse racing and handicapping websites, each of which sends its top qualifiers to the national finals. Each year, the NHC winner joins other human and equine champions as an honoree at the Eclipse Awards. The 14 NHC Champions since the event’s inception, in chronological order, are Steven Walker, Judy Wagner, Herman Miller, Steve Wolfson Jr., Kent Meyer, Jamie Michelson, Ron Rippey, Stanley Bavlish, Richard Goodall, John Conte, Brian Troop, John Doyle, Michael Beychok, Jim Benes and Jose Arias.
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