Jay Johns of Keller Texas scored a resounding runaway victory over a field of 159 players in the Lone Star Park Handicapping Championship Qualifying Tournament on June 12-13. Johns finished nearly $100 ahead of his nearest competitor to earn first prize of $5,000 and a trip to the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship VI next January in Las Vegas.

Johns compiled a contest-winning bankroll of $437.60 based on a total of 20 mythical $2 win-and-place wagers over the two-day event at several tracks including Lone Star, Belmont, Calder, Churchill, and Louisiana Downs. The winner dominated an otherwise tightly-bunched field. Runner-up Roger Warren Sr. of Fairhope, Alabama earned a $2,500 second prize after finishing with $329.50. That amount was just two dollars ahead of third-place finisher Bert Cuevas of Houston with $327.50. Cuevas won $1,000 in prize money. Johns, Warren, and Cuevas all qualified to compete in NHC VI.

The bad beat of award so far this year goes to Lone Star Park's fourth-place finisher, multiple DRF/NTRA NHC qualifier Shane Deville of Bossier City, Louisiana. Deville finished just 10 cents out of third place. Deville won $750 for fourth, but failed to qualify for NHC VI.

The contest cost $150 to enter and offered a total of $10,000 in prize money to the top six finishers. Additional prize winners were fifth-place finisher Alan Kriss of Carollton, Tex. ($500), and Joe Atkins of Arlington, Tex. ($250).