NHC Info
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NHC X Recaps
Suffolk Downs -- Aug. 2
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 08/19/2008
If someone had said before the Suffolk Downs NHC Qualifying Tournament on Saturday, Aug. 2, that both handicappers earning NHC berths would be from the same state, the odds-on favorite would have been the host state of Massachusetts.
In fact, five of the top 10 finishers in the field of 188 were from the Nutmeg State. However, the top two ended up being from New Hampshire: Dean Goulet of Nashua, N.H., and Doug Beaton of Salem, N.H.
Players made 15 mythical $2 win-and-place wagers from mandatory races at Suffolk, Saratoga, Monmouth and Del Mar. All plays had to be submitted before the first race and there were no caps on payoffs.
Goulet, who won this same tournament in 2005, finished with the top score of $128.10 to qualifying for the NHC finals for the third time in the last four years and collect the top prize of $5,640. Beaton’s score was just $1.80 behind in second with $126.30 to collect $2,256. As part of their berths to the Jan. 23-24 NHC finals, both receive roundtrip airfare to Las Vegas and hotel accommodations at the Red Rock Resort.
Garry Kaebitzsch of North Reading, Mass., finished third with a score of $120.60 and earned $1,128.
Another tourney will be held Oct. 18 with one NHC berth up for grabs to give Suffolk Downs three total representatives.
Keeneland -- Aug. 2
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 08/19/2008
The age-old debate on the handicapping contest circuit is if it’s better to have a leaderboard or not. The pro-leaderboard crowd says it’s better to know what your opponents have while the anti-leaderboard group says it just leads to people playing what they think they need to win instead of handicapping normally.
The Keeneland Handicapping Challenge on Aug. 2 had a leaderboard but Kurt Bruckner, 51, of Richmond, Ky., chose to ignore it and just went with his best selections.
The strategy paid off as he took first place out of 340 entrants by turning his 15 mythical $2 win-and-place wagers into a whopping $230.70 to finish $87.90 ahead of John Orecchio of Chicago.
Despite probably knowing that he was high on the leaderboard after a hot start that saw him hit the winner in two mandatory races and another player’s choice, Bruckner didn’t play conservative. In the ninth race at Ellis Park, he went with 24-1 longshot Saxxy Rose Lee, who returned $50.80 to win and $22.40 to place (though the payoffs were capped at $42 and $22 per contest rules).
“I hadn’t looked at the leaderboard all day,” he said after the tournament. “I told my friend not to tell me where I was in the standings because I didn’t want to be affected by it. When I went to bet the horse at Ellis, he said, ‘Just pick winners now. You don’t need to swing for the fences.’ When I came back and told him who I bet, he was shocked that I had bet a 24-1 shot.
“My handicapping style revolves around the upswings and downturns in a horse’s form and I just happened to be right on today.”
In addition to the berth in the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship on Jan. 23-24, 2009, at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, Bruckner also won the $15,000 first-place prize at Keeneland. Orecchio beat out fellow Chicagoan William Haliziw’s total of $139.60 to collect $7,500 for second while Haliziw, 64, won $4,000 for third. Since Orecchio had already qualified for the NHC the previous weekend at Emerald Downs, the third berth went to fourth-place finisher Daven Turner, 46, of Galloway, Ohio. Turner also won $2,500 cash.
Canterbury Park -- Aug. 2
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 08/19/2008
The Claiming Crown at Canterbury Park, held this year on Saturday, Aug. 2, is a day for claiming horses to win big prizes. Mitch Schuman, 49, of Brightwaters, N.Y. claimed his own big victory in the Claiming Crown Ultimate Handicappers Open as he topped a field of 47 that put up the $1,000 entry fee plus a $1,000 live bankroll to be used on the day’s seven Claiming Crown races plus the Lady Canterbury Stakes. Players were required to wager at least half of their existing bankroll on at least six of the eight races.
Schuman made his big move with his fourth contest play in the Claiming Crown Tiara. Cat Hop won the race at 16-1 while Couple Whiles was second at 9-1, resulting in a $1 exacta of $94.60 and keying a $1 trifecta of $412.40. He had the exacta 20 times and the trifecta 10 times.
Schuman finished with a live bankroll of $7,604, which he got to keep, plus earned $28,200 in prize money.
Patrick Gianforte, 51, of Cary, Ill., was second with a bankroll of $6,041 to collect an additional $9,400 in prize money.
Bruce Meyer, 42, of Prior Lake, Minn., was the top local finisher in third place with $3,492 for extra earnings of $4,700 and was followed in fourth by Jack Frost, 73, of Minnetonka, Minn., with $1,798 to pick up $2,820.
Schuman and Gianforte had previously qualified for the NHC finals, so the third berth from the Canterbury tourney would have gone to fifth-place finisher Cheryl Kaufman, 56, of Hacienda Heights, Calif., but she had already qualified herself so the last spot went to Kalib Martin, 51, of Apple Valley, Minn., making it three locals representing Canterbury at the NHC finals on Jan. 23-24 at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas.
Emerald Downs – July 27
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 08/12/2008
John Orecchio, 42, of Arlington Heights, Ill., will lead a contingent of nine Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship qualifiers from the Ultimate Handicapping Challenge on Sunday, July 27, at Emerald Downs.
Each contestant made 17 mythical $2 win-and-place wagers on the day with the entire Emerald Downs card being mandatory and the remaining plays being used from contest tracks that included Saratoga, Calder, Ellis Park, Arlington, Lone Star, Santa Rosa, Hastings and Del Mar.
Orecchio built his original $68 bankroll into $163.20 to take home the $20,000 first-place prize.
“When I started, my goal was to increase my bankroll about two and a half times from my original bankroll,” Orecchio said. “I was sitting in the top five until the sixth race at Emerald Downs. I had Mystic Trick to win at 20-1, and he paid $43 on a two-dollar bet. That race put me into first place.
“I tried not to get too conservative at that point and bet as I usually would. I had the winner in the ninth race and the place horse in the 10th, both at Emerald Downs. Those two bets put me over the top and secured the win.”
Orecchio is making his second straight appearance in the NHC after finishing 95th last year.
Hadj Thomas, 46, of Las Vegas, finished second with a score of $158.20 to pick up the $10,000 second-place prize. John Zielinski Sr., 76, of Ellicott City, Md., was third with a score of $158.20 and collected $3,000. He is the father of John Zielinski Jr., who was the runner-up two years ago at Emerald.
The other qualifiers, who also receive roundtrip airfare to Las Vegas and hotel accommodations at the Red Rock Resort for the Jan. 23-24 finals, are Shane Porter, 43, of North Vancouver, British Columbia; John Heathcote, 60, of Seattle, Wash.; John Cavanaugh, 67, Boise, Idaho; Robert Glenn, 36, of Vancouver, British Columbia; Lance Henie, 38, of Renton, Wash.; and Roy Dorman, 31, of New York, N.Y.
Just missing the top nine qualifying spots was Steve Walker, the winner of NHC I in January 2000, but he had already qualified this year for a record eighth time by virtue of his second-place finish at Horsemen’s Park on May 31-June 1.
Del Mar – July 26-27
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 08/12/2008
Fifty contestants put up the $6,000 live bankroll to enter the 5th Annual Del Mar Handicapping Challenge on Saturday and Sunday, July 26-27, and when the dust settled there was just $138.80 that separated the top two finishers.
Contestants were required to wager at least $300 on each of the Del Mar races over the two-day contest using only win, place, show, exacta, trifecta and superfecta wagers (no multi-race wagers allowed).
Shawn Turner of nearby San Diego finished in first place with a final bankroll of $22,501.50 to barely beat Las Vegas resident Mike Rosenthal, who finished with $22,362.70. Turner added the $20,000 first-place prize to his real-money earnings while Rosenthal received $5,000.
The rules called for the top five finishers to earn berths to the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship on Jan. 23-24, 2009, at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, but since third-place finisher William Shurman of Danville, Calif., who finished third with a final bankroll of $21,500 had already qualified for the NHC for the sixth time, that meant the top six would earn the NHC spots.
Bryan Carney of Valencia, Calif., was fourth with a final bankroll of $18,500, followed by Mickey Seagle of Marion, N.C., with $16,798, and Gwyn Houston of Fallston, Md., with $12,533.20. Houston will be making his fifth appearance in the NHC finals.
Monmouth Park – July 26
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 08/12/2008
Frank D’Ambra of Cos Cob, Conn., topped a field of 239 players to win the Monmouth Park Handicapping Contest on Saturday, July 29, and earn the only NHC berth up for grabs.
Contestants paid $150 with $50 going toward prizes and the other $100 used as a live bankroll. Players then made a minimum of 10 win or place wagers on the day’s races at Monmouth and Saratoga with at least five of them having to be at the host track. Each wager had to be a minimum of a $10 bet with no maximum wager up to the amount remaining in a player’s bankroll.
D’Ambra had only a $1,200 bankroll, built mostly from having $40 to win on 34-1 longshot Joppa Flats in Saratoga’s sixth race, going into the final race of the contest but he bet $200 to win and $40 to place on Lyke a Hurricane in the 11th at Saratoga and that vaulted him to the top of the leaderboard with $4,084 in earnings. In addition to berth in the NHC finals on Jan. 23-24 at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, which includes roundtrip airfare and hotel accommodations, D’Ambra also took home the $5,975 first place prize, turning his initial $150 investment into more than $10,000.
Stephanie Davis of Brooklyn, N.Y., finished second with a final bankroll of $3,178.70 and collected second-place prize of $2,390.
Santa Fe Station – July 26
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 08/12/2008
A week after finishing third in an NHC qualifying tournament at Louisiana Downs, Trey Stiles, 40, of Houston, went to the Santa Fe Station in Las Vegas on Saturday, July 26, and won first place.
Contestants made 15 mythical $2 win-and-place wagers with eight races being mandatory and the other seven being player’s choice. On a day when a lot of longshots came in, Stiles compiled a whopping score of $196.20 to collect the $7,100 first-place prize. That one-day score is usually good enough to finish near the top in the two-day NHC, which this year will be held Jan. 23-24 at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas.
Stiles will be making his seventh straight trip to the NHC. Stiles said he kept playing aggressively since he had already earned his NHC berth and was going for the victory instead of just trying to qualify. He finished the weekend in the top 10 of the NHC Tour but said he didn’t know how many more tournaments he would play because he resumes coaching his kid’s soccer games on weekend in the fall.
Hristina Arnold, 34, of Farmington, Mich., was right behind Stiles with $192.60 points to earn the $2,840 second-place prize. Due to Stiles having already qualified, the other NHC berth went to Brian Schwade, 33, of Dublin, Ohio, who scored $156 to collect the $2,130 third-place prize but more importantly the return trip to Las Vegas for the NHC, including roundtrip airfare and hotel accommodations.
Colonial Downs – July 26
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 08/12/2008
Sam Brooks, 58, of Jarrettsville, Md., won the Colonial Downs Handicapping Classic on Saturday, July 26, and took over first place in the NHC Tour.
Tour members earn 3,500 points for each tournament victory and Brooks, who also won the Kentucky Oaks & Derby Challenge on May 2-3, joined James Henry as the only two-time winners so far this year, plus he added a second-place finish (worth 2,100 Tour points) at the Belmont Summer Classic Challenge on June 21-22 to give him 9,100 total points to Henry’s 7,438.
Colonial Downs contestants made 12 mythical $2 win-and-place wagers with six mandatory races and six optional races from the three contest tracks: Colonial, Saratoga and Monmouth.
Brooks earned most of his points from races at the host track with two winners and four place horses, but he was fifth in the standings going into his last optional race. He used Lyke a Hurricane in Saratoga’s 11 race and stormed to the top of the standings with a score of $143.60 to take the $7,500 first place prize.
Since Brooks had obviously already qualified for the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship on Jan. 23-24, 2009, at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, Colonial will send its second- through fourth-place finishers to the finals: Roger Cettina, 41, of Rumson, N.J.; Ken Friesen, 55, of Toano, Va.; and James A. Gott, 47, of Chesapeake, Va.
Cettina led the tournament since hitting the sixth race at Saratoga until being passed by Brooks in the final jump. Cettina had a score of $140 and earned $1,875 for second.
Friesen, a local singer and everyday player at Colonial, was the early pacesetter after hitting the $20.40 winner of the opening race at Colonial. He used up his optionals early in the day and had to hope for favorites to come in. His score of $124.70 was still good for third place.
Goff also hit Lyke a Hurricane in Saratoga’s finale to finish fourth with $121.60. He earned the final NHC berth due to Brooks having already qualified, which only seemed fitting since he early suffered a disqualification when True Blue Fingers won Colonial’s fifth race by five lengths but was DQ’d and placed second. Otherwise, Goff would have finished third.
Louisiana Downs – July 19
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 08/04/2008
There might never have been three clearer winners of National Handicapping Championship berths than at the July 19 NTRA Qualifying Tournament at Louisiana Downs.
Dr. Tobin Grigsby, 66, of Shreveport, La.,; John LaFevers, 66, of McAllister, Okla,; and Trey Stiles, 40, of Houston were involved in a three-horse photo finish while $17 clear of the fourth-place finisher. That might not sound like much for those who follow horse handicapping tournaments and considering the $2 win-and-place format on the 10-race Louisiana Downs card, but it was a battle of attrition as no winner paid more than $10.20 the whole day.
Stiles was leading most of the contest (“I picked up on the day of favorites early and quit looking for prices as I normally would in contest play,” he said.) and had a score of $73.20 heading into the final race. With a huge lead, he played a longshot as insurance in case a bunch of people were to play it and knock him out of an NHC berth.
When Euphony won the finale at 2-1 and paid just $6 to win and $3.20 to place, Stiles was assured of a berth but was passed by the only two contestants that could catch him.
Dr. Grigsby, a urologist, finished with a score of $74.30 to claim the $2,000 first-place prize. LaFevers was right behind at $74.10 to collect $1,000 for second and Stiles had to settle for $500, despite being just $1.10 behind the winner.
But all three earn their NHC berths, which include roundtrip airfare to the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas for the Jan. 23-24 along with hotel accommodations.
The 25 contestants in this tournament came from the top five finishers in pre-qualifying events held throughout the meet. Another series starts Saturday, Aug. 2, with a $140 entry fee (which includes $100 toward purse money and $40 for the live bankroll on $2 win-and-place bets on 10 contest races) and other contests on Aug. 16, Sept. 6, Sept. 13 and Oct. 4, leading up to three more NHC berths in the Oct. 11 finals.
Surfside -- July 12-13
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 08/04/2008
Jack Sparks of Newport Beach, Calif., came from behind and won a photo finish to take home the $12,000 first-place prize in the Surfside Handicapping Contest on July 12-13.
Contestants made eight mythical $20 across-the-board wagers on the last eight races at Hollywood Park each day and after the dust had cleared, Sparks finished with 1,430 points to 1,428 for Ricky Zimmer, 30, of New York, N.Y.
Zimmer settled for the $6,000 second-place prize.
In the field of 200 contestants who paid $200 apiece, Zimmer was the leader after the first day with 964 points with Sparks sitting in fourth place with 704, but Sparks posted nearly an identical score on Day 2 (726 points) to catch Zimmer at the wire.
The tournament awarded Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping berths to the top three finishers. Bruce McCaig of Faunting, Calif., finished third with 1,282 to earn $3,000 in addition to his NHC berth.
Zimmer had already qualified when he finished second in the Arlington Park Trackside contest on April 5 (actually, he tied for first but lost a tiebreaker), so the third NHC berth went to fourth-place finisher Dean Miller of La Jolla, Calif., who also won $1,800 in prize money.
Churchill Downs – June 29
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 08/19/2008
David Crone, 25, of New Albany, Ind., made the right move early and then held on to win the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship qualifier at Churchill Downs on July 29.
Contestants made mythical $2 win-and-place wagers on races 3 through 8 on the Churchill card. Crone had four wins and two second-place finishes from his six plays. He had the runner-up in the third race and the 3-5 favorite that won the fourth race and then came the pivotal race.
“The key to the whole thing was the first 2-year old, This Kat Talks,” Crone said of the fifth race. “I had originally bet eventual fourth place finisher Star of War, but as it got closer to post time her odds kept dropping and This Kat Talks kept floating up. As they started to load in the gate I ran to the window and changed my bet, and shockingly that last second move was actually the right move. This Kat Talks was a first-time starter trained by David Vance. She looked hopelessly beaten at the eighth pole but somehow rallied to beat Foxy Bailey.”
Crone then followed that up with 6-1 shot Ebbtide in the sixth, a turf sprint allowance the he called a straight pedigree play based on his being by Stormy Atlantic and “from the family of insane fast turf sprinter Unbridled Sidney
“With This Kat Talks and Ebbtide as back to back solid mutuels,” Crone said, “I created a lot of separation, and no bombs won late to bring the field back to me.”
Crone said that moved him into the lead and he padded it with a 4-1 winner and a $7.20 place price in the finale to end up with a score of $80.20 from his starting bankroll of $24 and earn the $1,400 first-place prize. Luther (Max) Poole, 68, of Louisville, Ky., finished second at $69.20 to collect the $800 runner-up prize and will join Crone in representing Churchill Downs at the NHC finals.
Crone, who works as a corporate proposal analyst at Humana Inc. (and jokes “it is every bit as exciting as it sounds”), qualified for the third time in the last four years after not making the finals last year.
Hollywood Park – June 28-29
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 07/21/08
Roger Neubauer of Tucson, Ariz., outdueled David Johnson of Monrovia, Calif., to win the $50,000 first-place prize in the Gold Cup Challenge at Hollywood Park on June 28-29.
The Gold Cup Challenge is on the high end of the qualifying tournaments for the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship as it requires a $7,500 live bankroll to play. It also offered NHC berths to the top 10 finishers. The other qualifier were Marc Mallicone of Somerset, Mass.; Steve Hartshorn of Newport Beach, Calif.; Cheryl Fisher of Houston, Texas; Randy Scholz of West Covina, Calif.; Joseph Rich of Leetonia, Ohio; Benjamin O’Connell of Marlboro, N.J.; Christopher Larmey of Kennewilk, Wash.; and Robert Brendler of Rockville, Md.
Larmey, who earned his Gold Cup Challenge entry in the $200 buy-in West Coast Challenge a week before, actually finished 10th, but since sixth-place finisher Duke Matties had already earned an NHC berth, he moved up to the ninth qualifying spot. The next finisher in line, David Bambacigno, had also qualified and that allowed Brendler to grab the final NHC berth despite finishing 12th overall.
Johnson held a $7,000 lead heading into the second day of the tournament, which required contestants to wager at least $400 on every Hollywood race each of the two days with no maximum bet. Only the win, place, show, exacta and trifecta pools were available for contest purposes. Neubauer, a partner in Graph Racing and who attributed the Thoro-Graph Sheets with his success, took the lead after the fourth race on Sunday with $27,142 to Johnson’s $22,991. The two then battled back and forth alternating in the lead over the next five races before Neubauer finally prevailed. He finished by turning his $7,500 bankroll into $36,247 and tacked on the $50,000 first-place prize. Johnson finished with $33,527.50 and added the $10,000 second-place prize to his earnings.
Mallicone, in addition to building his bankroll to $18,300, took home third-place money of $5,000. The rest of the qualifiers just win the roundtrip airfare to Las Vegas for the Jan. 23-24, 2009, finals along with hotel accommodations at the Red Rock Resort.
NHCqualify.com – June 28
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 07/21/08
Bernardo Wiesner of Chula Vista Calif., finished atop the leaderboard of the NHCQualify.com tournament on Saturday, June 29, but with no prize money on the line the main goal of the 90 contestants was to finish in the top 9 and earn a berth to the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship on Jan. 23-24, 2009, at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas.
This marked the first time that NHCQualify.com had allowed 300 entries apiece in its three pre-qualifying tournaments. Previously, 200 contestants played in the earlier contests with 60 finalists battling for six NHC berths.
The other qualifiers were Ross Gallo (who will be in the NHC for the seventh time) of Jupiter, Fla.; Jim Sims of Arlington, Texas; Kenneth Hopkins of Flushing, N.Y.; Joseph Sisco of Cooper City, Fla.; Scott Carson of New York, N.Y.; Dave Flanzbaum of Rolling Meadows, Ill.; Leslie Harris of Keller, Texas; and Phil Hoedebeck of Wichita Falls, Texas.
Harris and Hoedebeck actually finished 10th and 11th, respectively, but they both earned NHC berths because fourth-place finisher Patrick Gianforte of Cary, Ill., had already qualified and Hopkins actually finished fifth and seventh with his two entries but only could earn one NHC seat.
Contestants made 10 mythical $2 win-and-place wagers on designated races from Belmont and Hollywood. Payoffs were capped at $42 to win and $22 to place. Wiesner had the top score of $123.90 while Hoedebeck picked up the last spot at $92.20. All of the qualifiers either had Whatsthescript in Hollywood’s fifth race or Frost Giant in Belmont’s ninth race. Whatsthescript paid $60.20 and Frost Giant returned $82 on the nose, but both were capped at $42 in the contest.
Ellis Park – June 21-22
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 08/04/2008
James Norris, 53, of Sullivan, Ind.; Thomas F. Owen, 49, of Bear, Del.; and Jason Throckmorton, 28, of Louisville, Ky., earned the three NHC berths in Ellis Park’s Survivor Handicapping Tournament on June 21-22.
The field of 47 entrants, who each put up $400, was narrowed down to 16 after the first day of play. The survivors then competed in head-to-head matchups of two races apiece by submitting their plays with four minutes to post. Owen had two spots on opposite sides of the bracket and lost to Norris in one semifinal and beat Throckmorton in the other.
“In the final matchup, me and Owen picked the same horse in the first two races, so we went to a tiebreaker and my horse finished second and his finished third,” said Norris, who qualified for the NHC finals for the second straight year.
Norris, who also won the first-place prize of $5,250, said he mostly just plays online contests and the Midwest qualifiers at Ellis Park, Hoosier and Keeneland.
Owen earned the second NHC berth along with $3,000 for his runner-up finish, plus another $1,250 for winning the third-place match. Since Owen finished second and third, Throckmorton won the third NHC berth in addition to his $1,000 for finishing fourth.
Belmont – June 21-22
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 07/21/08
When Lavita E Fortuna won a $35,000 maiden claiming race at Belmont Park on Sunday, June 22, she probably made her connections very happy. But she actually made Joe Lods, a 33-year-old teacher from Rockville Centre, N.Y., more money as Lods won the $40,000 grand prize in the Belmont Summer Classic Challenge.
Along with his cash winnings, Lods earned a berth in the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship to be held Jan. 23-24 at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas. Sam Brooks, 58, of Jarrettsville, Md., finished second and John Conti, 68, of Oceanside, N.Y., was third but since Brooks had already qualified for the NHC by virtue of his first-place finish in the Kentucky Oaks & Derby Challenge on May 2-3, his spot went to fourth-place finisher Joe Scanio.
A total of 208 people entered the contest by putting up the $400 entry fee and making 10 mythical across-the-board wagers at Belmont, Monmouth and Churchill with nine being $20 bets and one best-bet per day of $40. Lods used the most of his best bet on the final day as Lavita E Fortuna won and paid $37.80. That put Lods in first place with a final score of $1,299. Brooks hit a $96 winner in the last race of the contest to pull within $19 of Lods at $1,280 but had to settle for $10,000. However, even though he came up a little short, Brooks moved into second place on the NHC Tour standings with 5,600 points (Tour members get 3,500 for a contest victory and 2,100 for second place) behind James Brooks with 7,000 who won his second tournament of the year on June 21 at Prairie Meadows.
Conte, a professional handicapper for Nassau and Suffolk OTB, had a final score of $1,216 and collected $5,000.
Red Rock – June 21
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 07/15/08
Just like last year when the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas signed on to host the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship and then held two qualifying tournaments in which regular customers beat strong fields of invaders, the same thing happened in the first of six big tourneys to be held at the Red Rock and its sister properties.
On Saturday, June 21, 88 contestants paid the $200 entry fee at the Red Rock, which will host the NHC finals for the second straight year on Jan. 23-34, 2009. Players made 15 mythical $2 win-and-place bets with eight races being mandatory and seven being player’s choice. Payoffs were capped at $42 to win and $22 to place.
Warren Fortezzo, a regular at Boulder Station, won the contest with a final score of $140.60 and collected first-place money of $8,800. Frank Ley, who plays regularly at Texas Station, Red Rock and the Fiesta Rancho, another Station-networked casino, was second with a score of $130.60 to pick up the runner-up prize of $3,520. They were well clear of third-place finisher Will Burns, who scored $87.60 and took home $2,640. Burns lives in Henderson, Nev., so he didn’t have to go far either. Fourth-place finisher Yreno Palomer, yet another player from the valley, scored $87.40 and received $1,760. CJ Borchert was the top invader in fifth place with a score of $84.80 to take the last money spot with $880. He is from Reno, Nev.
The other Stations qualifiers this year are July 26 at Santa Fe Station, Aug. 30 at Green Valley Ranch, Dec. 6 at Aliante Station, and then Dec. 13 at Red Rock for players who qualify for that event through smaller $40 buy-in contest. Red Rock will also host a Last Chance Qualifier on Wednesday, Jan. 21, two days before the NHC with the last five spots in the field up for grabs.
Prairie Meadows – June 21
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 07/14/08
The record books will show that Prairie Meadows held a Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship qualifying event on June 21, 2008, and that Paul Yaffee of Skokie, Ill.; Craig Kaufman of Hacienda Heights, Calif.; and John Fisher of Houston, Texas, earned the NHC berths.
That’s certainly true, but that’s not the whole story.
If you just look at the list of qualifiers, you’re missing the point that James Henry of Redondo Beach, Calif., won the tournament, which required a $200 entry fee plus a $400 bankroll, when he turned his live bankroll into $2,050 to blow away the competition and win the $8,000 first-place prize in addition to his pari-mutuel winnings. But that’s still not the whole story.
Henry had already qualified for the NHC by winning the $12,000 first-place prize in the Surfside Handicapping Contest in Del Mar, Calif., on April 12-13. Since you can’t qualify twice for the NHC, that meant his spot from the Prairie Meadows tournament went to fourth-place finisher Fisher.
But that’s still not the whole story. Henry is a member of the NHC Tour. First-place finishes are worth 3,500 Tour Points and his two victories put him atop the leaderboard with 7,000 points in the race for the $100,000 prize for the season-long champion and a potential $2 million bonus if the NHC Tour champion goes on to win NHC X.
Yaffee finished with a bankroll of $1,573.90 and collected an additional $3,200 for finishing second; Kaufman scored $1,249.30 and picked up an extra $2,400; and Fisher earned $1,236 and got $1,600 plus the NHC berth for his fortunate fourth-place finish.
Oaklawn – June 14-15
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 07/14/08
Home-track advantage came through as locals earned all three berths up for grabs in the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship Qualifying Tournament on Saturday and Sunday, June 14-15, at Oaklawn Park against a field of invaders from coast to coast.
Phil Cleek, 46, of Sherwood, Ark.; Ken Arthur, 41,of Bismarck, Ark.; and Amy Brantley, 43, of Little Rock, Ark., earned the three berths.
Cleek, a school teacher, won the first two handicapping tournaments ever held at Oaklawn in 1990 but hadn’t scored a major victory since. After the first day of the two-day competition, he was in ninth place out of the 110 contestants who paid $350 to enter with $230 going to the prize pool and $120 to be used as a live bankroll. Players made 15 live $2 win-and-place bets each day with six being mandatory and nine being player’s choice.
On Sunday, June 15, Cleek took the lead early in the afternoon and held onto the victory with a final score of $272.10 He was well clear of Arthur, who used a late winner at Arlington to move into second place, at $215. Brantley also made a late move to finish third at $209.40, barely ahead of Michael Forzano of Whitehouse, Texas, at $208.50, and Terry Blees of Mountain Pine, Ark., at $205.80.
"Our tournament had 110 players and all the drama you could have hoped for," noted Oaklawn tournament chairman Jason Milligan. "The difference between third and fifth place was just $3.80, which is about as close as it gets with players trying to win the coveted trip to Las Vegas and the chance to play for the national championship."
Delaware Park – June 14
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 07/09/08
Photo of NHC qualifier from Delaware Park. Panos on left, Bill Moore, Track Manager/Player Development on right.
Chris Panos, 27 of Pylesville, Md.; John DeSantis, 52, of Blue Bell, Pa.; and Howard Newstadt, 56, of Unionville, Pa., earned the three Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship berths in the Delaware Park Spring Handicap Contest on Saturday, June 14.
The contest, which required a $100 entry fee and a $200 live bankroll, drew 484 entries, including former Handicappers of the Year Steve Wolfson Jr. and Stanley Bavlish, but it was first-time qualifier Panos who walked away with the $24,000 winner’s check.
Late in the day, Panos had built his bankroll to just $285 but then made a late run. He put his entire balance on Season’s Wise to win Belmont’s 10th race. Season’s Wise paid $21. Panos then parlayed everything on Dreaming of Anna, who paid $3 in Churchill’s 11th race. Panos’s final bankroll of $4,990 easily outdistanced DeSantis, who had taken over the lead with $300 to win and $270 to place on Season’s Wise and finished with $3,942. Since it’s a live-money contest, players keep their pari-mutuel winnings. DeSantis received $8,300 for finishing second.
Newstadt was at $2,302.10 with one play left and put it all on Dreaming of Anna to finish with $3,453.10, just $3.10 ahead of fourth-place finisher Jason Albano in the closest finish for an NHC berth in Delaware Park history. Newstadt earned $5,300 for third and joins Panos and DeSantis in winning airfare and hotel accommodations in Las Vegas in addition to their NHC berths.
Delaware Park will host its fall contest on Oct. 18 with three more NHC berths up for grabs.
Presque Isle – June 14
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 07/14/08
Todd Haight, of Rochester, N.Y., turned his $50 bankroll in the Presque Isle Downs Handicapping Tournament on Saturday, June 14, into $386 and a trip to the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship in January.
Haight topped a field of 79 that also put up an entry fee of $25 and then used their $50 live bankroll to make at least 10 win or place bets of at least $5. Since it was a live-money tournament, Haight was able to keep his earnings plus collected the first-place prize of $987.50. Haight finished well ahead of runner-up Brian Troop, who finished with a bankroll of $304.20 and collected another $493 for second. Doug Salvatore Sr. was third with a score of $301.70 and Douglas Tramontana was fourth with $275.55 and they also received prize money of $296.25 and $197.50, respectively.
Haight also had a second entry that finished seventh as he turned that $50 into $115.90, but prizes were only awarded to the top four.
Haight, who also wins airfare to Las Vegas and hotel accommodations at the Red Rock Resort during the finals, will be joined as representatives of Presque Isle Downs by the top two finishers in a yearlong bankroll tournament hosted by the track.
Horsemen’s Park – May 31-June 1
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 07/14/08
Dennis Savage and Steve Walker took the top two spots in the Spring Champions Contest at Horsemen’s Park in Omaha, Neb., on Saturday and Sunday, May 31 and June 1, to earn berths in the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship to be held Jan. 24 at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas.
Savage will be making his first trip to the NHC, which is in its 10th year, while Walker is making his eighth trip having qualified four different times in Horsemen’s Park tourneys including when he won the inaugural NHC in 2000.
Contestants at Horsemen’s Park paid $250 to enter except for those who qualified in preliminary contests earlier in the meet. The May 31-June 1 finals mirrored the NHC format with players making 15 mythical $2 win-and-place bets each day with eight being mandatory and seven being player’s choice. Payoffs were capped at $42 to win and $22 to place.
Savage finished with a score of $237 to win the top prize of $2,000 with Walker’s $218.30 being good for the second-place prize of $1,000. Walker also had the top score on Day 2 ($141.10) to pick up a bonus $750. Savage finished in a tie for the fourth-best score on Sunday ($95.20) to pick up an additional $125.
Both Savage and Walker will receive roundtrip airfare to Las Vegas and hotel accommodations at the Red Rock during the tournament.
Horsemen’s Park will send a third representative to the NHC from a similar Summers Champions tournament on Saturday, Aug. 30.
NTRA Oaks-Derby contest – May 2-3
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 07/14/08
Proud Spell won the Kentucky Oaks on Friday, May 2, and Big Brown won the Kentucky Derby on May 3, but two other big winners on the weekend were Sam Brooks of Jarrettsville, Md., and Chris McConnell of Wichita, Kan., as they took the top two spots in the NHC Tour 2008 Kentucky Oaks & Derby Challenge to win berths in the National Handicapping Championship.
The tournament was open only to NHC Tour members (who paid $125 for their membership in order to compete for year-long prizes as well as special events like this) and drew a field of 666.
Contestants made five mythical $2 win-and-place bets each day from the Churchill Downs card. Prices were capped at $42 to win and $22 to place but two longshots came in each day: Tizdejavu at 20-1 in the Crown Royal American Stakes and Whirlie Bertie at 10-1 in the 11th race, a maiden race, on Saturday; and Bayou’s Lassie at 12-1 in the Churchill Distaff Turf Mile and Intangaroo at 14-1 in the Humana Distaff Stakes. That made it possible for Brooks – playing under the contest name “sam” – to compile a winning score of $142.60 while McConnell – using the alias “chrismcC” had a final score of $133.20 to edge out “austin doc” in third with $131.70.
There was no prize money beyond the NHC berths, yet Brooks and McConnell also receive roundtrip airfare to Las Vegas and hotel accommodations at the Red Rock Resort during the finals.
Ellis Park – April 26
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 07/09/08
There were many storylines that came out of the Traditional Handicapping Contest at Ellis Park on April 26.
Contestants made 15 mythical $2 win-and-place bets with eight races being mandatory that everyone had to play and the other seven being player’s choice. Ted Mudge, who ran AmTote for six years and was the president of BrisBet for a year, compiled the biggest bankroll of $133.30 to take the first-place prize of $5,665. It was his second time Mudge qualified for the NHC via an Ellis contest.
Don Allen, who had finished third in an NHC qualifier at Bay Meadows a week prior to this tournament, finished second with a score of $132.50 to collect $1,725 in prize money.
Mel Moser, a tournament veteran who had qualified each of the past four years and was also part of the horseplayer’s panel last year that helped lead to the creation of the NHC Tour, finished third with a score of $129.40 to earn $555. Moser has a habit of pounding tables as he cheers on his horses, and when one of the late races gave him a longshot winner, he tore most of the fingernail off his right thumb in his excitement.
But the one storyline that most followers of the NHC Tour noticed was that Cheryl Kaufman earned a spot by virtue of her fourth-place finish. For the previous month, she had led the NHC Tour standings but hadn’t qualified yet while many below her had already made it. The Ellis Park tournament awards NHC berths to the top three finishers, but since Allen had already earned his trip, the third spot went to Kaufman, who qualified for the third straight year.
NHCqualify.com – April 26
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 07/09/08
The finale of the April contests at NHCqualify.com sent six qualifiers to the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship. The website held pre-qualifying tourneys on the first three Saturday of the month with 200 entrants apiece and the top 10 percent of each tourney advanced to the monthly finale on Saturday, April 26, so there were 60 contestants battling for six NHC berths.
The pre-qualifying events cost $100 to enter. Handicappers making it to the monthly finale didn’t have to pay any additional entry fees.
The six qualifiers were Harry Seaman of Goodland, Fla.; Henry Damgaard of Charlottesville, Va.; H. Mitchell Schuman of Brightwaters, N.Y.; James Nace of Egg Harbor Township, N.J.; Scott Fitzgerald of Westford, Mass., and Roy Yip of Vancouver. Actually, Yip finished in seventh place and appeared to miss the cut, however, tournament veteran William Shurman of Danville, Calif., had qualified for the sixth time with his fourth-place finish in the Battle of the Handicapping Stars at Santa Anita back on March 8-9, so Yip earned the sixth spot.
Contestants had to play 10 races, five each from Churchill and Hollywood. Points were based on mythical $2 win-and-place bets and capped at $42 to win and $22 to place.
Seaman had the top score of $99.60, followed by Shurman ($86.60), Daamgaard ($82), Schuman ($75.40), Nace ($70.60), Fitzgerald ($69.80) and Yip ($66.60), just $2 ahead of Christopher Skotz of Campbell, Calif., for the final spot.
The top three finishers, plus Fitzgerald, all used Point Perfect in Churchill’s 11th race to put high on the leaderboard. Point Perfect went off at 25-1 but was capped at $42 to win and also paid $19.40 to place for $61.40 in contest points.
Schuman and Nace both needed (and hit) Surf Cat in the last race of the contest, Hollywood’s 7th race, paying $7.20 to win and $4.60 to place to put them in the qualifying spots.
After this contest, NHCqualify.com increased its June fields to 300 apiece for the pre-qualifying tourneys and thus nine NHC berths in the monthly finale.
Bay Meadows – April 19-20
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 07/21/08
Jim Atwell of Sunnyvale, Calif., is starting to think these handicapping tournaments might suit him. He has played only three tournaments in his life but has qualified twice for the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship after winning the Spring Handicapping Contest at Bay Meadows on April 19-20.
“My main goal is to qualify for the NHC, “Atwell said, “so I don’t play a lot of tournaments but I guess I’m pretty good at them.”
He had one out-of-the-money finish at Emerald Downs, and then last year finished fourth at Del Mar to earn an NHC berth and then qualified his first try this year. Patrick Gianforte of Cary, Ill.; and Don Allen of Bradley, Ark., earned the other two NHC berths.
There was no entry fee but contestants bought in with a $2,500 live bankroll and had to play a minimum of $200 on eight Bay Meadows races each day with no maximums on the number of races played or the dollar amount to be used.
Gianforte went all-in on the first race of the tournament and increased his bankroll to $6,000 and played conservatively the rest of the way. Atwell, 53 and an accountant by trade, didn’t panic and methodically moved up the leaderboard. In the second race on Day 2, Atwell said he boxed the two longest shots in a short field and hit the exacta to move within striking distance. He said he moved into first place after the third race and then held on the rest of the way.
“Russell Baze won with a 6-1 shot in the final race, so I was sure someone would pass me, but no one used him,” Atwell said.
When the dust had settled, Atwell had turned his $2,500 bankroll into $4,854.60. He also picked up the winner-take-all first-place prize of $2,500. Gianforte finished second with $4,646.90 and Allen was third with $3,574.20. All three will receive roundtrip airfare to Las Vegas and hotel accommodations during the Jan. 23-24, 2009, NHC finals at the Red Rock Resort.
Santa Anita Park – April 19
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 05/23/08
A Sirona’s Handicapping Contest was held each Saturday and Monday during Santa Anita’s winter/spring meet with the winner of each contest earning $500 and a berth in the April 19 finals for a chance to win $5,000 and a Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship berth.
Jeff Sotman, 45, of Irvine, Calif., won the Monday, Feb. 11, preliminary event (the first one he entered) and then went on to win the April 19 finals to earn his first trip to the NHC. Well, that should read his first trip as a player as Sotman, the general manager of Horseplayer Magazine, served as the longtime tournament coordinator for the NTRA until two years ago.
Contestants made live $3 win-and-place wagers on five different Santa Anita races and Sotman turned his $30 bankroll into $104.10 to easily outdistance second-place finisher Jeffrey Copland of Pasadena, Calif., who had $78.60.
Surfside Race Place – April 12-13
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 05/23/08
Del Mar is where the surf meets the turf, so it only seemed fitting that “beach boys” swept the top three spots in the Surfside Race Place April tournament on Saturday and Sunday, April 12-13, to claim the three Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship berths.
They were James Henry, 40, of Redondo Beach, Calif.; Terry Nolan, 45, of Hermosa Beach, Calif.; and Duke Matties, 35, of Laguna Beach, Calif. (though he’s a native of Hudson, N.Y.).
In the two-day contest, the entry fee was $200 and contestants made eight mythical $20 across-the-board wagers on the last eight races at Santa Anita each day. Henry finished first in the full field of 200 with a score of $1,862 to collect the $12,000 first-place prize in addition to his NHC berth. Nolan’s score of $1,802 was second best and earned him $6,000. Matties scored $1,682 to win $3,000 and qualify for the NHC for the fifth straight year.
Prizes were paid through 15th place.
Surfside Race Place will hold similar tournaments on July 12-13 and Dec. 27-28 with three NHC spots awarded each time.
Monmouth Park Invitational – April 12
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 05/23/08
The Simulcast Series Challenge Invitational at Monmouth Park on Saturday, April 12, with two Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship berths up for grabs, was open to just the top 10 finishers of qualifying tournaments held earlier in the year. The winner of the first preliminary event in January, John Sciametta, and the last preliminary event in March, William Colavito, finished first and second, respectively, in the SSC Finals to earn their first trips to Las Vegas.
Contestants started with a $200 live bankroll and had to make a minimum of 10 wagers of at least $20 on races from Aqueduct, Keeneland, Gulfstream or Tampa Bay.
“You have to bet smart and build up your bankroll in the beginning,” said Sciametta, 38, of Tinton Falls, N.J., “and then if you like something, take a shot, you can’t be afraid.”
Sciametta had built his bankroll up to $697 and then put $97 to win on Behindatthebar in the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland.
“You have to bet on trainers that win,” said Sciametta, a jockey’s agent for David Cohen, “Todd Pletcher wins and you have to jump on a good price.”
At odds of 5-1, Behindatthebar’s win took Sciametta’s bankroll to $1,259.60 and into the lead. He dropped another $100 later but his final score of $1,159.60 was good for first-place prize money of $2,500 on top of keeping his pari-mutuel winnings.
Colvavito, 53, also had to rally late to get his spot. He put $100 on 7-1 shot Biggerbadderbetter in Keeneland’s 10th and final race to vault him into second place with a score of $967.50 and bump Anthony Pecoraro from an NHC qualifying spot. Colavito also earned $1,000 in prize money.
Arlington Park Trackside – April 5
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 05/23/08
Jay Sloan, 47, of McLean, Va.; Rick Zimmer, 30, of New York, N.Y.; and Paul Weizer, 41, of Leominster, Mass., earned the three Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship qualifying spots that were up for grabs at the Arlington Park Trackside spring tournament on Saturday, April 5.
That was the main news from the $175 buy-in event, but the more interesting story was that Sloan and Zimmer finished in a dead-heat for first place. Contestants made 15 mythical $2 win-and-place wagers with eight races being mandatory and the other seven being player’s choice. Payoffs were capped at $42 to win and $22 to place.
When the contest was over, Sloan and Zimmer had both accumulated exactly $170.80 apiece. They both used Salinja, who paid $39.20 to win and $14 to place in Keeneland’s eighth race, but while Zimmer also had Power Blitz, a $42.20 winner in Santa Anita’s second race, Sloan had Wood Memorial winner Tale of Ekati and Illinois Derby victor Recapturetheglory. The rules called for the tiebreaker to be the most first-place finishers selected and Sloan had five to Zimmer’s four. That gave Sloan the $8,000 top prize while Zimmer, who qualified for the NHC for the second straight year after taking up tournaments just two years ago, settled for $4,000.
Weizer, who finished with a score of $166.80 to edge out James Michelson Sr. of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., at $164 for the final NHC spot, earned $3,000 in prize money and is making his fourth trip to the NHC finals.
All three qualifiers were NHC Tour members.
Recap for Battle of the Handicapping Stars
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 03/13/08
The Battle of the Handicapping Stars on Saturday and Sunday, March 8-9, at Santa Anita, lived up to its name as it attracted a star-studded field as 34 of the 56 contestants who entered with a $5,000 live-money bankroll were members of the NHC Tour and were vying for the five berths to the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship.
Contestants had to make at least $2,000 in wagers on Saturday and at least $3,000 on Sunday with a minimum of $500 per race using win, place, show, exactas and trifectas.
Seven of the top eight finishers were members of the NHC Tour, but when the dust had cleared, it was David Bambacigno of Covina, Calif., who outshined the stars by turning his starting bankroll into $17,349.10. He got to keep his winnings, plus added the $20,000 first-place prize to his earnings.
There was only one other cash prize, $5,000 for second, and that went to Sally Goodall, 44, of Las Vegas as she finished with a final score of $15,580.50. If that name sounds familiar, she is the wife of Richard Goodall, the defending NHC champion who gets an exemption into the Jan. 23-24, 2009 finals at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas. Mrs. Goodall retains family honors as this will be her seventh trip to the finals to her husband’s six.
In all, the top five earned spots to the NHC. Charley Witt, 56, of Scottsdale, Ariz., was third with a final score of $15,125 and will be making his third NHC appearance; William Shurman, 49, of Danville, Calif., was fourth at $10,203.90 and will be making his fifth NHC appearance; and Larry Kaplan of Northbrook, Ill., was fifth at $9,609.50.
Recap for Maryland Jockey Club Champions Tournament
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 03/13/08
Lori Stephen won the Maryland Jockey Club Champions Tournament on Saturday, March 8, and will be making her first trip to the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship, aka NHC X, to be held at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas on Jan. 23-24, 2009. She follows in the footsteps of her uncle who qualified for NHC I in 1999.
Contestants in the qualifying tournament at Laurel paid a $100 entry fee and used a $200 live bankroll to make at least 10 bets of at least $20 apiece on their plays from Laurel, Aqueduct, Gulfstream, Fair Grounds and Santa Anita.
A social worker in Baltimore, Stephen, 24, of Whiteford, Md., turned her starting bankroll into $1,790 and won the $10,000 first-place prize in addition to the NHC berth and the trip to Las Vegas. A partner in Triple Play Stables, Jeffrey Spink of Glen Allen, Va., finished second with a final bankroll of $1,478.60 and won $4,000, while Silo Merwitz, 32, of Randallstown, Md., finished third at $1,300 to collect $2,000 and will be making his second trip to the NHC finals.
The top four finishers were not members of the NHC Tour prior to the contest and thus didn’t earn points in Tour standings. The highest finishing Tour member was Barry D. Howard, who placed fifth and earned 1,225 Tour points.
NHC Tour Kick-Off
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 03/07/08
On Saturday, March 1, the NTRA hosted the NHC Tour Kick-Off online tournament for those who became members of the Tour prior to the event.
As of that morning, 859 had paid the $125 to be members of the NHC Tour and 825 entered the freeroll tournament that awarded three berths in the 10th annual Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas on Jan. 23-24, 2009, plus Tour points to those who finished in the top 30.
Contestants made 10 mythical $2 win-and-place bets at ntra.com/nhctour on 10 races from Gulfstream and Santa Anita. Prices were capped at $42 to win and $22 to place.
Eric Kurzhal, 31, of South Bend, Ind., finished first with a score of $140.40. Kurzhal, who said he uses DRF and Thoroughgraph in his handicapping, tabbed Wine on the Porch in Santa Anita’s 11th race, the final race of the tournament to become an NHC qualifier for the second time after finishing 143rd this past January in NHC IX. Jamaal Barnett, 25, of Ontario, Canada, finished second with a score of $139.
Howard Hong, 43, of Phoenix, was the news of the tourney for finishing third with a score of $134.20, not because he’s the longtime TV commentator for Turf Paradise, but because he was fourth when the results were first posted. During the auditing process, it was discovered that the third-place finisher was actually a test entry that had been set up prior to the tournament to make sure things were running smoothly on the website. That is standard operating procedure, except that the test entry should have been deleted prior to the competition. Hong will be making his fifth NHC appearance.
* With qualifying events being worth a standard 3,500 NHC Tour points for winning an event, Kurzhal tied Autotote Sports Haven winner Joseph Perry atop the standings with 3,500 points apiece. Barnett is tied for third with Sam Darron, 49, of Elkton, Md., with 2,100 points; and Hong is tied for fifth with John Cappell, 60, of Westport, Conn., with 1,575 points.
Perry wins at Sports Haven, leads NHC Tour
By DAVE TULEY - Posted 03/07/08
The 12th annual Autotote Sports Haven Handicapping Challenge on Feb. 9-10 in New Haven, Conn., kicked off the qualifying tournaments for NHC X and the winner, Joseph Perry, 48, of Hamilton, N.J., took the early lead in the NHC Tour.
Official Tour entries were not taken at ntra.com/nhctour until Feb. 15, but Sports Haven participants were allowed to declare their intentions in order to earn Tour points, and 52 players did so, including Perry. In all, seven Tour members earned points
The entry fee was $300 with $50 to be used as the player’s live bankroll and $250 to the prize pool. Contestants played with $20 each day; win, place and show wagers only, with a minimum of 10 wagers each day. Wagers had to be a minimum of $2 each, one horse per race. There was also $10 in “wild card” wagers that could be played at any time either day.
Perry was at just $46.20 more than halfway through the second day when he put $44 on Clerpark in Gulfsteam’s seventh race. The winner paid $4.40 and, to borrow a poker term, Perry doubled up. After padding his bankroll, he went all-in with $105 on the appropriately named Payback in Tampa Bay Downs’ 11th race to net him $976.50. He added a $2 show bet on his final play to boosted his winning total to $980.70, which he got to keep in addition to first-place prize money of $25,200.
This was Perry’s fifth tournament win, including three at Delaware Park and one at Atlantic City Race Course, but the first time he has qualified for the NHC.
Sam Darron, 49, of Elkton, Md., finished second with a bankroll of $745.80 to earn $10,795. John Cappell, 60, of Westport, Conn., finished third with $614.60 and won $7,200. All three also earned NHC X berths, including airfare to Las Vegas and hotel accommodations.