NHC Info

Racetracks, casinos, OTBs: For more information on becoming a qualifying site for the Daily Racing Form / NTRA National Handicapping Championship, contact Fritz Widaman at (859) 422-2647 or via email, fwidaman@ntra.com

Red Rocks

NHC

NHC X Recaps

Champion horseplayer had a clue

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 1/26/09)

John Conte, aka Inspector Clouseau, celebrates his NHC victory.P

LAS VEGAS - His foiled opponents called him Inspector Clouseau.

John Conte didn't mind because he won $500,000 and the Handicapper of the Year title by topping a field of 302 in the 10th annual Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship at the Red Rock Resort last weekend.

The 68-year-old Oceanside, N.Y., resident is open to jokes about the huge magnifying glass he uses to read the fine print in the Form. At the awards ceremony Saturday night, emcee Eric Wing said it was the size of everyone's dinner plate, and Conte played along, proudly showing off what he uses to search for clues in the fine print of the past performances.

But even though Conte hit a 22-1 longshot in the final race of the two-day tournament to leapfrog 10 other contestants, don't say he took a shot in the dark. He thought the horse had a legitimate shot to win.

In the final race of most contests, you'll see a lot of people playing the longest shot on the board in a desperate attempt to make up ground. It's to be expected. Meanwhile, the leaders are usually trying to maintain or improve their position. And that's what happened in NHC X. A scoring update had been posted an hour earlier, so even though a race at both Santa Anita and Golden Gate had been run since, the contenders had a good idea of where everyone stood.

Conte, a public handicapper whose "Grass is Greener" tip sheet has been available at New York tracks and OTBs the past two decades, and who had previously made picks in the New York Post and DRF , was playing in his third NHC. He was sitting in 11th place heading into the final race of the tournament, the 11th at Santa Anita, a $52,000 allowance race at a mile that had been taken off the turf.

Veteran tournament players dominated the leaderboard. Dennis Decauwer, 59, of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., was in the lead, followed by Gwyn Houston, 57, of Fallston, Md., and Louis Licata, 49, of Chagrin Falls, Ohio.

Conte considered going the safe route and trying to just improve his position but then figured others might play the same logical horse and stay ahead of him anyway.

"I've been an 'all-in' guy my whole life," Conte said. "All my life I've been paid weekly, very weakly. This was my chance at a big payday."

Conte said his resolve was strengthened when he peered through his looking glass and was able to make a logical case for one of the longshots in the race. He didn't like the No. 1 horse, Picassa, who was 50-1 and probably the one most NHC also-rans played, but settled on No. 10, Raiding Party.

"I looked at Raiding Party and decided to go for it," he said. "She ran on Polytrack at a cheap track in Britain and showed speed, and won two of her three starts. I don't know if everyone overlooked the horse or they didn't have the guts to play it.

"She probably didn't have a chance on turf, but the racing gods took it off the turf."

Raiding Party took to Santa Anita's Pro-Ride, breaking fifth from the gate but grabbing a 1 1/2-length lead after the opening quarter-mile. The favorite, Onebadkitty, tracked the pacesetter the whole way around the track but was never able to pass her - and Raiding Party won by that 1 1/2-length margin, paying $46.60 to win and $13 to place.

For contest purposes, wins payoffs are capped at $42, but the $55 in total points was enough to put Conte on top with $228 from his 30 mythical $2 win-and-place wagers over the two days.

Decauwer would have won if Onebadkitty had gotten past the winner, but he settled for the $150,000 second-place prize with a score of $224.50.

"I rarely play favorites but there were enough people close behind me that I felt I had to play it that way," said Decauwer, who is the managing partner of Black Diamond Racing. "If I was in his position, I would have played the 10, too."

Paul Shurman, 54, of Dix Hills, N.Y. was in 15th place going into the final race and used Raiding Party to finish third with a score of $219 to earn $100,000.

"I was surprised more people ahead of us didn't use that horse, so I was happy to finish third," he said.

Houston, who held the lead late Saturday afternoon after the penultimate mandatory race, held on for fourth place with a score of $213.80 to earn $45,000.

Licata, another handicapper who held the lead during the final day, finished fifth at $210.40 to win $30,000. Prizes were paid through 30th place.

The NHC is the culmination of a year-long series of qualifying tournaments at racetracks, OTBs, casinos, and websites in which contestants have to finish high enough to earn their way to the finals. As defending champion, Conte earns an automatic exemption to NHC XI, which will be held at the Red Rock on Jan. 29-30, 2010.

Also punching their tickets to NHC XI are the top five finishers on the 2008 NHC Tour: Sam Brooks, Ross Gallo, William A. Shurman (Paul's brother), James M. Henry, and Ricky Zimmer.

In addition, the Red Rock Shootout was held Sunday with Gary Johnson, 51, of Cleveland, and William Haliziw, 64, of Chicago finishing first and second to earn NHC XI berths.

Conte will be honored for his Handicapper of the Year title at the Eclipse Awards next January in Beverly Hills, Calif.

"My whole life has been a series of wouldas, couldas, shouldas," said Conte, who has been married 21 years to his wife, Arlene, and has six children and 10 grandchildren. "I finally made it to the winner's circle.

"If I win five more of these contests, I might be even."

Houston takes lead with one mandatory left

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 1/24/09)

LAS VEGAS � Gwyn Houston, 57, of Fallston, Md., has moved into the lead of the 10th annual Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship at the Red Rock Resort

A field of 302 is heading to the wire in the $962,000 that will pay $500,000 to the winner along with the title of Handicapper of the Year.

Contestants make 15 mythical $2 win-and-place wagers each day of the two-day tournament that began Friday, with eight plays being mandatory and seven being player�s choice from the seven available contest tracks. Payoffs are capped at $42 to win and $22 to place.

Houston, a rare coin dealer and one of the most well-known players on the handicapping tournament circuit, had been in 35th place after Friday�s action but had put up the most points of any contestants today as of 2:45 p.m. Pacific Time with seven of the eight mandatory races having been run.

Houston�s score was $213.80. Louis Licata, 49, of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, held the lead earlier today and is still in second at $210.40, followed by Joe Rotell, 47, of Farrell, Pa., with $208.60; and George Smith, 49, of Chicago with $206.40.

But anything can happen as there is more than two hours between that updated scoreboard and the last race of the contest, the 11th at Santa Anita, which is also the eighth mandatory race today. As of this update, there were 17 players within a �cap� horse ($42 to win and $22 to place) of the leader with many more still with a prayer. A lot will come down to how many optional plays those behind the leaders have, plus the results of the races, of course.

Licata moves into lead on final day

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 1/24/09)

LAS VEGAS – Louis Licata, 49, of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, started Saturday’s final day of the 10th annual Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship with seconditis, but the one winner he found put him into the early-afternoon lead.

Contestants in NHC X, which has a $962,000 purse with $500,000 going to the champion, make 15 mythical $2 win-and-place wagers each day of the two-day tournament that began Friday, with eight plays being mandatory and seven being player’s choice from the seven available contest tracks. Payoffs are capped at $42 to win and $22 to place.

Licata had the second-place finisher in the first two mandatory races – the fifth at Aqueduct and the seventh at Tampa Bay – plus another horse that finished second on the second race at Aqueduct and was DQ’d, but his play on Indy’s Sonata in the third race at Gulfstream paid $49.80 to win and $17.40 to place to earn $59.40 in contest points (the win was capped at $42 with him getting full credit on the place price) to vault him to a score of $210.40 atop the leaderboard.

Licata, who earned his berth in the NHC at the TwinSpires.com Biggest Vegas Qualifer Ever on Jan. 3, entered the day in third place and said he was confident he would have a good day.

“There was a lot of deep races and a lot of turf races,” said Licata, who said he really likes to look at turf race as well as maidens that are lightly raced or making their first start.

Indy’s Sonata was a first-time starter for Michael Matz. Licata said he started to make his move on Saturday in the fourth race at Oaklawn with first-time starter Clare’s Prospector, who paid $69.40 to win and $27 to place for a total of $64 contest points.

“I didn’t think either of those would go off that high, but those are the types of horses you have to find in tournaments like this,” Licata said.

As of the 12:25 p.m. Pacific Time update, George Smith, 49, of Chicago was in second place with a score of $179.20; Robert Swickard, 59, of Commerce Township, Mich., was third at $174.40; first-day leader Thomas Mooney, 55, of Lindenhurst, N.Y., was hanging around in fourth at $161.60; and early contest leader Joe Rotell, 47, of Farrell, Pa., was fifth at $160.

NHC X concludes Saturday with the contestants making 15 more plays. Winners will receive their awards at a 7:30 p.m. banquet. Saturday’s daily prizes increase to $5,000 for first, $3,000 for second, $2,000 for third, $1,500 for fourth, and $1,000 for fifth.

Mooney takes the lead

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 1/23/09)

LAS VEGAS – On a day that has had chalk ruling the mandatory races, Thomas Mooney, 55, of Lindenhurst, N.Y., has been finding winners with his optional plays to take the lead late in the opening day of the 10th annual Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship at the Red Rock Resort.

Contestants make 15 mythical $2 win-and-place bets each day with eight races being mandatory as designated by tournament organizers and the other seven being player’s choice.

Through seven of the eight mandatory races on Friday, Mooney had an impressive score of $154 to lead the field of 302 as they playing for a purse of $962,000 with $500,000 going to the champion along with the title of Handicapper of the Year. Robert Swickard, 59, of Commerce Township, Mich., was second at $134.80, with Louis Licata, 49, of Independence, Ohio, in third at $125.40; Terry Nolan, 46, of Hermosa Beach, Calif., in fourth at $124.10; and early pacesetter Joe Rotell, 47, of Farrell, Pa., holding on in fifth at $121.60

“I missed on the first five mandatories, but they were all chalky,” said Mooney, who qualified this year in the Aug. 23 tourney at NHCqualify.com. “I hit my first five optionals and have six winners overall.”

His big score was in the fourth at Tampa Bay with Marky P who paid $28 to win and $10.20 to place. Mooney also had Candle Maker in the ninth at Gulfstream, which paid $25.40 to win and $9.40 to place.

The win mutuels for the first five mandatories were $4, $15, $6.90, $4.40, and $5.20, but then Mooney nailed the biggest one when Joshua’s Dream won the ninth race at Oaklawn and paid $18.80 to win and $9.40 to place and that put him into sole possession of first place after he had been tied with Swickard after the previous update.

As for his handicapping strategy, he said, “I’m a DRF guy. Brisnet doesn’t want me to win.”

Friday’s final mandatory race is Santa Anita’s seventh (4:07 p.m. PST) with one race from Golden Gate and Santa Anita after that to wrap up the day’s action.

Rotell jumps out in front

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 1/23/09)

LAS VEGAS – Joe Rotell of Farrell, Pa., is the unofficial early leader in the 10th annual Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship at the Red Rock Resort.

Contestants make 15 mythical $2 win-and-place bets each day with eight races being mandatory as designated by tournament organizers and the other seven being player’s choice. Rotell was firing away early and was the leader with $76.60 in mutuel payoffs when the first standings were compiled after the first mandatory race at 11:42 a.m. Las Vegas Time. He had increased his score to $101.40 by 1:33 p.m. Pacific Time after the scores were updated after the fourth mandatory race, the ninth at Tampa Bay Downs. As of that update, Louis Licata of Independence, Ohio, was second at $93.20 with H. Mitchell Shuman of Brightwaters, N.Y., in third at $84.20, and Paul Shurman of Dix Hills, N.Y., in fourth at $79.40.

Rotell qualified late for the NHC as he earned his seat in the TwinSpires.com Biggest Vegas Qualifier Ever on Jan. 3. It is his second straight year playing in the finals.

The field of 302 is playing for a purse of $962,000 with $500,000 going to the champion at the end of Saturday’s action.

The contest tracks are Aqueduct, Gulfstream, Tampa Bay, Fair Grounds, Oaklawn, Golden Gate, and Santa Anita. Players earn points based on the track payoffs, though they are capped at $42 to win and $22 to place.

Friday’s final mandatory race will be Santa Anita’s seventh (4:07 p.m. PST) with one race from Golden Gate and Santa Anita after that to wrap up the day’s action.

Late invitee joins lineup as tourney begins

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 1/23/09)

LAS VEGAS – And they’re off.

A full field of 302 broke from the gate Friday morning in the 10th annual Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship at the Red Rock Resort.

The entire field is made of horseplayers who qualified at tournaments the past year and the Red Rock race book is overflowing with contestants filling every seat as well as temporary tables set up on the sides and in the lounge behind the book. The 302nd contestant is Christopher Skotz of Campbell, Calif., who finished eighth in the April 26 tournament at NHCqualify.com and only found out the middle of this week that Harry Seaman, the winner of that tourney, couldn’t make the trip.

NHC X runs through Saturday. The finalists are playing for a first-place prize of $500,000 and the title of Handicapper of the Year and a purse of $942,000 distributed among the top 30 finishers plus bonus prizes for the top scores each day.

Contestants will make 15 mythical $2 win-and-place bets each day with eight races being mandatory as designated by tournament organizers and the other seven being player’s choice from the seven contest tracks: Aqueduct, Gulfstream, Tampa Bay, Fair Grounds, Oaklawn, Golden Gate, and Santa Anita. Players earn points based on the track payoffs, though they are capped at $42 to win and $22 to place.

Friday’s mandatory races are Gulfstream’s fourth race (11:42 a.m. PST), Gulfstream’s fifth race (12:12 p.m. PST), Aqueduct’s eighth race (12:49 p.m. PST), Tampa Bay’s ninth race (1:07 p.m. PST), Fair Grounds’ eighth (1:55 p.m. PST), Golden Gate’s fourth race (2:15 p.m.), Oaklawn’s ninth race (3:11 p.m.) and Santa Anita’s seventh (4:07 p.m.).

Twin Spires Club � Nov. 22

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 1/20/09)

Sometimes the best things in life are free.

Chris Michaels of La Grange Highland, Ill.; Art Taylor of Albany, N.Y.; and Greg O�Driscoll of Sewell, N.J., must have felt that way after earning berths in the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship in a free online contest at TwinSpires.com on Saturday, Nov. 22.

The Twin Spires Club NTRA/DRF National Handicapping Qualifier was limited to members of Twin Spires Club with a Brisnet account in good standing, with a limit of one entry per person. Players made eight mythical $2 win-and-place wagers with prices capped at $42 to win and $18 to place. All plays had to be submitted by noon Eastern Time on the day of the contest.

Michaels, 40, compiled the top score to collect the $2,500 first-place prize and secure his first NHC berth. Taylor won $1,000 and O�Driscoll took home $750. In addition, all three qualifiers earned $300 toward air travel and free hotel accommodations at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas during the finals.

Laurel Park � Nov. 8

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 1/20/09)

The three Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship qualifiers from the the Maryland Jockey�s Club Champions Tournament had widely different racetrack and handicapping tournament experience coming into the Nov. 8 qualifier.

But by the end of the tournament, Frank Clements of Harford County, Md.; Steve Kavakos of Glendwood, Md.; and Gilson Fontz Jr. of Millersville, Md., had something in common as they earned their trips to Las Vegas for the NHC finals on Jan. 23-24.

Contestants paid $300 to enter with $100 being the entry fee and $200 to be used as a live bankroll. They were required to make a miniumum of 10 wagers (win, place or show only) of at least $20 on races from tracks being simulcast that day at Laurel. There were no maximums for the number of races or the amount of the wagers. Clements, who was playing in his ninth NHC qualifying tournament of the year, compiled the biggest bankroll of $5,565.65 to claim the $8,800 first-place prize and earn his first NHC berth. Clements has been watching races since his childhood and recently retired from the Army.

Kavakos finished second with a bankroll of $4,770.50 to win the $3,250 second-place prize. Though he has attended Laurel regularly for years, he was playing in his first handicapping tournament ever.

Fontz, a former horse owner, finished third with a bankroll of $3,262 for additional prize money of $1,760 and will be making his third appearance in the NHC finals. In addition to keeping their bankrolls since it was a live-money tournament and their prize money, they also each receive round-trip air fare to Las Vegas and hotel accommodations at the Red Rock Resort during the finals.

Ellis Park � Nov. 8

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 1/20/09)

Ted Whitley, 52, of Wentzville, Mo., won the Traditional II Handicapping Tournament at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky., on Nov. 8 to earn his third straight berth in the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship and his second straight by virtue of winning against a competitive field at Ellis.

In this tourney, contestants paid a $150 entry fee and made 10 mythical $2 win-and-place bets on mandatory races as determined by Ellis Park management. Payoffs were capped at $42 to win and $22 to place.

Whitley, who won the Claiming Crown tournament at Ellis in August 2007 (a week prior to winning a separate tournament at River Downs), compiled the top score of $121.20 to win the $5,400 first-place prize. Joel Elam was second at $114 to earn $1,620 in prize money while Dana Delaney was third at $106.60 to collect $540.

All three qualifiers also earned round-trip airfare to Las Vegas for the Jan. 23-24 finals and hotel accommodations at the Red Rock Resort.

Hastings Park � Oct. 19

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 1/20/09)

They might need to rename the Hastings Racecourse Qualifying Tournament as the Albert Wong Invitational.

Wong, 50, of Calgary, Alberta, qualified for the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship for the third time and all have been at Hastings, including each of the last two years.

Players in the Oct. 19 tourney made 15 mythical $2 win-and-place wagers with eight mandatory races (5 of which were at Hastings) and the other seven being player�s choice from Belmont, Keeneland, Woodbine and Santa Anita. Wong, who is also a nationally ranked chess player, compiled the top bankroll of $152.50 to claim the $12,150 first-place prize.

Sylvia Christensen finished second with a score of $138.20 and earned $4,050 in prize money while Ken Bell was third at $128.80 to collect $2,025. Bell finished just 80 cents ahead of Penny Scott for the third and final NHC berth as Scott had to settle for $1,417.50 in prize money.

In addition to their cash payouts and NHC berths in the Jan. 23-24 finals at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, each will also receive round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations during the finals.

The trio also join Alan Harrison, winner of a Sept. 28 tourney, in representing Hastings at the finals.

Lone Star � Oct. 18

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 1/20/09)

Most qualifying tournaments for the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship are pretty straight forward: you show up on the day(s) of the tournament and whoever posts the highest scores earns a berth in the finals.

The majority of tournaments also use just win and place wagering, or maybe across the board.

The Lone Star Handicapping Series was a lot more complicated with qualifying tournaments for its Oct. 18 finals held on Feb. 9 (in which 25 qualified for the finals), April 5 (where 50 earned their spots) and July 26 (where 75 got in), and the format of each tourney called for 12 mythical wagers that included some win, place and show bets but also exacta, trifecta and superfecta boxes.

But it was rewarding for the six who ran the gauntlet and earned NHC berths.

Ken Harding of Arlington, Texas, won the Oct. 18 finals and collected the $6,000 first-place prize in addition to the NHC berth, which also includes round-trip airfare to Las Vegas for the Jan. 23-24 finals at the Red Rock Resort and hotel accommodations during the finals. The other qualifiers were Rite LeCroy of Euless, Texas (who won $2,000); Ellen Patrick of Benwheeler, Texas (who won $1,100); Dr. Earl Wright of San Antonio, Texas (who won $600); Lee Mink of Rockwall, Texas (who won $300) and Ed Ingram of Fort Worth, Texas (no prize money).

All prize money was paid out by Lone Star Park since entry fees are not allowed in the state of Texas.

TwinSpires.com � Jan. 3

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 1/16/09)

The Biggest Vegas Qualifier Ever, hosted by TwinSpires.com, lived up to its name when it sent a record 15 players to the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship.

The tournament was originally scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 29, but technical difficulties caused a postponement. It was rescheduled for Saturday, Jan. 3, 2009, and TwinSpires made it even bigger by also sending 10 players to the Horseplayer World Series at the Orleans Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on Feb. 19-21.

The BVQE had an entry fee of $250, with a limit of two per person, and was limited to the first 550 entrants. Players made mythical $2 win-and-place wagers on 12 mandatory races with payoffs capped at $52 to win and $26 to place.

Mark Rudy, a public defender from Wichita, Kan., compiled the highest score of $147.70 to win the $10,000 first-place prize and qualify for the NHC for the second straight year.

"I was in third place with one race to go, just a dollar or so behind the leaders," Rudy said. "I really liked the favorite to win the race (which he did) and was trying to figure if the two players on top of me would chalk down to protect their positions or take a flyer on a horse to try and pull away. I played a horse that went off at 5-1 and he placed for me.

The other NHC qualifiers were Vince Piscitelli, David Eppard, Thomas Long, Michael J. Brown, Joe Rotell, Steven R. Martin, Myles Richards, Randy Gallo, Lawrence Morgia, Louis Licata, Denis McCormick, Ira Schwartz, John Payne and Mark Richards.

Mark Richards actually finished in 16th place, but was awarded the 15th berth because another contestant finished eighth and 15th with his two entries, but you can�t qualify twice for the NHC. The ironic thing was that the person who did that was Myles Richards, Mark�s brother.

Per contest rules, Myles Richards won his brother�s Horseplayer World Series berth along with Gregory Acord, Robert Yurgionas, William Jackson, Monte Engler, Paul Kirnos, Dick Harris, Robert Pelton, John A. Buckley and Chris Seruga.

Aliante Station � Dec. 6

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 1/16/09)

Sometimes the success for a horse owner or trainer is in picking the right places to run. The same is sometimes true of handicapping tournament players.

Mike Labriola, who had qualified for the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship the past two years and five times overall, had to decide where he was going to travel to in order to try to qualify the weekend of Nov. 20. He chose the first tournament at the new Aliante Station in North Las Vegas, which had just opened Nov. 11.

�I figured a lot of people would go to Keeneland this weekend,� Labriola said. �I don�t think a lot of people knew where this casino even was, plus it only had one entry per person and I thought that would keep the field size low.�

He was right as the tourney drew only 66 entrants for the two available NHC berths.

However, as much as that helped his chances, he probably would have won any tourney he entered on this day. Contestants made 15 mythical $2 win-and-place wagers with eight races being mandatory and the other seven being player�s choice, with prices capped at $42 to win and $22 to place. Labriola hit his first three optional races and was the leader when the first scoring update was posted.

Even as longshots came in at tracks all over the country, Labriola kept finding winners and led wire to wire. He finished with an impressive bankroll of $168.60 to win the $6,600 first-place prize along with the NHC berth for the finals on Jan. 23-24 at the Red Rock Resort. Anthony Baker of North Vancouver, B.C., was a distant second with a bankroll of $137.40 to win the second NHC seat along with prize money of $2,640.

Labriola and Baker, and the other handicappers who qualified at the Station Casinos family of books, will be joined by the final five NHC players that make it in the Last Chance Qualifier at the Red Rock on Wednesday, Jan. 21, two days before the finals. The entry fee for the LCQ is $500.

Meadowlands � Oct. 4

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 1/16/09)

In winning the Meadowlands, DRF/NTRA National Handicapping Championship Qualifier on Oct. 4, Roger Cettina of Rumson, N.J., showed that you don�t have to shoot for bomb after bomb to win a handicapping tournament as he topped the field of 182.

Players started with a $200 live bankroll and had to make win or place bets on 10 races from the Meadowlands, Santa Anita or Mountaineer, with at least four coming from the host track. Cettina did all of his damage at Santa Anita and Meadowlands as he was consistent throughout the night.

He started with Smoocher at 2-1 in Santa Anita�s fifth race and then had Island Sky at 3-1 in Meadowlands� opener. Other winners came in the 10th at Santa Anita with Alpine Nugget at 3-1 and a $50 win-and-place bet in the eighth at Meadowlands that returned $330. However, he didn�t take the lead for good until he bet $100 on Red Planet, a 5-1 shot in the last races at Meadowlands, and the winning payoff of $630 gave him a final total of $1,263. Since it was a live-money tournament, he was able to keep his winnings along with the $14,560 first-place prize.

Edwin Williams finished with a bankroll of $1,174 to place second and Cary Fotias finished third at $1,174 to win an additional $7,280 and $3,640, respecitvely, along with the NHC berths. Richard Roomey was just $32 short of Fotias to finish fourth, but he might have been the luckiest of all. Since Cettina had already qualified for the NHC by virtue of his second-place finish at Colonial Downs on June 26, Roomey earned the third berth.

Arlington Park � Sept. 13

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 11/26/08)

Home-course advantage sometimes come into play in horse handicapping tournaments, but it was taken to a whole new level in the inaugural Arlington Handicapping Challenge on Sept. 13.

The tournament, actually the finale of a summer-long series, was the track�s first live money handicapping contest and used just Arlington races. lllinois residents took 24 of the top 25 spots in the standings with Randy Reynolds of Springfield, the capital of Illinois, winning the tournament and claiming the automatic berth to the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship on Jan. 23-24, 2009, at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas.

The championship round of the Arlington Handicapping Challenge was open to the top three finishers in the preliminary events on May 10, May 31, June 14, June 28, July 19, Aug. 2 and Aug. 16 as well as the 125 who earned the top combined points from those contests.

In the final, contestants were required to play at least five races on the day, so a daily double would count as two races and a pick 6 would fulfill the requirement. There was no maximum number of races that could be played, and since it�s was a live-money event, there was no cap on pari-mutuel payoffs.

Reynolds turned his $100 bankroll in the finale into $909.95 to easily outdistance the competition and claim the $5,000 first-place prize in addition to the NHC berth, including round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations.

Robert Dwyer Sr., of Naperville; Dennis Hilgart Jr. of Chicago; Michael Diederick of Downers Grove; Thomas Bolek of Palatine, and Janet Stutz of Aurora finished second through sixth and earned berths in the Horseplayer World Series at the Orleans in Las Vegas in February plus a $500 travel allowance

Arlington Park � Sept. 6

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 11/26/08)

The Fall Arlington Park NTRA/DRF National Handicapping Contest Qualifier on Sept. 6 was held right smack dab in the middle of the country, but it drew players from coast to coast with five NHC berths up for grabs.

Mark Everhart of Federal Way, Wash., invaded to claim the $14,000 first-place prize with a final score of $125.20 from his 15 mythical $2 win-and-place wagers. In an attempt to make the experience just like the NHC, there were eight mandatory races with the remaining seven being player�s choice. Payoffs were capped at $42 to win and $22 to place.

Representing the East Coast, Joe Scanio of Brooklyn, N.Y. finished second with a score of $108.20 to take home the $7.500 runner-up prize. Scanio had already qualified for the NHC with a fourth-place finish at Belmont June 21-22 � when a higher finisher had already qualified to give him the last spot � so that meant the top six earned NHC berths. The other qualifiers were Mayer Kanter of Sioux City, Iowa; Kevin Kerns of Westchester, Ill.; Robert Gary of Arlington Heights, Ill.; and Marc Josefowicz of Cary, Ill.

Canterbury Park � Oct. 24-25

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 11/6/08)

Ron Geary of Louisville, Ky., and the owner/president of Ellis Park, won the sixth annual Ultimate Handicappers Invitational at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn., on Oct. 24-25 in classic fashion � the Breeders� Cup Classic, that is. The two-day tournament required a $2,000 entry fee and a $2,000 betting bankroll. Each contestant had to wager on at least 10 of the 14 Breeders� Cup races over the two days, with the final race, the Breeders� Cup Classic, being mandatory. In each race played, entrants had to wager at least one-half of their current bankroll. Players began on Friday with $1,000. The additional $1,000 was added to their Friday total for Saturday�s wagering.

Geary was eighth in the field of 21 after Friday�s races and loomed within striking distance most of the day. In the Classic he bet $50 to win and place on the winner Raven�s Pass, also hit a $50 place wager on second-place finisher Henrythenavigator and capped it off with a $1 trifecta that returned $2,395.

Geary finished with a bankroll of $4,070.58 to blow away the competition and claim the $25,200 and the coveted NHC berth. Ross Gallo of Jupiter, Fla., is the creator of the Ultimate Handicappers Invitational that stated at Dover Downs in 2003 before moving to Canterbury in 2005. However, Gallo hadn�t finished in the money until this year when he hit a 10-cent superfecta in the Classic to finish with a total of $1,023.62 for second-place winning of $8,400. Gallo had already earned an NHC berth back in June at NHCqualify.com, so the second NHC berth went to Ray Arsenault of Thornhill, Ontario, who also picked up $4,200 for finishing third.

The UHI lived up to its name as it drew a star-studded field that included six of the top 15 players in the NHC Tour standings at the time (James Henry, Bill Shurman, Mitch Schuman, Ricky Zimmer, Gallo, and Patrick Gianforte) plus former NHC champion Jamie Michelson.

Suffolk Downs � Oct. 18

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 11/18/08)

On Saturday, Oct. 18, a horse named Stormy�s Smile won the fifth race at Belmont Park and paid $153 to win and $46 to place.

At a Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship qualifying tournament at Suffolk Downs that same day, Mark Lambley of Naples, Fla., used that horse to earn the NHC berth, including round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas for the Jan. 23-24, 2009, finals and the $5,280 first-place prize.

Maybe they should rename the horse Lambley�s Smile.

The Suffolk tournament, which cost $60 to enter, drew 176 contestants from 13 states and Canada. Players made 15 mythical $2 win-and-place wagers on races from Suffolk, Belmont, Keeneland and Oak Tree at Santa Anita. All selections had to be turned in before the first contest race, so they didn�t even and there were no caps on payoffs.

Actually, four contestants used Stormy�s Smile and those four took the top four spots. But there was only one NHC spot available and that went to Lambley who cashed enough other tickets to win with a bankroll of $254.40. Pierre Poulin was a close second at $246.20 and received the consolation prize of $2,120.

Lambley will join Dean Goulet of Nashua, N.H., and Doug Beaton of Salem, N.H., in representing Suffolk Downs at the NHC. The pair of Granite-staters qualified in a previous tournament held at Suffolk on Aug. 2.

Delaware Park � Oct. 18

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 11/6/08)

NHC

Sam Brooks of Jarretsville, Md., doesn�t need to keep playing in qualifying tournaments for the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship to earn a berth in the finals as he did that in the Kentucky Oaks & Derby Challenge online contest back in May.

But he keeps playing to try and win the NHC Tour, a yearlong contest for members of the tour who earn points based on their performance in the qualifying tournaments from coast to coast and online. The Tour champion wins $100,000 and is then eligible for a $2 million bonus if they go on to win NHC X at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas on Jan. 23-24, 2009.

So, there Brooks was at Delaware Park on Oct. 18 for the tracks� Major Handicapping Tournament to take on a field of NHC hopefuls as well as other members of the Tour looking to pick up points. The 436 contestants put up $300 apiece, $100 of which went to the prize pool and the other $200 to be used as a live bankroll. Players were limited to the win, place and show pools and had to make a minimum of 10 contest plays of at least $20 (no maximums on either) on races at Delaware, Belmont, Keeneland, Laurel, Philadelphia and Calder.

When the dust had settled, Brooks had turned his $200 bankroll into $4,215 to claim the first-place prize of $21,000 and vault himself into the lead of the NHC Tour with his third victory of the year. Since it�s a live-bankroll tourney, players keep their pari-mutuel winnings in addition to the prize money.

Paul Shurman of Dix Hills, N.Y., finished second with a bankroll of $3,920 to pick up an extra 7,200. Las Vegas resident Edward De�Ath, who was leading going into the final race, held on for third at $3,663 to pick up an additional $4,900. Tom Owen of Waverly, N.Y. finished fourth.

This tournament was slated to give NHC berths, including round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations at the Red Rock, to the top three finisher. Shurman qualified for the seventh time in the 10-year history of the NHC, passing his brother William who qualified for the sixth time earlier this year, but since Brooks, De�Ath and Owen had previously qualified (again showing how the NHC Tour has been a success at keeping players competing in tournaments throughout the year), the last two spots go to fifth- and sixth-place finishers Sean Nolan of Alexandria, Virginia, and Brad Taylor of Bensalem, Penn.

Meadowlands � Oct. 4

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 11/18/08)

Back on July 26at Colonial Downs, Roger Cettina, 41, of Rumson, N.J., led a tournament heading into the final race only to be passed at the wire and finish second.

On Oct. 4, at the Meadowlands DRF/NTRA National Handicapping Championship Qualifier, Cettina was sitting just off the pace and scored with a winner in the final race -- $100 to win on 5-1 shot Red Planet in the last race at Meadowlands � to take the top spot in the live bankroll tournament.

Since Cettina qualified in that Colonial tourney, Meadowlands awarded their three NHC berths to the second- through fourth-place finishers: Edwin Williams, Cary Fotias and Richard Roomey.

A total of 182 players paid an entry fee of $200 and then started with a $200 live bankroll and had to make win or place bets on 10 races from the Meadowlands, Santa Anita or Mountaineer, with at least four coming from the host track.

Red Planet gave Cettina a final bankroll of $1,263 � which he was able to keep � and earned him the first-place prize of $14,560. He had four previous winners during the contest, all in the 2-1 to 3-1 range. He started with Smoocher in the fifth race at Santa Anita and Island Sky in the first race at Meadowlands and added Alpine Nugget in the 10th race at Santa Anita and Awakino in the eighth at Meadowlands. That final one was $50 to win and place as he increased his wagers during the course of the tourney.

Williams finished with a bankroll of $1,174 to collect second-prize money of $7,280. Fotias was third at $1,096 and wins $3,640 from the purse. Roomey, who wouldn�t have qualified except for Cettina already having his berth, finished fourth at $1,064 and picked up an additional $2,730.

In addition to their pari-mutuel winnings and prize money, they earn the NHC berths for the finals on Jan. 23-24, 2009, at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, including round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations.

Fairplex � Sept. 20-21

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 10/2/08)

In the fifth of five Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship qualifying tournaments hosted by Fairplex Park in the month of September, the Californians took back control of their tournaments by sweeping the top three spots.

The entry fee was $200 and contestants made mythical $20 across-the-board wagers on the last eight races at Fairplex Park on each day of the tourney. Payoffs were capped at $50 to win, $30 to place and $15 to show. Berths in the NHC, including roundtrip airfare and hotel accommodations at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas during the finals, was slated to be awarded to the top three finishers.

The tournament drew a field of 168 and Steve Pollack of La Mesa, Calif., kept the top $10,000 top prize in the state after rallying to win. Mike Acosta of Burbank, Calif., nearly led gate to wire but ended up settling for the runner-up prize of $5,000. Cheryl Britt of Hacienda Heights, Calif., actually finished third but had already qualified, so the last NHC berth went to Tim Downs of San Diego, Calif., who qualified at Fairplex for the second year in a row and earned an additional $2,500.

Fairplex � Sept. 19

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 10/2/08)

In the first three Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship qualifying tournaments held at Fairplex Park during its September, Californians had take first place despite fields that drew top handicappers from throughout the country.

But in the Friday Mini Tournament on Sept. 12, the invaders had their day.

These contests, held the last two Fridays of the meet, are open only to the first 50 to register and pay the $300 entry fee. The top three finishers earn NHC berths while the top 15 also earn free entry in to the Weekend Tournaments.

Contestants made mythical $20 across-the-board wagers on the last 11 races at Fairplex Park. Payoffs were capped at $50 to win, $30 to place and $15 to show. Berths in the NHC, including roundtrip airfare and hotel accommodations at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas during the finals, was slated to be awarded to the top three finishers. No prize money was offered in the mini-tournaments.

Ed De�Ath of Las Vegas won the tournament but he had previously qualified on Aug. 30 at the Green Valley Ranch Resort in Henderson, Nev., so he was just playing for NHC Tour points. Damian Roncevich of Honolulu, Hawaii., finished second to take the top qualifying spot. Robert Garcia of Incline Village, Nev., finished third to take the second NHC spot. The top three finishers all had used 70-1 longshot Black Princess in the first contest race to jump out to a huge lead and all hung on throughout the day.

Fourth-place finisher James Henry had also already qualified, so the third and last NHC berth went to fifth-place finisher Don Beardsworth of Peoria, Ariz. Beardsworth finished second in the NHC finals last January and won $150,000.

Fairplex � Sept. 13-14

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 10/2/08)

Dan Brockman of La Verne, Calif., is not a household name even on the handicapping tournament circuit but he took home the victory in one of the deepest qualifying tournaments for the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship.

The second of three Two-Day Weekend Tournaments at Fairplex Park was held Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 13 and 14.

The tournament drew a field of 175 and included four NHC champions (Judy Wagner, Kent Meyer, Stanley Bavlish, and defending champion Richard Goodall) and well as other tournament standouts such as Dennis Decauwer, Bryan Carney, Sol Feingold, Craig & Cheryl Kaufman, Bryan Wagner, Steve Hartshorn, Paul Matties Jr., Mike Superstein, Patrick Gianforte, Horseplayer Magazine Owner/Publisher Tom Quigley, track announcer Bill Downes, William Shurman, Sally Goodall, Mark Bertolucci, Robert Bertolucci, Michael Ray, Joe Scanio, Tim Downs, and Kevin Geraghty.

Brockman was near the lead from the start and held off all challenges to finish with 1,850 points. In addition to his NHC package, he won $10,250. Tosca Bertolucci of San Meteo, Calif., was a close second at 1,834. The matriarch of the Bertolucci family took second-place, which was worth $5,250; and Brad Blackmore collected $2,750 for third with 1,820 points.

Fairplex � Sept. 12

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 10/2/08)

After holding just a Saturday/Sunday tournament on opening weekend, Fairplex added a weekly Friday Mini Tournament on Sept. 12.

These contests, held the last two Fridays of the meet, were open only to the first 50 to register and pay the $300 entry fee. The top three finishers earned berths in the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping while the top 15 also earn free entry in to the Weekend Tournaments.

Tom Noone of Redondo Beach, Calif.; Pete Sluis, of Sam Dimas, Calif.; and Bart Fooden of Point Lookoutn N.J., won the three NHC berths after all three used 20-1 longshot Tikolino in the eighth race, a maiden claiming race, and help off all challengers.

Noone was qualifying for the third time at Fairplex while Sluis and Fooden were first-time qualifiers.

Fairplex � Sept. 6-7

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 10/2/08)

Fairplex kicked off its ambitious September schedule � in which the track awarded 15 berths to the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship on Jan. 23-24, 2009 � with a Two-Day Weekend Tournament on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 6 and 7.

This first tournament drew 144 entries with Sheri Scholz of West Covina, Calf., coming out on top and earning $9,500 in prize money. Her husband had already qualified for the NHC so she was trying to join him � and she succeeded when Martin Kirby�s Glue Foot was brought home first by jockey Martin Pedroze in the 11th race and paid $26,40 to win, $11 to place and $5.60 to show.

Ruben Fernandez of Ontario, Calif., finished second to collect $4,500 in winnings while Ed Carducci of Pormona, Calif., finished third to earn $2,300. All three were first-time qualifiers and none were members of the NHC Tour.

Northlands Park � Sept. 6-7

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 9/30/08)

Three local horseplayers took down the three Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship berths at the 5th Annual NHC Qualifying Event at Northlands Park in Edmonton, Alberta, on Sept. 6-7.

Richard Lee of Calgary, Alberta, and Vic Kleparchuk and Chris James, both ofEdmonton, Alberta, earned the NHC berths, which also include roundtrip airfare and hotel accommodations.

The Northlands tournament drew 150 entrants who put up either $125 if they were members of the Players� Club and $175 for non-members. All contestants made 15 mythical $2 win-and-place wagers on Saturday, Sept. 6, with 10 of them being mandatory races, and then on Sunday, Sept. 7, there were again 15 races to play but only five were mandatory.

On the first day, John VanRiper had the top score of $113.70 to earn the $302 prize for the top score, but Sunday�s scores were much higher.

Lee finished with a score of $249 to claim the $9,060 winnings along with the NHC berth. Kleparchuk finished second with $242.80 and collect $2,265 for second.

Roy Yip of Vancouver, British Columbia, actually finished third, but since he had already qualified for the NHC the final berth went to James, who not only lucked out with the NHC berth but he took third by a mere $.60 as he had $207.60 to Brian Scott�s $207. It was fitting that someone got in due to Yip having previously qualified because he had finished sevenths in the April 26 NHCqualify.com event that gave away six NHC berths but make the field when a player ahead of him had previously qualified.

Del Mar � July 16-Sept. 3

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 11/18/08)

There was nothing rotten about the way John Dinisi won the Del Mar Online Handicapping Challenge and earned an entry in the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship on Jan. 23-24, 2009, at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas.

While most qualifiers had to pay entry fees to play in qualifying tournaments and many have the added expenses of traveling to the host site, the Del Mar Online Handicapping Challenge was free and could be played from the comfort of home for horseplayers from coast to coast. A total of 6,166 North American horseplayers took part in the competition.

The track designated a contest race each day and players could wager up to $100 mythical dollars on win, place or show in any combination they wanted. Players were then ranked by their net earnings.

Dinisi, who lives in Upland, Calif., and used the online alias �Johnnyrotten,� played 40 of the meet�s 43 days and showed an impressive overall profit of $7,350, more than $500 ahead of his nearest competitor, who went by the name �Icanpicksix� and finished with a total profit of $6,810, and more than a grand ahead of �Badactor� at 6,280.

Monmouth � May 31-Sept. 1

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 11/18/08)

Most qualifying tournaments for the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship take place over a day or two, but the three qualifiers in Monmouth Park�s fourth annual Survival at the Shore Online Challenge had to outlast the competition for the majority of the summer.

A total of 2,899 competed in the tournament from Memorial Day to Labor Day as contestants chose three horses each day at Monmouth to finish in the money. Players that went 0-for-3 were given a �life preserver� as a second chance and weren�t eliminated until they lost another time. Additional life preservers were awarded at the end of June and July to help players survive longer. Mythical $2 across-the-board wagers were placed on each selection to determine the standings.

At the conclusion of the contest, three players proved best and earned NHC berths for the finals on Jan. 23-24, 2009, at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, including round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations: John Williams, of Baltimore, Md., Michael Murphy of Holland, Pa., and Ralph Magnetti of Stormville, N.Y.

Williams, playing under the online alias of Gridlock214, earned the highest bankroll of $1,428.20 to finish first and collect the $1,000 cash prize.

Most contestants play it safe to try and stay alive each day, but Williams mixed it up.

�I was taking some chances with long shots,� Williams said after earning his first NHC berth after starting to play contests the past three years.

Murphy, who played under the name RainbowBlue, compiled a bankroll of $1,307.10 to finish just $2.90 ahead of Magnetti, who used the name Mbralph and scored $1,304.20. Murphy won $500 and two airline tickets to anywhere in the continental United States while Magnetti earned $500 and an IPod Nano.

Horsemen's Park � Aug. 30

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 11/18/08)

The Summer Champions Contest at Horsemen�s Park on Saturday, Aug. 30, was a race for one berth in the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship and it couldn�t have come down to more of a photo finish.

Contestants made 15 mythical $2 win-and-place wagers on the day with eight of the races being mandatory. Larry Carroll ended up earning the NHC berth for the finals on Jan. 23-24, 2009, at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, including round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations, with a final score of $130. Al Furby was just 80 cents behind at $129.20 with Mike Hood another 20 cents back at $129.

The entry fee was $100, though it was free to those who finished in the top 10 of preliminary contests at Horsemen�s Park on Aug. 2, Aug. 9, Aug. 17 and Aug. 23.

In addition to the NHC berth and his trip to Vegas, Carroll collected the $1,500 first-place prize while Furby settled for $1,000 with $750 to Hood as the track paid out to the top 10 finishers.

Carroll will join Dennis Savage and Steve Walker, the top two finishers from the Spring Champions Contest, in representing Horsemen�s at the NHC.

NHCqualify.com � Aug. 30

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 10/2/08)

Just like the NHCQualify.com One-Day Contest held a week earlier, the Aug. 30 event drew a strong field of 150 contestants that including a lot trying to earn an berth to the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship as well as those who had previously qualified and were trying to improve their standings on the NHC Tour.

And just like the previous week, a former champion secured a trip to the finals. Ron Rippey, 64, of Wayne, N.J., who famously won NHC VII in a thrilling finish that was broadcast on ESPN2, finished third to punch his ticket back to Las Vegas. Rippey is a fixture on the handicapping tournament circuit, but he�s been conspicuously absent a lot this year. He had colon surgery in July and then complications that led to a second surgery. After returning home, he developed an infection and 103.6-degree fever that sent him back to the emergency room

�Ironically, I had been in a funk trying to figure out how and when to qualify for NTRA prior to surgery only to click in NHC qualifying online from home between hospital stays,� said Rippey, who added he was only playing in his fifth tournament compared to 27 last year when he didn�t qualify until January.
NHC will now be playing in his fifth NHC finals.

This NHCqualify.com tourney required players to make 12 mythical $2 win-and-place wagers on races chosen by tournament organizers.
Michael Teal, 52, of Suffolk, Va., actually won the tournament with a score of $123.30. He had four winners on the day, starting with First Defence ($17.60 to win) in Saratoga�s ninth race, which was the second of the contest, and then cleaning up at Del Mar with Alpha Kitten ($9.60) in the fifth race, J P Jammer ($24.60) in the seventh and Unusual Jane ($25.60) in the eighth.

Lorne Weiss, 49, of Thornhill, Ontario, finished second with a score of $116.20. He also used J P Hammer and Unusual Jane to boost his total. Weiss also finished in fifth place with a second entry, so that meant that an extra spot beyond the sixth-place cutoff would win the spot in the NHC finals.

After Rippey, the other qualifiers were Christopher Goodall, 41, of Naples, Fla.; Jason Albano, 33, of Lindenhurst, N.Y., and Joseph Koury, 44, Douglassvlle, Pa.

Woodbine � Aug. 23-24

By DAVE TULEY (Post 9/30/08)

Tony Natale, John Wolfe and Jack DiCenso won the three Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship berths that were up for grabs in the Thoroughbred Handicapping Challenge at Woodbine Racetrack in Etobicoke, Ontario, on Aug. 23-24.

A total of 257 entrants put up the $250 entry fee and played for the purse of $64,250. Contestants made 10 mythical $2 win-and-place wagers on each day of the two-day event with three races each day being mandatory and the other seven being player�s choice from the contest tracks of Woodbine, Saratoga, Fort Erie and seven races from Arlington Park

Wolfe set the early pace as he built his $40 in Saturday plays into $143.90 to lead after Day 1 and collect the $3,000 daily prize.

Natale barely showed a profit on Saturday with just a total of $44.80 but rallied Sunday to finish with the top score of $191.60, edging out Wolfe at $182.50 and third-place finisher DiCenso at $180.50.

All three win roundtrip airfare and hotel accommodations at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas as part of their NHC berths, but Natale was the big winner as he took down the $26,662.50 top prize at Woodbine. Wolfe settled for $13,035 for second while DiCenso won $6,617 for third. There was no Day 2 daily prizes, though it�s interesting to note that Natale would have won that by 20 cents ($146.80-$146.60) over DiCenso.

Canterbury Park � Aug. 23-24

By DAVE TULEY (Post 9/30/08)

James Henderson, 56, of North Olmsted, Ohio, is getting used to these handicapping tournaments.

Henderson played in his first tournament at Penn National in 1988 and didn�t play again until 2007 at the Orleans in Las Vegas when he finished in the money and qualified for the Horseplayer World Series in January 2008, where he finished third. He then won the Gold Coast Summer Classic in July.

On Aug. 23-24, he played in the 12th annual Dog Days of Summer Handicapping Tournament at Canterbury Downs in Shakapee, Minn., and won first place to qualify for the Jan. 23-24 finals of the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas.

Fred Kanter of Lyndhurst, Ohio, finished second to win the other NHC berth, which includes roundtrip airfare and hotel accommodations.

The Dog Days of Summer took place over the Saturday and Sunday with contestants starting with a $400 live bankroll and an �anything goes� format with any track and any mutuel pool (even multi-race wagers that are banned in other tourneys) available at Canterbury those days being fair game.

Henderson grabbed an early lead when he hit a dime superfecta on Saratoga�s fourth race on Saturday for $4,481 when 30-1 Missinglisalewis won followed by horses at odds of 23-1, 8-1, and 23-1. By the end of the day, Henderson had built his bankroll to $5,103. He had bought the maximum two entries and his other entry was in second place at $1,452.

Henderson was able to coast home on the second and finished with a bankroll of $3,903.76 and added the $2,260 first-place prize to his earnings.

Kanter had to rally for his NHC berth. After Day 1, he was in 20th position as his bankroll dipped to $370. He started Sunday even worse as he dropped to $140 at one point, but then a score in Mountaineer�s seventh race boosted him to $994. He figured out what it would take to get to second place (which at that point was around $2000) for the NHC berth and place a $600 win bet on Go Between in the Pacific Classic. Kanter did indeed jump into second place and finished with a bankroll of $2,544.50 and added $1,970 second-place money.

Dan Lynch of Owasso, Okla., finished third with $2,035 and collected show money of $1,310.

Other upcoming NHC qualifiers on the Canterbury schedule are the Ultimate Handicappers Invitational, previously a one-day tourney but now held over the two-day Breeders� Cup on Oct. 24-25, and the Last Chance Freeze-Out on Dec. 27.

NHCqualify.com � Aug. 23

By DAVE TULEY (Post 9/30/08)

The NHCQualify.com One-Day Contest on Saturday, Aug. 23, drew a top-notch field of those either trying to earn their berth in the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship or to improve their standings on the NHC Tour.

The top two finishers in the $400 buy-in online tournament that was open to the first 150 entrants, Ross Gallo, 48, of Jupiter, Fla., and William Shurman, 49, of Danville, Calif., had already previously earned their NHC trips for the seventh and sixth times, respectively. Gallo won his berth in the NHCqualify.com tourney in June while Shurman secured his spot back in the Battle of the Handicapping Stars back on March 8-9 at Santa Anita. But the beauty of this year�s inaugural NHC Tour is that qualifiers keep playing in tournaments to try and win or place high on the NHC Tour.

This tourney required players to make 12 mythical $2 win-and-place wagers on races chosen by tournament organizers. Gallo had the top score of $120.30 with Shurman at $105.10. Gallo�s big winner was Slambino in Saratoga�s seventh race, which was capped at $42 to win and $22 to place for $64 in contest earnings. Gallo padded his total with six horses that finished second. His only other winner was Costa Marta in Del Mar�s 11th race, paying $12.40 to win and $5.60 to place.

Tournament rules allowed for 1 NHC berth for every 25 entrants, but since Gallo and Shurman had both previously qualified, the next six finishers earned the NHC berths: George Turner, 45, of Ocracoke, N.C.; Gary Johnson, 51, of Maple Heights, Ohio; Thomas Mooney, 55, of Lindenhurst, N.Y.; Wes Berman, 59, of Boca Raton, Fla.; Judy Wagner, 58, of New Orleans, La,; and Leonard Wong, 51, of Calgary, Canada.

Wagner won NHC II back in January 2001 and is heading to the finals for the sixth time overall. She had three mid-priced winners earlier on the card, ranging from $10.40 to $15 to win, but needed Costa Marta to earn her return NHC trip.

Monmouth Park � Aug. 23

By DAVE TULEY (Post 9/30/08)

Patrick Famularo lost his glasses during the Monmouth Park Handicapping Contest on Saturday, Aug. 23, but in the end he saw his way to Las Vegas by coming from behind to win the tourney and grab one of two berths to the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship on Jan. 23-24, 2009, at the Red Rock Resort.

Players started with a $100 live bankroll and had to make win or place bets on 10 live races from Monmouth or Saratoga with at least five coming at the host track. Famularo, a New Jersey native, was in the top five during the first half of the day and then dropped back to 12th place.

�Someone stole my glasses and I couldn�t read the program,� Famularo said. �I had to put the program on the floor and read from my chair.�

However, he overcame that obstacle when he bet $360 to win and $100 to place on a longshot in Saratoga�s last race. When the horse won and returned $21.40 to win and $7.40 to place, Famularo leap-frogged the competition to finish with a final bankroll of $4,292. Famularo�s total investment was $200 as there was also a $100 entry fee that went to prize money, of which Famularo took home to the top prize of $11,450.

John Pappalardo also used the same horse to circle the field and finish second with a bankroll of $3,884.60 and pick up an additional $4,580 for his runner-up finish. Both Famularo and Pappalardo will also receive roundtrip airfare and hotel accommodations for the NHC finals. Former leader Brian Schwade finished third at $3,697.50 and added another $2,748 but doesn�t receive the trip to Las Vegas.

Ellis Park � Aug. 16

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 9/16/08)

Rich Nilsen, 37, of Lexington, Ky., knows a thing or two about handicapping tournaments, as the Marketing Director for both Brisnet.com and his involvement in helping to run the Twinspires.com Leaderboard tourneys. He had also qualified for the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship five times himself as a player in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2007.

But even he was challenged when participating in the Ultimate Handicappers Challenge at Ellis Park on Saturday, Aug. 16.

A total of 37 contestants put up the $1,000 to compete with $500 used as a live bankroll. Players then had to play at least six out of eight Ellis Park races that day and risk at least half of his/her bankroll at any given time. All bets within any of the races were allowed, meaning multi-race wagers such as pick 3, pick 4 and pick 6 were not permitted.

Nilsen had the maximum two entries. One of them he considered his �a� ticket but after hitting the last three races on both tickets, his �other� ticket leapfrogged to the top of the leaderboard in the final race when he hit the trifecta and exacta six times. His new top ticket finished with a bankroll of $2,530 to barely nip Eric Isaacson, 25, of Indianapolis, who accumulated $2,515. In addition to keeping their real-money winnings, Nilsen collected $10,175 for first with Isaacson adding $3,700 to his total. Nilsen also finished third with a bankroll of $2,330 to add another $1,850 in earnings, but since he already qualified for the NHC, the third berth went to fourth-place finisher John E. Bindner, 70, of Benton, Ark., who scored $1,723.90 and collected an additional $1,110.

All three also earn roundtrip airfare to the NHC finals to be held Jan. 23-24, 2009 at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas along with hotel accommodations.

After receiving congratulations for his tournament victory, Nilsen was the one handing out kudos.

�I would like to thank Ross Gallo for coming up with this innovative contest structure, which at first was a very intimidating tournament format,� Nilsen said. �I'm thrilled to represent Ron Geary and Ellis Park, a track that is setting the standard for how horseplayers should be treated."

Nilsen, who finished eighth overall in the 2002 NHC and was a member of the first-place team from Keeneland, has now qualified of the NHC six times with five of them coming in tournament wins.

Hoosier Park � Aug. 9

By DAVE TULEY (Posted 9/16/08)

When it came time for Hoosier Park to award its three Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship berths at its qualifying tournament on Saturday, Aug. 9, it was to three familiar faces.

Joe Whitacre, 69, of Springfield, Ohio; Linda Scott, 64, of Hudson, Fla., and Tom Kappel, 56, of St. Louis, Mo., are all regular participants in the annual NHC qualifier that requires participants to pay $150 to enter and make 15 mythical $2 win-and-place wagers on 15 mandatory races that were posted the week of the contest. Payoffs were capped at $42 to win and $22 to place. This year�s field includes 126 players who bought a total of 205 entries.

It was fairly chalky early on with only a few mid-price horses finishing in the top two of the contest races. The top of the leader board didn't change much through the first third of the contest with Whitacre and Scott setting the early pace. The Arlington Million, which was the 12th contest race, shook things up as Spirit One won at 13-1 and dropped Whitacre and Scott a few spots, but they each cashed on the final three races to work their way back to the top of the leaderboard.

Whitacre finished with a score of $121.20 to pick up the top cash prize of $8,000 with Scott finishing second by a thin dime at $121.10 to settle for place money of $3,500. Kappel, who also qualified at Hoosier Park in 2006, scored $115.40 to earn $1,500. All three earn NHC berths in the finals to be held at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas along with roundtrip airfare and hotel accommodations.

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

Chris Panos-left
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.