NHC 2026: Final group of 83 entries set to battle for Horseplayer of Year title

Tammy Johns of Meridian, Idaho, leads a field of 83 entries still eligible for the title of Horseplayer of the Year heading into the final day of National Horseplayers Championship on Sunday at Horseshoe Las Vegas.

The field of 828 entries was cut to the top 10 percent after two days of contest play on Saturday. Under the contest rules, players make mythical $2 win and place wagers on races from an array of tracks selected by the contest organizers. Some of the races are mandatory for all players.

The final 83 will compete in the NHC semi-final round on Sunday morning, making 10 plays from races at Aqueduct (races 1-4), Fair Grounds (1-3), Gulfstream (1-4), Laurel (1-6), Oaklawn (1-3) and Tampa Bay (1-5). The top 10 after those races will be earn a spot in Sunday afternoon's “Final Table.”

The Final Table will consist of seven races – Fair Grounds (race 5), Aqueduct (race 7), Tampa Bay (race 9), Oaklawn (race 8), Gulfstream (race 10), Oaklawn (race 9), and Santa Anita (race 5).

The top 10 will compete for the $825,000 first-place prize in addition to an Eclipse Award as the 2026 Horseplayer of the Year. Each of the top 83 are guaranteed a prize of at least $10,000.

“I’m feeling really good. I’m a little tired – I’ve been up handicapping a couple nights in a row, but I feel good,” Johns, the wife of 2022 NHC Tour winner Jay Johns, to the NTRA. “My husband gave me good advice way back in the day. I used to throw all the longshots in there, and he’s like, ‘That’s a really bad strategy.’ So basically, I’m playing smallball? Get on base, get a hit, and just keep winning, whether it’s five dollars, whether it’s forty, whether it’s ten, you kinda need them all. I think that’s what I’ll continue to do.”

Johns is trying to become the first woman to win the NHC since Judy Wagner in 2001.

The semifinalists include Dan Piazza who won the NHC in 2025. He is attempting to become the first two-time winner of the NHC and starts Sunday in fifth place.

A complete list of the semifinalists and their totals heading into the final day:

1 Tammy Johns-1 248.62

2 Richard Sugimoto-1 246.62

3 James Lisowsky-2 246.6

4 Stephen Lerma-1 240.8

5 Dan Piazza-1 RL 234.74

6 Kenneth Peck-1 232.58

7 Jose Cortez-2 232.48

8 Edward Masry-1 232.2

9 Frank Polk-1 231

10 Roger Mcdow-1 229

11 Tarik Kouchtaf-2 223.6

12 Tommy Lenberg-2 221.54

13 Thomas Labordo-1 221.02

14 Pat Stich-2 218.62

15 Kevin Lux-1 218.4

16 Jim Colbert-1 217.8

17 Alan Hoffman-2 217.66

18 Julie Jorgensen-1 217.34

19 Jeff VanDrie-2 215.4

20 Tom Arndt-2 213.62

21 Joseph Costello-1 209.4

22 Steve Arrison-1 208

23 Michael Saletta-1 207.86

24 Dylan Donnelly-1 207.84

25 Jeffrey Pesot-2 206.64

26 Jim Henry-1 206.6

27 Brian Allen-1 206.38

28 GT Nixon-2 204.34

29 Kenneth Jordan-2 203.94

30 Terrence Frank-2 203.16

31 Peter Yan-2 202.46

32 Matthew Trommer-1 201.52

33 Matt Mcmillan-2 200.78

34 Allan Schaffer-2 199.14

35 David Decauwer-1 197.8

36 Cheryl McIntyre-1 197.1

37 Ryan Tyreman-2 194.46

38 Steve Taracks-1 194.08

39 Matthew Ache-2 193.8

40 David McCarty-1 191.94

41 Michael Foster-1 190.42

42 Edward Enborg-2 190.4

43 Paul Kloeker-1 189.98

44 Nick Kochanski-1 189.2

45 Evan Topol-2 188.2

46 Basil Devito-2 187.72

47 Robert Tacher-1 187.26

48 Wes Herek-1 187.2

49 Raymond Sainz-1 186.46

50 Michael Kavana-2 185.58

51 James Orban-1 184.62

52 Jerome Linderman-2 184.34

53 Thomas Mayberry-2 183.74

54 Philip Fairbanks-1 183.58

55 Louis Masry-1 183.44

56 Tom Rapps-1 182.06

57 Mark Heider-1 182.02

58 Charley Witt-1 182

59 Steve Taracks-2 181.36

60 Tom Ryan-1 181.08

61 TJ Taylor-1 181

62 Scott Fiedler-2 180.98

63 John Gaspar-1 180.94

64 Ronald Tang-1 180.4

65 Pete Acocella-2 180.32

66 Louis Masry-2 180.22

67 Rich Nilsen-1 180.12

68 Lonnie Goldfeder-1 179.14

69 Aaron Bernstein-1 178.24

70 Robin Buser-2 178.22

71 Robert Dolan-1 178

72 Tommy Lenberg-1 177.4

73 Eric Boyd-2 177.06

74 Mike McIntyre-1 176.82

75 Stephen Thompson-1 176.4

76 Bob White-1 176.2

77 Wayne Eigelbach-1 176

78 Craig Hom-1 175.8

79 Christopher Podratz-2 175.58

80 Paul Junkersfeld-1 175.2

81 Peter Osella-1 174.94

82 Jeannie King-1 174.88

83 Alan Levitt-1 174.8

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