After a year-over-year dip in November, all-sources average daily handle at Fair Grounds rebounded nicely in December and as of Jan. 1 was up 5 percent compared with a similar period in 2013.
For the 24 cards during November and December at this meet, Fair Grounds averaged $2,379,516 from all betting sources on its live product. The 25 November and December cards in 2013 produced an average daily handle of $2,261,990.
Roman Chapa, the Texas-based jockey who was banned by the Texas Racing Commission on Jan. 19 for allegedly using an electrical device on a horse at Sam Houston Race Park two days earlier, has been charged with a felony by a county district attorney, Texas law enforcement officials said Tuesday.
John O’Neil, a small-business owner from Huntington Station, N.Y., became the 16th winner of the National Handicapping Championship on Sunday night at Treasure Island in Las Vegas. He got a check for $800,000 for his efforts.
O’Neil is a handicapping contest veteran. He has won numerous smaller tournaments back East, including three in a row at one point at Suffolk OTB and two at the Meadowlands. This was the fifth time he’d qualified for the NHC – his best previous finish was in 2011 when he ended up 16th.
SEATTLE – Jerre Paxton, a titan in the Pacific Northwest breeding industry and charter member of the Washington Racing Hall of Fame, died Sunday evening at his Seattle home. The cause was an apparent heart attack, family members said. Paxton was 76.
Paxton, who owned Northwest Farms in Yakima, Wash., bred 12 state champions and ranked No. 1 at Emerald Downs with 37 career stakes victories.
The single most cited reason why horseplayers love handicapping contests is the camaraderie. Lifelong friendships are made in the contest room. But having friends in the contest doesn't just mean you'll have more fun - it can also help you win.
John O’Neil won $800,000 at the DRF/NTRA National Handicapping Championship in a field that included 606 entries. Over the three-day tournament, he compiled a score of $327.20 from 47 mythical $2 win and place bets – 15 each on Friday and Saturday, 10 in Sunday morning’s Final 50 contest, and seven in the climactic Final Table contest exclusive to the overall top 10. The NHC offered record overall prize money of $2.363 million.
O’Neil, 74, a small-business owner from Huntington Station, N.Y., described his work life.
The 16th annual DRF/NTRA National Handicapping Championship is down to 10 players, led by Ken Jordan of Farmingdale, N.J., and his $283.30 bankroll. The 10 leaders will compete in the Final Table tournament this afternoon to settle the ultimate placings, including the $800,000 first-place prize and Eclipse Award winner.
Bob Neumeier, the longtime NBC Sports handicapper and Boston sportscaster, won the DRF/NTRA National Handicapping Championship Charity Challenge on Saturday. A check in Neumeier’s name for $5,000 will be made to Old Friends, the Thoroughbred retirement nonprofit with farms in Kentucky and upstate New York, and another $5,000 to a charity of his choosing.
The stewards were forced to scratch eight horses from Sunday’s card at Aqueduct after the racing office erroneously allowed them to be entered in violation of a rule the New York Racing Association put in place just nine days ago.
The scratches resulted into NYRA having to offer two fields of three horses and one of four.
Horseplayers complain about bad beats all the time. But how about Chris Larmey? The man knows how it feels to lose out on winning $1 million by a nose. But he exorcised a demon Saturday during the second day of the DRF/NTRA National Handicapping Championship at Treasure Island in Las Vegas.
"I still have painful memories of watching my friend, and handicapping contest partner, Dave Flanzbaum, lose to Michael Beychok when Michael’s horse barely got up to win the last race of the day by a nose," said Larmey, now the head of the NHC Players' Committee.
