Defending champion Brian Troop heads a record field of 305 horseplayers who
will gather at Red Rock Casino, Resort and Spa, in Las Vegas, Nevada, on January
28-29 to vie for horse racing’s official title of “Handicapper of the Year” and
a first-place prize of $500,000 in the $1,119,000 Daily Racing Form/NTRA
National Handicapping Championship (NHC). The total estimated purse, which will
be adjusted next Wednesday pending turnout at Red Rock’s Last Chance tournament,
represents an NHC record.
The NHC has enjoyed outstanding growth since its inception. By way of
comparison, the first NHC in January 2000 carried a total prize pool of $200,000
and a winner’s share of $100,000.
“We are delighted to return to Red Rock in Las Vegas for what has become the
most anticipated tournament in the world among horseplayers,” said Keith
Chamblin, senior vice president of the NTRA. “This year’s field of 305 is our
biggest ever, which means this year’s NHC will be not only the richest but the
most competitive in the event’s history.”
As the 2010 Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship
winner, Brian Troop of Barrie, Ontario, Canada, received a special exemption
into the tournament to defend the title he won last January when he bested 301
other horseplayers in the two-day competition. The 62-year-old accountant won by
amassing a mythical bankroll of $266 from a total of 30 $2 win-and-place wagers
pared from a mind-numbing menu of more than 130 races run at seven different
tracks.
Troop, who took over the lead last year early on in Day 1 and never looked
back, will look to become the first ever two-time winner of the NHC, but he will
face five other past champions who qualified for the finals this year. Judy
Wagner, Steve Wolfson Jr., Ron Rippey, Stanley Bavlish and Richard Goodall —
the winners of NHC II, NHC IV, NHC VII, NHC VIII and NHC IX, respectively —
will all be in the field with the same goal of a historic win in Las Vegas.
Contestant Tom Noone of Redondo Beach, California, will be hoping to make NHC
history of a different kind. As the winner of the third annual NHC Tour in 2010,
Noone not only won a $75,000 bonus for his top scores in the year’s NHC
qualifying events, he is eligible to receive a $2 million bonus should he emerge
victorious in next week’s competition. So a win by Noone in Las Vegas would
result in a payday of $2.5 million ($500,000 first-place NHC purse plus $2
million NHC Tour bonus).
In its 12th year, the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping
Championship is the most important tournament of the year for horseplayers and
is the culmination of a year-long series of NTRA-sanctioned local tournaments
conducted by racetracks, casino racebooks, off-track betting facilities and
horse racing and handicapping web sites, each of which sends its top qualifiers
to the national finals. This year’s finalists advanced from one of 109 local
tournaments held at more than 50 different sites across North America since
January 2010.
So far, more than 100,000 people have participated in these local
tournaments. In addition, a “last chance” tournament will be held at Red Rock on
January 26 in order to fill the remaining five starting berths in the field of
305. Red Rock will also host the second annual “Red Rock Shootout” on January
30. The Sunday contest is a qualifying event for the 2011-12 contest year.
The tournament format for the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National
Handicapping Championship is meant to be the best possible test of overall
handicapping ability. Players attempt to earn the highest possible bankroll
based on 15 mythical $2 win-and-place wagers on each day of the two-day
tournament. Eight of those wagers will be on mandatory races as selected by a
panel comprised of Daily Racing Form National Handicapper Mike
Watchmaker, NTRA Senior Director of Media Relations Eric Wing and Red Rock
Casino Director of Race and Sports Jason McCormick.
The remaining seven races each day are optional plays to be made on races at
one of eight designated NHC tournament tracks: Aqueduct, Fair Grounds, Golden
Gate Fields, Gulfstream Park, Oaklawn Park, Santa Anita Park, Tampa Bay Downs
and Turf Paradise.
Regular Championship updates will be posted on the Internet throughout the
two-day contest at ntra.com.