Political strategist and commentator James Carville,
actress and model Bo Derek, and former NBA coach and ESPN/ABC analyst Avery
Johnson are among the high-profile Thoroughbred racing fans and supporters set
to participate in Saturday’s $10,000 NTRA NHC Charity Challenge, a handicapping
contest to benefit Old Friends Thoroughbred retirement farm and a charitable
cause of the winner’s choosing.
The Charity Challenge is being held in
conjunction with this weekend’s 16th Daily Racing Form/NTRA National
Handicapping Championship (NHC). The contest will be administered
by the handicapping tournament website www.HorseTourneys.com.
In addition to a handful of mainstream celebrities, the
contest will feature a host of sports media personalities and handicappers, from
retired jockeys Jerry Bailey, Richard Migliore and Rosie Napravnik, to national
sportscasters like Jeannine Edwards, Kenny Mayne, Chris Fallica and Randy Moss.
Other participants include DRF writers like Steve Crist and Mike
Watchmaker as well as Emmy Award-winning FOX Sports producer and longtime horse
racing fan Pete Macheska.
The winner will have $5,000 donated in their name to Old
Friends, the Thoroughbred retirement nonprofit with farms in Kentucky and
upstate New York, and another $5,000 to a charity of their choosing. Old Friends
was selected as a beneficiary at the behest of the late Mike Mayo, former
chairman of the NHC Player’s Committee and 10-time NHC qualifier.
“Mike Mayo personified all that is good in horseplayers.
Without the horses and the horseplayers, there is nothing,” said Michael Blowen,
founder of Old Friends. “I can’t thank Mike and the NTRA enough for their
generous contribution and, perhaps more importantly, their acknowledgement that
these equine athletes are valuable even when their racing days are over.”
The field also will include Acacia Courtney, a 2014 Miss
America finalist; Dave Johnson, longtime network television racecaller and radio
host; Bryan Wagner, 2009 NHC Tour Champion; Judy Wagner, 2001 NHC Champion; DRF
young guns Matt Bernier and Dan Illman; Ray Paulick, publisher of the Paulick
Report website; Mike Penna, Jude Feld and Steve Byk of SiriusXM Radio; and stars
of the reality television series “Horseplayers,” Peter Rotondo, Peter Rotondo Sr.
and Lee Davis.
Each track with races included in the NHC will be
represented by one of their on-air analysts or handicappers.
Mayne and Fallica are also part of the field for NHC 16,
which will carry a purse well over $2 million and a first-place prize of at
least $800,000 (the full purse and prize breakdown will be announced Thursday
following registration for the “Last Chance” tournament at Treasure Island).
“The NHC Charity Challenge is another exciting new addition
to the NHC designed to raise awareness and funds for Thoroughbred aftercare and
broaden exposure for the Championship,” NTRA Senior Vice President Keith
Chamblin explained.
Players will select one horse to win and place in each of
eight mandatory races (the same lineup used for the NHC) from tracks across the
country. Using a “Pick and Pray” format, all selections will be due Saturday
morning and any scratches will result in the player being assigned the post-time
favorite. The player with the highest hypothetical bankroll after the final
contest race will be declared the winner. In the event of a tie, there will be
no playoff; the donations will be split among the winners.
The full Celebrity Challenge field will be announced
Friday. Updates on scoring will be disseminated via Twitter (@NTRA) and
available on www.NTRA.com.
In its 16th year, the NHC 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 race books, off-track betting
facilities and horse racing and handicapping websites, each of which sends its
top qualifiers to the national finals. Each year, the NHC winner joins other
human and equine champions as an honoree at the Eclipse Awards.
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