Saturday’s free NHC Online Qualifier on HorsePlayers.com will be comprised entirely of racing from America’s premiere summer racing meets – Saratoga and Del Mar. An updated schedule was issued by contest officials Friday morning to account for the cancellation of racing at Kentucky Downs. Handicappers will be able to enter their selections late Friday afternoon, after Del Mar program numbers are assigned.
The full contest menu is as follows:
- Saratoga 7 – 4:26PM EDT
- Del Mar 1 – 5:00PM EDT
- Saratoga 8 – 5:02PM EDT
- Del Mar 2 – 5:35PM EDT
- Saratoga 9 – 5:36PM EDT
- Del Mar 3 – 6:09PM EDT
- Del Mar 4 – 6:40PM EDT
- Del Mar 5 – 7:10PM EDT
- Saratoga 12 – 7:17PM EDT
The menus includes two Gr. 3 turf stakes from Saratoga – the Saranac and the Glens Falls.
Registration is now open at https://horseplayers.com/contest/239968.
Saturday’s contest offers five berths to February’s NHC and is open exclusively to NHC Tour members. This past January’s NHC 18 offered a record prize pool worth more than $2.9 million, including an $800,000 first-place prize.
One must be a current NHC Tour member to play in free online qualifiers. To sign up for the NHC Tour, go to www.ntra.com/membership. Individuals also must be registered at HorsePlayers.com.
The top five finishers in Saturday’s free contest will each earn an automatic berth to the NTRA National Horseplayers Championship Presented by Racetrack Television Network, STATS Race Lens™ and Treasure Island Las Vegas, to be held February 9-11, 2018, at Treasure Island. Each winning prize package includes NHC entry, four nights at Treasure Island and airfare reimbursement up to $400.
The free qualifier also offers NHC Tour points, with the top 10 percent of finishers earning shares of a points pool estimated at 250,000 points (with 3,750 to the winner), based on an estimated 1,500 players. The final number of points available will be determined on a sliding scale according to the number of participating NHC Tour players.
The contest is comprised of mythical Win and Place wagers on a series of mandatory races across the country with selections submitted in advance of the first designated contest race per the “Pick and Pray” format.
This marks the final of five free online qualifiers presented by the NTRA this year on HorsePlayers.com. The 2017 NHC Tour is the richest in history with $400,000 in prize money, including $100,000 to the overall leader at the conclusion of the Tour season.
This weekend’s action also includes a $165-entry qualifier on Sunday and a special $50-entry qualifier Monday for the Labor Day holiday. Those contests also are “Pick and Pray” propositions. A number of $18 “feeder” contests offering entries into the Sunday contest are available today and Saturday.
For more information on the NHC and NHC Tour, visit www.ntra.com/nhc.
About the National Horseplayers Championship
In its 19th year, the NTRA National Horseplayers Championship (formerly known as the NTRA National Handicapping Championship) is presented by Racetrack Television Network, STATS Race Lens and Treasure Island Las Vegas. Equibase is the official data provider of the NHC and NHC Tour. The NHC is world’s richest and most prestigious handicapping 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. The most recent NHC offered record prize money and awards totaling more than $2.9 million. NHC 19 will be held February 9-11, 2018, at Treasure Island Las Vegas.