LEXINGTON, Ky. (Thursday, November 19, 2015) – Approximately 150 berths to the $2.5 million (estimated) Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship (NHC) presented by Racetrack Television Network and Treasure Island Las Vegas remain up for grabs in dozens of contests scheduled between now and the start of NHC 17 on Jan. 28. At least a dozen NHC spots will be awarded this weekend, including four in Saturday’s Aqueduct Handicapping Contest, while nearly 50 entries will be earned Thanksgiving weekend, with 20 available on TwinSpires.com alone.
Many NHC hopefuls find it easier to qualify in later months after scores of NHC Tour veterans have already earned berths and therefore are no longer among the competition.
More than 50 NHC spots remain to be won on NHCQualify.com, the NHC’s official qualifying site. The stakes ramp up in December with weekly Saturday contests (Dec. 5, 12, 19 & 26) on NHCqualify.com offering 8-10 berths each.
Virtually all NHC berths earned via an official NHC qualifying contest include airfare and four nights of hotel accommodations for NHC 17, Jan. 28-30, 2016, at Treasure Island. The final opportunity to qualify will come Jan. 27 in the “Last Chance” contest at Treasure Island, which will offer a minimum of five berths to the main event starting the following day.
The full 2015 NHC Tour schedule, which includes 33 contests still to come, can be found online at ntra.com/en/nhc/nhc-tour-schedule. Several January contests offer NHC berths but do not award points for the 2015 NHC Tour, which concludes Jan. 3. The top 150 in the final NHC Tour rankings who have not already qualified to the NHC will earn NHC berths.
A 2015 membership ($50) in the NHC Tour is mandatory to be eligible for an NHC berth in any contest. To sign up for the NHC Tour, visit www.ntra.com/nhctour.
For more information about the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship, visit www.ntra.com. For further information or questions about the NHC, contact Michele Ravencraft of the NTRA at (859) 422-2657 or via e-mail at mravencraft@ntra.com.