Daily Racing Form has been a title sponsor of the National Handicapping Championship (NHC) since its inception in 2000, when the first prize was $100,000. Seventeen years later, the world’s richest and most prestigious handicapping contest will once again offer a record total of purse money and awards, a record number of entries and first-place prize money of $800,000 this weekend at the 18th Daily Racing Form/NTRA NHC Presented by Racetrack Television Network and Treasure Island Las Vegas. The three-day event opens Friday with an estimated field of 650 entries – including two belonging to NHC Tour winner Cheryl McIntyre, who will play for a $2 million bonus – which will be whittled down to a “Final Table” of 10 players by Sunday afternoon.
“The National Handicapping Championship is one of the great success stories in horse racing and a true celebration of the horseplayer and all they mean to our sport and business,” said NTRA President and CEO Alex Waldrop. “The NHC has realized sustained growth for 18 consecutive years and it would not be possible without the support we receive from Daily Racing Form, thousands of horseplayers who participate in NHC qualifiers throughout the year and the more than 40 diverse organizations that host qualifiers in North and South America.”
Daily Racing Form provides regular NHC coverage throughout the contest on DRF.com, including on-site updates by contest editor Peter Fornatale.
The NTRA also will offer comprehensive NHC news coverage on its website, NTRA.com, with a live leaderboard, daily news recaps and notes on all the goings-on in the Treasure Island ballroom. Additional exclusive content can be found on the NTRA Twitter account, @NTRA, as well as on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/1NTRA.
NHC presenting sponsor Racetrack Television Network (“RTN”) is an 80-channel subscription package that caters to horsemen, bettors and racing fans worldwide by delivering every simulcast from North American and select international tracks to televisions, computers, and mobile devices (including iPhones, iPads, Android phones and Android tablets). The television package is available via satellite provider DISH Network, while the online and mobile packages are available directly from RTN at www.rtn.tv. RTN offers the largest simulcast menu in the pari-mutuel industry-either commercially or residentially.
Presenting Sponsors and Participating Partners
NHC presenting sponsor Treasure Island is a privately owned hotel and casino on the legendary Las Vegas Strip. At nearly 3,000 rooms, it remains the only major property to claim that unique position. Home to headline entertainment and the original Cirque du Soleil show, Mystere, Treasure Island offers entertainment and dining options for the most discriminating of tastes. For more information about Treasure Island, visit www.treasureisland.com.
NHC participating partners include AmTote International, the leading pari-mutuel totalisator service provider; Cal Cup, racing’s premier event for California bred and sired runners, which tops a card with five stakes worth a combined $1 million in purses Saturday at Santa Anita Park; LuxAir Jets, offering private aviation travel on a fleet of some of the world’s finest private aircraft; and Monmouth Park, home of the $1 million William Hill Haskell Invitational, presenting live Thoroughbred racing on the Jersey Shore.
Tito’s Handmade Vodka is the exclusive presenter of the Tito’s $10,000 NHC Charity Challenge. Now in its third year (first with a presenting partner), the Tito’s $10,000 Charity Challenge features 40 entertainment and media personalities competing for $10,000 in charitable donations, shared between the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance and a nonprofit cause of the winner’s choice.
Free on-demand printing of past performances and other data is provided at the NHC Print Center courtesy of NTRA Advantage partner Office Depot, the leading global provider of products, services, and solutions for every workplace.
Breeders’ Cup Ltd. is the NTRA’s joint partner in the $3 Million NHC Tour Bonus. The new promotion makes every winner of the NHC, the world’s richest and most prestigious handicapping contest, and the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge, the most sought-after prize among “live-money” handicapping contests, eligible for the largest payday in the history of handicapping contests should the reigning champion of one contest go on to win the other.
Qualifier Hosts
NHC players qualified via contests hosted by 45 racetracks, casino race books, handicapping contest websites, Advance Deposit Wagering (ADW) outlets, simulcast distribution networks, horse owner associations and other Thoroughbred racing organizations. The NHC 18 qualifier hosts were Aqueduct, Arlington Park, Belmont Park, BetAmerica, Betfair, BetPTC, Breeders’ Cup, Canterbury Park, Century Bets, Churchill Downs, Del Mar Surfside Race Place, Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, Derby Wars, DRF Bets, Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino, Hawthorne Race Course, Hollywood Casino at Penn, HorsePlayersQualify.com, HorseTourneys.com, Indiana Grand, Keeneland, Kentucky Downs, Latin American Racing Channel (LARC), Laurel Park, Lone Star Park, Los Alamitos Race Course, Meadowlands, Mohegan Sun, Monmouth Park, NHCQualify.com, National Race Course, National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Players Challenge, Prairie Meadows, Presque Isle Downs, Public Handicapper, Santa Anita Park, Saratoga Race Course, Tampa Bay Downs, Thoroughbred Owners of California, Treasure Island, TVG, TwinSpires.com, Woodbine Entertainment Group and Wynn Las Vegas.