This year’s fourth of five free online qualifiers for the National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) is set for Sunday on HorsePlayers.com, the official online qualifying site of the NHC. The top five finishers will earn automatic berths 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.

Registration is now open at HorsePlayers.com/contest/227142.

This past January’s NHC 18 offered a record prize pool worth more than $2.9 million, including an $800,000 first-place prize.

Sunday’s contest will likely award the most NHC Tour points of any single contest in history (the points structure is determined by a sliding scale based on the number of entries). The top 10 percent of finishers will earn shares of a points pool estimated at 250,000 points (with 3,750 to the winner), based on an estimated 1,500 players.

For the first time ever, points earned in this contest only will be counted toward both NHC Tour “First Half” and “Second Half” totals, giving players an opportunity to make an impact on both of those separate leaderboards. The top five finishers in each “half” win a $10,000 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC) entry or $10,000 cash if they have already qualified to the BCBC.

Those points will also count once toward the yearlong LUXAIR JETS Leaderboard, which determines the 2017 NHC Tour winner. 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.

Sunday’s contest is open exclusively to NHC Tour members. Tour membership is $50 and includes entry to the year’s remaining free online qualifiers, as well as access to dozens of contests each week that start for as low as $18. To sign up for the NHC Tour, go to www.ntra.com/membership. Individuals also must be registered at HorsePlayers.com.

Every free online contest on HorsePlayers.com is determined by 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. The final free online qualifier to be presented by the NTRA this year is set for Sept. 2.

For more information on the NHC and NHC Tour, visit www.ntra.com/nhc.