July 2024

The summer NHC contest circuit kicked off with contests held across the country in June yielding 81 seats to the 2025 NHC. Twenty-seven of those NHC qualifiers came from Monmouth Park the first weekend in June. The annual Pick Your Prize contest was comprised of a record field of 331 entries awarding 25 NHC prize packages. Click here to see who will be representing Monmouth Park at the NHC next year.

Sally Goodall, NHC Hall of Fame member and 2020 NHC Tour Champion, won her NHC berth on Horseplayers.com. Roger Cettina, Hall of Fame member and current NHC Tour leader won both of his seats on track at Monmouth Park and Delaware Park.

Hawthorne closed out June with three NHC qualifiers. Rick Vazquez won the Saturday June 29^th $500 live bankroll contest with $3,552.20 and is now eligible for a $1 million bonus if he wins NHC 2025. Darren Yarwood finished in second place, only $28.10 behind the winner. Christy Moore, John Gaspar, and Dorette Walker also qualified at Hawthorne on Sunday, June 30^thcontest.

The 5^th annual Hawthorne Invitational featured 61 of the most accomplished contest players in the country. In total the 2024 Invitational contest field has qualified for the NHC over 700 times. The cash contest was streamed across Hawthorne’s social media channels hosted by Emily Gullikson, Ed DeRosa and Mike Smich. Tony Zhou bested the talented field turning a $2500 bankroll into nearly $11,000. Tony was already double qualified to the NHC but is now eligible for a $1 million bonus if he wins NHC 2025. Paul Matties, past NHC Champion and NHC Hall of Fame member finished in second place and was awarded a 2025 NHC berth. Dennis Montoro also punched his ticket to the NHC on Sunday and will be playing for a $1 million bonus at NHC 2025.

Currently there are 230 NHC qualifiers with 43 being double qualified. Click here to see who has punched their ticket to NHC 2025.

George Novick

Chris Fallica

Vincent Easley

Vegas Bound Qualifiers!

Indiana Derby Contest is Back at the Horseshoe Indianapolis

For the second year in a row Horseshoe Indianapolis will be hosting its Indiana Derby Weekend NHC Contest July 5^th and 6^th. Last year’s inaugural Indiana Derby Weekend NHC Qualifiers attracted entries from 108 contestants on Friday with 103 recorded during the Saturday contest.

“This is the second year we incorporated two separate NHC Qualifiers into our Indiana Derby Weekend,” said Eric Halstrom, Vice President and General Manager of Racing. “We had a great turnout for our inaugural event last season and hope to host an even bigger audience this year with seven seats available for the 2025 NHC Finals.”

The first contest is set for Friday, July 5 with $3,500 in cash prizes along with the top three NHC Tour members advancing to the NHC in Las Vegas. Pre-registration is not required. Players will begin with a $400 live bankroll.

The second contest is set for Indiana Derby Day Saturday, July 6 and will feature all 12 races from Horseshoe Indianapolis with a $500 live money buy-in. Racing begins at 12 p.m. and will conclude with the 30th running of the Grade 3 $300,000 Indiana Derby. A total of four seats will be awarded Saturday with $6,500 in cash prizes to the top four. Mike Gillum, NHC 2024 NHC Champion will be presented with his Eclipse Award in the winner’s circle on Saturday.

Doors open both days at 9 a.m. and include an NHC T-Shirt, buffet lunch, continental breakfast, Daily Racing Form (AM), Horseshoe Indianapolis program, and seating in the First Floor Family Pavilion. The full contest rules can be found here and more information on the event can be found here.

West Coast Best Coast – Two On-Track Only Contests

Summer is heating up on the West Coast with two on-site only contests at Del Mar and Treasure Island coming later in July.

On July 27 and 28, the Del Mar Summer Handicapping Challenge will kick off where the turf meets the surf. This annual live money weekend on-track contest will award $250,000 in total prizes, including BCBC and NHC seats. All rules and registration can be found here.

The Treasure Island, past multi-year NHC host site will host the Wager to Win XXX contest which will feature 30 mythical win/place wagers from races at Del Mar, Saratoga, Gulfstream, Monmouth, and Laurel throughout the weekend. The official rules can be found here. Two NHC seats are up for grabs to win your way back to Las Vegas for NHC 2025 in March and up to $100,000 in cash prizes will be awarded.

Beat Byk is Back for 2024

Sixth Annual Beat Byk NHC Challenge Promotion to Return in July

Back by popular demand for the 6^th consecutive year, the “Beat Byk NHC Challenge” will return this summer as the NTRA and Steve Byk, host of the Thoroughbred radio news magazine “At the Races” on Sirius XM, once again partner to send one NHC Tour member to Las Vegas to compete in the National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) in March 14-16, 2025. The “Beat Byk NHC Challenge” will be conducted over eight weeks beginning July 11 and concluding September 2 with the winner punching their ticket to the 2025 NHC.

Read the press release here.