Welcome back to the August edition of the NHC at the Post, your monthly update on all the happenings of the National Horseplayers Championship Tour and more.

July continued the NHC Tour with over two dozen contests and over 50 guaranteed seats up for grabs to the 25^th National Horseplayers Championship at the Horseshoe Las Vegas.

The first week of July included one of the five NHC free contests and had 1,842 entries and three guaranteed spots which were won by Keith Simon, Bruce Francisco, and Daniel Perry. Dylan Kelley celebrated Independence Day by winning his spot to the NHC who won his spot via the $125 July 4^th special on Horseplayers.com. Other weekend Horseplayers.com qualifiers are below.

The second week of contests brought 8 on track qualifiers for #NHC2024 and the first on track qualifying spots of July. The qualifiers at Horseshoe on July 7^th included 2013 NHC Champion Jim Benes and William Miller. The qualifiers from July 8^th were Troy Bandemer, Tim Stupka, Frank Mustari, and Vincent Easley. Los Alamitos also hosted a $500 on track qualifying event on July 8^th that awarded 2 spots to NHC2024 to Len Hanson and David Gutfreund.

Week three brought almost a dozen guaranteed spots and one on track qualifying event, the William Moore Classic, held at Delaware Park with spots awarded to Eric Wing and Brendan Fay. Wing was the longtime master of ceremonies at the NHC and we’re excited to welcome him back as a player on our 25^th anniversary.

The fourth week of competition included Monmouth Park’s $1000 Haskell Online Challenge that awarded 2 guaranteed spots to Frank Polk and David Browning.

The final weekend of contests in July awarded five players NHC seats from the on track contests at Del Mar and Treasure Island. The winners from Del Mar were Brett Wiener, Todd Faro, and Linda Rodriguez. Robert Ruocco and Orazio Panaggio from Treasure Island contest will be joining them at NHC 2024.

Horseplayers.com & Horsetourneys.com awarded 36 spots to 32 horseplayers to the 25^th National Horseplayers Championship throughout the month of July to the following: 2022 NHC Tour Champion Jay Johns, Chris Cupples (double qualified), Mark Heider, Steve Nemetz, Louis Masry, Ciaran Thornton, Jeff Bussan, Wendy Long (double qualified), Alexander Calzi, Tom Quinones, Terence Channon, Basil Devito (double qualified), David Decauwer, Albion Benton, Dave Nichols (double qualified), Jay Coatta, Darryl Lacy (double qualified), Robert Grace, Todd Faro (double qualified), Mike McIntyre, Sean Nolan, Geoffrey Schutt, Gilbert Maldonado, William Shurman, Michael Marlaire, Jim Sebes, Thomas Cassidy, Kevin Costello, Matthew Ache, Ben Gibson, Mark Richards, and Jason Alonzo.

Todd Cady

Raymond Gallant, Jr.

David Nelson

Howard Kaplan

Daniel Warden

Alan Hoffman

Dino Herrera

Horseplayers.com will be hosting a special $125 Labor Day contest guaranteeing the top 5 finishers seats to the 2024 NHC. Be sure to play in this special Monday, September 4^th contest.

Register here.

The Annual Dog Days of Summer Handicapping Contest is returning September 16-17 for its 27^th year. America’s longest running live-bankroll handicapping tournament will yield two NHC seats, large cash prizes, and promises to be two days of intense competition.

“We have been fortunate to host an NHC qualifier for nearly three decades at Canterbury Park. I have tried various formats in addition to Dog Days but this one has stuck so this September will be the 27^th annual contest,” said Jeff Maday, of Canterbury Park. “We have locals that have played every year and many horse players that have traveled from around the country for going on twenty years. It is that camaraderie that really makes these events enjoyable for me. I might see some of these folks once a year, but it is in a special setting and for the same purpose that we all congregate. Dog Days is a highlight of my year every year for that reason.”

The two day tournament, starting at 10:00 am on Saturday the 16^th, features a $500 entry cost ($100 entry fee and $400 live bankroll) and players may wager on all contest-eligible tracks (tracks will be listed week of event). Any money won through tournament wagers can then be wagered in subsequent bets. Order of contest finish will be determined by final bankroll. First place will win a NHC entry plus $1,000; Second place will win a NHC entry plus $750; and third place will win $500 cash.

More information can be found here.

It wouldn’t be Opening Weekend without the Santa Anita Opening Weekend Challenge happening September 30 and October 1, 2023. This $4,000 buy-in contest with a maximum of two entries per person will give away (at least) a whopping four entries to the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC, two entries to the 2024 NHC, and nearly $25,000 in cash prizes to the top three finishers.

Tournament races are all live from Santa Anita Park and permitted wagers are Win, Place, Show, Exacta, Trifecta and Daily Double. Online registration begins Tuesday September 26 and entries will be accepted up until the start of the 5^th race at Santa Anita on Saturday, September 30. In addition to buying your way in, there are many qualifier tournaments. For a list of these tournaments and more information, visit xpressbet.com and Horsetourneys.com.

On Friday, October 13^th Keeneland will host the $400 Kenneland Fall Challenge, with one BCBC and as many as 4 NHC spots up for grabs. Saturday October 14^th, Keeneland will host its $3,500 BCBC-NHC Fall Handicapping Challenge, with as many as six BCBC and 10 NHC spots up for grabs. These signature handicapping contests will open registration on September 1^st.

Please click here for complete rules.

The Beat Byk NHC Challenge is in its final days and will run through September 4. The leaderboard currently stands at  www.ntra.com/beatbyk.

Currently, there are 929 entries into the main qualifier. There have been 10,529 entries played over the last 14 races.

The Beat Byk online qualifier, for those who qualified by Beating Byk, will be held on September 16. Look out for the announcement then to see who wins this year’s contest!

Canterbury Park

• September 13 | $2,000 NHC/BCBC Qualifier – 2 seats guaranteed. ONLINE
• September 16-17 | $500 Dog Days of Summer – 2 seats guaranteed. ON TRACK

Del Mar

• September 2 | $4,000 Pacific Classic Betting Challenge – 2 seats guaranteed. HYBRID

Delaware Park

• September 9 | $300 Handicapping Tournament – 2 seats guaranteed. ON TRACK

Kentucky Downs

• September 3 | $500 King of the Turf – 2 seats guaranteed. ONLINE
• September 9 | $800 King of the Turf – 3 seats guaranteed. ONLINE

Woodbine

• September 16 | $1,000 Woodbine Mile Contest – 2 seats guaranteed. ONLINE

Xpressbet

• September 30-October 1 | $4,000 Santa Anita Opening Weekend Challenge – 2 seats guaranteed. HYBRID

Horseplayers.com

• September 1 | $75 – 2 seats guaranteed.
• September 2 | $165 – 2 seats guaranteed.
• September 4 | $125 – 5 seats guaranteed.
• September 8 | $75 – 2 seats guaranteed.
• September 9 | $165 – 1 seat guaranteed.
• September 10 | $210 – 2 seats guaranteed.
• September 15 | $75 – 2 seats guaranteed.
• September 16 | $165 – 2 seats guaranteed.
• September 22 | $75 – 2 seats guaranteed.
• September 23 | $165 – 2 seats guaranteed.
• September 29 | $75 – 2 seats guaranteed.
• September 30 | $165 – 1 seat guaranteed.

Horsetourneys.com

• September 9 | $165 – 2 seats guaranteed.
• September 17 | $165 – 2 seats guaranteed.
• September 24 | $165 – 2 seats guaranteed.

September 30 | $165 – 2 seats guaranteed.

The NHC Tour Leaderboard has been updated through August 30. The 2023 Tour Rules can be found here.

REMINDER: Please ensure your NHC Tour membership is valid and active prior to playing in any NHC qualifiers.

NOTE: The first half of the 2023 NHC Tour season will conclude Friday, September 1. Click here for current standings.

Evan Trommer

22,465

Sally Goodall

19,905

Brett Wiener

19,872

Mark Heider

18,910

Gregg Kingma

18,785

Kevin Engelhard

18,374

Joseph Costello

17,903

Mike Somich

17,453

Cheryl Knepper

17,342

Geoffrey Schutt

17,108