LAS VEGAS, Nevada (February 7, 2019) –Tournament officials determined the final field size and purse distribution for this weekend’s 20th NTRA National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) Presented by Racetrack Television Network, STATS Race Lens™ and Treasure Island Las Vegas at the conclusion of Thursday’s Last Chance/First Chance qualifier, hosted by Treasure Island, which added 15 seats to this weekend’s main event and contributes to the cash prize pool.
A total number 668 entries, second largest in NHC history, will compete at this weekend’s NHC. There are 522 individual players, including 146 that are “dual-qualified” with the maximum two entries. A total of 118 rookies will be testing their talents in the NHC for the first time.
The final cash and prize distribution for this year’s NHC is $2.863 million, second highest in NHC history, with a first-place prize of $800,000.
In addition to guaranteed spots to this weekend’s NHC, Thursday’s contest also offered three spots to the 2020 NHC with Darryl Mays, Chris Podratz, Robert Engelhart earning those berths.
The full list of Last Chance/First Chance qualifiers are: Scott Fitzgerald, Frank Foss, Brian Kubik, John Nichols, Jimmie O’Nail, Daniel Perry, Pete Rogers, Frank Klich, Scott Boudreaux, Vineet Sharma, Mathew Baiungo, Michael Labriola, Scott Cavalieri, Jared Black, and Christopher Dewey.
About the NHC
In its 20th year, the NHC is the most important tournament of the year for horseplayers and is the culmination of a year-long series of NTRA-sanctioned local tournaments conducted by racetracks, casino race books, off-track betting facilities and horse racing and handicapping websites, each of which sends its top qualifiers to the national finals. There are no bye-ins to the NHC. Each year, the NHC winner joins other human and equine champions as an honoree at the Eclipse Awards. For more information on the NHC, visit NTRA.com/nhc.
About the NTRA
The NTRA, based in Lexington, Ky., is a broad-based coalition of more than 100 horse racing interests and thousands of individual stakeholders consisting of horseplayers, racetrack operators, owners, breeders, trainers and affiliated horse racing associations, charged with increasing the popularity, welfare and integrity of Thoroughbred racing through consensus-based leadership, legislative advocacy, safety and integrity initiatives, fan engagement and corporate partner development. The NTRA owns and manages the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance; NTRA.com; the Eclipse Awards; the National Horseplayers Championship; NTRA Advantage, a corporate partner sales and sponsorship program; and Horse PAC®, a federal political action committee. NTRA press releases appear on NTRA.com, Twitter (@ntra) and Facebook (facebook.com/1NTRA).
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