David Erwin of Charlottesville, Virginia took home the grand prize of this year's Beat Byk NHC Challenge, earning his first-ever berth to the National Horseplayers Championship next March. This year's contest drew more than 12,000 entries throughout the eight weeks of competition, which saw entrants “Beat Byk” 14 out of 17 times. The Beat Byk final qualifier Sept. 14 had 918 individuals who played for the winning ticket.
“I've been trying to qualify for the NHC for a few years, but I do not have time to put the work in to play in very many contests,” said Erwin. “I started playing in contests about 10 years ago and have played in several Beat Byk challenges. I'm very happy to get to go to the NHC this year and thank Steve Byk for offering this contest.”
Together with the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Steve Byk, host of the Thoroughbred radio news magazine “At the Races” on Sirius XM, partnered to send one NHC Tour member to Las Vegas. Throughout eight weeks this summer, Byk selected the weekend stakes races to comprise the competition for that week. There were 17 chances to qualify before the Beat Byk NHC Online Qualifier Sept. 14. All who correctly selected the winning horse in each round advanced to the qualifier.
“Beat Byk is my favorite highlight of the summer season,” Byk said. “Congratulations to David on a great effort to win his way to Vegas as the Beat Byk representative. I'm proud that Beat Byk is a free contest that gives small budget players a chance to qualify for NHC.”
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