Las Vegas

With $800,000 and the Horseplayer of the Year Eclipse Award to the winner, the official prize structure of this weekend's 25th National Horseplayers Championship in Las Vegas was posted in a Friday release by the host of the contest, the NTRA. At the conclusion of the Final Table on Sunday, total cash prizes offered over the three days come to $3,013,550. The top 77 are guaranteed money with that final finisher receiving $10,150. The top five payouts are: First Place--$800,000 Second Place--$250,000 Third Place--$200,000 Fourth Place--$150,000 Fifth Place--$125,000 Along with...

This year's 25th renewal of the National Horseplayers' Championship (NHC) presented by Caesars Entertainment, Horseshoe Las Vegas and Racetrack Television Network (RTN) will include a new wrinkle. The 'Silver Sunday' contest will take place Sunday, Mar. 17 and will replace the Sunday Consolation Contest, where only entries that did not make the semi-final round would compete in a 10-race contest for prize money. The 'Silver Sunday' contest will instead be open to all individuals competing in the tournament with no fee to enter. Individuals will receive no more than one...

Jay Johns of Meridian, Idaho, amassed 22,370 over the course of 34 contests in 2022 to take home the $75,000 first prize for winning the National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) Tour. The president of IHOP Restaurants (formerly International House of Pancakes) is now in the running for a $5-million bonus should he be able to add the NHC at the newly rebranded Horseshoe Las Vegas Mar. 10-12. "It's such an honor coming out on top in this year-long tour against arguably the absolute best handicappers out there. It's quite a mind...

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association's first annual Racecourse Managers' Conference and Workshop kicks off Sunday, Mar. 6 at the South Point Arena & Equestrian Center in Las Vegas. Continuing through Mar. 8, the Conference hosts racetrack management, superintendents, and equine facility managers from across the country to experience comprehensive, science-based discussions and demonstrations on maintaining safe racing, training, and event surfaces, along with an explanation of how to participate in the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) racing surface regulations and the processes for HISA implementation and reporting. For the...

The NTRA Racecourse Managers' Conference and Workshop will be held Sunday through Tuesday, Mar. 6-8, at the South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa in Las Vegas, Nevada. An opening reception Mar. 6 will be followed by a day and a half of discussions and demonstrations. The full agenda for the conference will be released later this month, but confirmed speakers and topics include: Dennis Moore, Racetrack Consultant and Superintendent, will demonstrate the use of lasers for grade measurements and how to check grades on horse racing and arena surfaces; The...

Playing in the NTRA National Horseplayers' Championship (NHC) for just the second time, Thomas Goldsmith of Montgomery, CA, amassed a total mythical bankroll of $404.10--second largest in tournament history--to take home the $800,000 first prize Sunday afternoon at Bally's in Las Vegas. Goldsmith, 57, defeated a field that totaled 694 entries from 564 individual players and a final table that included NHC Hall of Famer Trey Stiles, Ashley Taylor and Day 2 leader John Vail of Lyndhurst, NJ. The latter held on for second ($250,000), just shy of $30 behind...

Close to 700 handicappers will compete for a record prize pool of $2.95 million when the 21st annual National Horseplayers' Championship (NHC) gets underway Friday at Bally's Las Vegas casino,having previously been held at the Treasure Island. The three-day event, which brings together qualifiers from a variety of tournaments from coast-to-coast, offers a top prize of $800,000 and the title of Horseplayer of the Year. Including complimentary travel and hotel accommodations, cash and awards total $3.8 million. "The NHC is a true celebration of the horseplayer--the individuals who fuel every...

Roger Cettina, the only player to finish second twice in the National Horseplayers Championship (NHC), and 2008 NHC champion Richard Goodall have been selected for induction into the NHC Hall of Fame, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) announced Tuesday. Goodall and Cettina represent the sixth class of NHC Hall of Fame inductees and will be recognized during the NHC Champions Dinner on Sunday evening at the conclusion of the 21st NTRA National Horseplayers Championship Presented by Racetrack Television Network, Caesars Entertainment and Bally's, set for Feb. 7-9 at Bally's...