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Seven Racetracks Selected For 2021 National Horseplayers Championship

Seven North American racetracks, including premier summer-time race meetings Del Mar, Saratoga and Monmouth Park, make up a menu from which all mandatory and optional races will be selected when the world's richest and most prestigious handicapping tournament – the NTRA National Horseplayers Championship (NHC), presented by Racetrack Television Network, Caesars Entertainment and Bally's Las Vegas – is contested Aug. 27-29. The official NHC 2021 racetracks are Del Mar, Ellis Park, Golden Gate Fields, Gulfstream Park, Monmouth Park, Saratoga Race Course and Woodbine Racetrack.

This year's NHC, which includes more than 600 entries, was originally scheduled to be held February 9-11, but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic and was rescheduled for late August. The total cash and prizes to be awarded at the 2021 NHC are estimated to be nearly $3.8 million, including an estimated $3 million in prize money.

“The menu of racetracks represents the best possible mix of quality racing and geographical diversity,” said NTRA Chief Operating Officer and NHC Tournament Director Keith Chamblin. “Del Mar and Saratoga, which on Saturday, Aug. 27, will feature six Grade 1 events headed by the Runhappy Travers Stakes, highlight the racing, but it will be great to introduce Ellis Park, Monmouth Park and Woodbine to NHC contest play.”

The three-day NHC requires players to make mythical $2 win and place wagers on eight mandatory races and 10 optional races on each of the first two days. The top 10 percent of players achieving the highest bankroll at the conclusion of the first two days will advance to Sunday morning's Semi-Final round which will consist of 10 optional plays. The top 10 players following the Semi-Final round will advance to Sunday's Final Table where they will compete in seven mandatory races to determine the National Champion. The winner will receive $800,000 and an Eclipse Award as the Horseplayer of the 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 buy-ins to the NHC. Each year, the NHC winner joins other human and equine champions as an honoree at the Eclipse Awards. The NHC is presented by Racetrack Television Network, Caesars Entertainment and Bally's Las Vegas.

For more information on the NHC Tour and a complete contest schedule, visit NTRA.com/nhc.

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Belmont Park: $52,382 Carryover In Friday’s Pick 6

The Pick 6 on Friday's card at Belmont Park will be bolstered by a $52,382 carryover, as the multi-race wager went unsolved on Thursday.

The $1 Pick 6, implemented at the current 48-day Belmont spring/summer meet, returned $431.50 to bettors who selected 5-of-6 winners correctly.

Thursday's sequence kicked off with Make Or Break [No. 5, $12] winning a one-turn claiming mile for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up in Race 4 under Benjamin Hernandez for trainer Antonio Arriaga.

In Race 5, the 6-5 mutuel favorite Regal Speaker [No. 3, $4.40] proved best in a nine-furlong inner turf allowance for state-breds 3-years-old and up. Irad Ortiz, Jr. engineered the winning trip for trainer Danny Gargan.

Theodora Grace [No. 11, $7.30] captured Race 6, a seven-furlong maiden claimer on the Widener turf for state-bred fillies and mares 3-year-old and up, under Jose Ortiz for conditioner Tom Albertrani. Sent to post as the second choice in the wagering, Theodora Grace got the jump on slow-starting 2-1 mutuel favorite Write This Down [No. 10.]

Flat Awesome Jenny [No. 3, $7.10] collared pacesetter Daria's Angel in the final jumps to win a one-turn claiming mile for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up in Race 7. Ortiz, Jr. provided the winning ride for trainer Orlando Noda.

Popular New York-bred Robin Sparkles [No. 5, $5.70], sent to post as the 9-5 mutuel favorite, won an open company allowance optional-claimer in frontrunning fashion in Race 8. With Ortiz up for trainer Bruce Brown, Robin Sparkles covered six furlongs on the inner turf in a swift 1:07.14.

With only four horses covered [Nos. 1,7, 8 and 13] in the final leg of the Pick 6, Mazal Eighteen [No. 9, $8.40] scored as the 3-1 mutuel favorite over 6-1 Lemon Taffy [No. 1] in Race 9. Dylan Davis authored the win for trainer Joseph Lee in the seven-furlong maiden claimer on the Widener turf for state-bred fillies and mares 3-years-old and up.

Featuring a $1 bet minimum and 15 percent takeout, the Pick 6 wager requires bettors to select the first-place finisher of six designated races on the card. A total of 75 percent of the full pool, minus takeout, will be distributed to bettors who select the first-place finisher of all six races. A consolation payout of 25 percent of the net pool will be distributed to tickets selecting 5-of-6 winners.

In the event there are no tickets with six winners, there will be a carryover of 75 percent of the net pool into the next day of the meet with the remaining 25 percent of the net pool distributed as a consolation payout to tickets selecting the first-place finisher in the greatest number of races on the card. On carryover days, the Pick 6 is offered with a 24 percent takeout.

The $1 Pick 6 replaced the Empire 6, a jackpot style wager featuring a $0.20 bet minimum first offered in August 2019 at Saratoga Race Course.

Friday's Pick 6 kicks off in Race 4 at 2:31 p.m. Eastern in a sequence that features four turf races, including a 1 1/16-mile optional-claimer on the Widener turf for sophomore fillies offering a purse of $92,000. First post on the nine-race card is 1 p.m.

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Pimlico: Turf Racing Suspended For Track Maintenance

Turf racing at Pimlico Race Course will be suspended from Friday, June 25, through Sunday, June 27, to allow for maintenance of the course.

The Maryland Jockey Club June 24 said the maintenance is needed as a result of the extended meet at Pimlico, which originally was scheduled to end live racing May 31. Pimlico opened a few weeks early in late April and was approved to race through Aug. 22 because of the ongoing dirt surface reconstruction project at Laurel Park.

The MJC said the maintenance will allow the Pimlico turf course to be used through the end of the summer meet in late August.

“We want to do more aeration and fertilization,” said MJC Track Superintendent Chris Bosley, who also oversees the turf courses at Pimlico and Laurel. “We want to be able to confidently say the turf course can hold up until we get back to Laurel (in early September). I think getting off the turf course this weekend will help us out a lot—it's a reasonable goal.”

Four grass races had been scheduled for June 25, both short and long, and two turf races around two turns were carded for June 26. The June 27 program will have seven races, all on dirt. The card for Friday, July 2, will be drawn Sunday, June 27, and MJC officials said they are hopeful the turf course will be ready for use for the weekend of July 2-4.

The MJC also announced a change in training hours at Pimlico from Monday, June 28, through Thursday, July 1, because of the removal and replacement of the temporary tent barns being used to house horses that were relocated from Laurel as well as those that ship in on race day from the Maryland State Fair at Timonium and other facilities in the state and region.

Training hours at Pimlico for all horses on those four days will be 5:00-7:30 a.m. with a break from 7:30-8:00 a.m. Training will resume from 8:00-10:00 a.m. but only for horses stabled on the Pimlico Road side of the property. Gate schooling will be available Wednesday, June 30, and Thursday, July 1, from 6:30-7:30 a.m. and 8:00-9:00 a.m.

Steve Koch, Senior Vice President of Racing for 1/ST RACING (The Stronach Group), said the barn transition project already has begun. The temporary stalls currently on the grounds at Pimlico must be relocated because of a previous commitment, and TSG is sending 140 stalls from Santa Anita Park. The tent structures to house the stalls will come from local companies.

There are currently 120 temporary stalls at Pimlico. The transition process will begin in earnest June 28 with a goal of having all 140 stalls available by July 8. An 18-stall barn behind the old wooden grandstand near the far turn at Pimlico is already being constructed to facilitate the transition.

Koch said he has mapped out a plan to address “the transition in the same footprint without displacing horses.” He said the strategy is to add stalls while removing receiving stalls to accommodate horses and ensure that each race day—currently Friday, Saturday and Sunday—120 stalls are available.

If all of the 140 stalls from Santa Anita Park are usable, there will be 20 more stalls at Pimlico than are currently available. When the first set of temporary stalls were constructed, Gulfstream Park, another TSG property, sent more than enough stall mats to accommodate the number of stalls, Koch said.

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Pimlico: Racing Returns Friday With $1.25 Million Carryover In Rainbow 6

Live racing returns to historic Pimlico Race Course Friday to kick off the final weekend of June with another opportunity to take down a Maryland state record carryover jackpot in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 that has swelled to $1,253,882.76.

Post time for the first of eight races Friday is 12:40 p.m.

The Rainbow 6 went unsolved for the 22nd consecutive racing day during the last live action on the June 20 Father's Day program, when another $150,942 was bet into the popular multi-race wager on top of a $1,205,592.51 carryover.

Sunday saw five favorites win in the six-race sequence, producing multiple winning tickets of $106.82.

Last solved for a $23,346.70 payout May 7, the Rainbow 6 jackpot is paid out only when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 60 percent of that day's pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners while 40 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.

Introduced in Maryland April 2, 2015 on opening day of Pimlico's spring meet, the Rainbow 6 has far surpassed its previous state record carryover of $345,898.33 spanning 31 racing programs before being solved by one lucky bettor for a life-changing $399,545.94 payout April 15, 2018 at Laurel Park. The winning ticket was purchased through Maine off-track betting.

Friday's Rainbow 6 covers Races 3-8 and opens with a five-furlong claiming sprint on turf for maiden fillies and mares age 3, 4 and 5 (1:37 p.m.). Appropriately, Likely Choice is favored at 9-5 on the morning line for trainer Kelly Rubley, having run second in her turf debut over the course and distance May 22. Bourbon Wildcat, yet to race on grass, was beaten a nose in a six-furlong maiden claimer last December in her most recent start.

Race 4 (2:09 p.m.) is a 5 ½-furlong claiming sprint for fillies and mares 3 and up which have never won three races, or 3-year-old fillies. Long Point Beach is the 9-5 program favorite, returning to the main track after finishing off the board in a one-mile grass claimer May 23 at Pimlico racing first time off the claim for trainer Hugh McMahon. Jeanie's Angel has been favored in both her starts this year after relocating from South Florida, winning her season debut May 23 and running second by a half-length June 13, both six furlongs.

An overflow field of 15 3-year-olds and up was entered in Race 5 (2:40 p.m.), a starter-optional claimer scheduled for one mile on the grass. Among the group are Tusk, winner of the 2020 Tropical Turf (G3) at Gulfstream Park exiting on off-the-grass win May 30 at Pimlico; Beltway Bob, racing first time since capturing the Maryland Million Turf Starter Handicap last October at Laurel Park; King Bubble, first off the claim for leading trainer Claudio Gonzalez, who connects at 28 percent with those runners; and Mokheef, a last-out eighth in the June 13 Prince George's County.

The feature comes in Race 6 (3:12 p.m.), a second-level optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/16 miles that drew 10 horses including the quartet of Coal Truth, Clubman, Forest Fire and V.I.P. Ticket, all stakes winners who have combined for 33 victories and nearly $1.3 million in purse earnings from 134 career starts. Hanalei's Houdini drops out of a popular win first off the claim for owner-trainer Kieron Magee May 31 at Pimlico.

Race 7 (3:45 p.m.) is a scheduled 1 1/16-mile turf allowance for 3-year-olds and up where Dig Charlie Dig is narrowly favored at 5-2 on the morning line over Dream Big Dreams. Dig Charlie Dig, trained by Jamie Ness, is winless in six starts this year, four of them seconds including each of his last three. Dream Big Dreams broke his maiden for trainer Brittany Russell in a May 14 maiden special weight at Laurel and most recently was beaten a half-length when second facing older horses for the first time in a restricted allowance May 29 at Pimlico.

Maryland Jockey Club host and analyst Naomi Tukker has her price play in Race 7, Benny Havens (6-1), making his second start off an eight-month layoff after finishing a troubled seventh June 19 at Pimlico.

“He was taking on some high-quality sprinters in that last event, so I like him in this spot,” she said.

The sequence wraps up in Race 8 (4:17 p.m.), a 1 1/16-mile claimer for 3-year-olds and up which have never won two races. The heavy 3-5 program favorite is My Sacred Place, who will wear blinkers in his second start for Russell after racing once last year on the grass for trainer Brad Cox. In his first start in 330 days, My Sacred Place was in contention early, dropped back and then came on again to be third in a one-mile claimer May 30 at Belmont Park.

My Sacred Place is Tukker's must-use horse in the sequence.

“It doesn't seem like there's that much pace in the race, so I like the idea of him moving forward and hopefully leaving them all scrambling in behind,” she said.

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