Tag: Horseplayers

Live Thoroughbred racing returns to Virginia with the start of the 27-day season at Colonial Downs in New Kent, Va., on Thursday, July 13, with live racing offered every Thursday, Friday and Saturday through Sept. 9. Post time is 1:30 p.m. ET daily.

Bettors around the country will be happy to see Colonial Downs is bringing back the Pick 6. Called the Old Dominion 6, it is a classic $1 Pick 6 wager with a 15 percent takeout on the final six races daily. If there is no wager correctly selecting all six winners, 25 percent of the net pool will be paid out to those selecting the most winners while 75 percent will be carried over to the following program.

Other highlights of the 2023 wagering line-up include the 50-cent Pick 5 now twice daily. Offered with a player-friendly 12 percent takeout rate, the Early Pick 5 will cover the first five races while the Late Pick 5 will cover the final five races.

The betting lineup also features rolling Daily Doubles and rolling Pick 3 wagers starting on race 1 and continuing throughout the day. Each wager has a $1 minimum base.

Travis Stone, the voice of the Kentucky Derby, is on the microphone to start the season as regular track announcer Jason Beem resumes his duties starting in week two. Joining the Colonial Downs race team is Kaitlin Free. Kaitlin will be the paddock analyst and provide handicapping selections throughout the season.

Thursday's nine-race all-turf opening day program features an average field size of 9.22. Colonial's Secretariat Turf Course, one of the widest in North America, will be the new home for the Grade 1 Arlington Million, Grade 1 $500,000 Beverly D., and the Grade 2 $500,000 Secretariat Stakes on Saturday, Aug. 12 for the Colonial Downs Festival of Racing.

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For the 5th consecutive year the “Beat Byk NHC Challenge” will return this summer as the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) and Steve Byk, host of the Thoroughbred radio news magazine “At the Races” on Sirius XM, once again partner to send one NHC Tour member to Las Vegas to compete in the National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) in March 15-17, 2024.

The “Beat Byk NHC Challenge” will be conducted over eight weeks beginning July 15 and concluding September 4. The popular promotion drew more than 2,000 entries in 2022.

“I am always excited for the 'Beat Byk' season because it means some of the best racing of the year and a chance for a NHC hopeful to earn a free seat to Vegas,” Steve Byk said. “It's become a great introduction to contest play for many players and I'm proud to be part of the NTRA's ongoing effort to bring people into the sport.”

Each Thursday throughout the promotion, Byk will select the weekend stakes races to comprise that week's promotion and announce them on “At the Races” and on his twitter page, @Steve_Byk. Byk's selections will be announced no later than each Friday. There will be 17 chances to qualify to the Beat Byk NHC Online Qualifier on September 16 during the promotional period. Listeners will be encouraged to log into https://www.ntra.com/beatbyk/ where they will either use Byk's selection to win the featured race or try to 'Beat Byk' by selecting another horse.

All who correctly select the winning horse in each round will advance to a NHC “Beat Byk” online qualifier on September 16. Participants may qualify only once during the promotional period. The winner of the “Beat Byk” online qualifier will represent “At the Races” at the 2024 NHC where qualifiers will be celebrating the NHC's 25^th anniversary at the Horseshoe Las Vegas.

NHC Tour membership is required to compete in the September NHC online qualifier. Complete rules for the Beat Byk Challenge can be found at https://www.ntra.com/beatbyk/. “At the Races with Steve Byk” is Thoroughbred racing's only national daily news and talk show. The show also streams live on www.stevebyk.com.

About the NHC

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 and is named Horseplayer of the Year. For more information on the NHC, visit NTRA.com/nhc.

ABOUT THE NTRA

The NTRA, based in Lexington, Ky. and Washington, D.C., 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. For more information visit NTRA.com.

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The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA)  announced that three players, who had five entries at the 2023 National Horseplayers Championship (NHC), have been suspended from the NHC and NHC Tour for a period of two years.

The suspension was issued following discussions and input from the NHC Auditing Committee and the NHC Players' Committee, a group of NHC players who act as a sounding board on NHC policy and rule matters.

The NTRA did not name the players involved.

The suspension covers the 2023 and 2024 NHC Tour seasons and the 2024 and 2025 NHCs. At the end of the two-year suspension, the players may request to the NTRA to be reinstated to the NHC Tour. At that time, the Players' Committee will reconvene for further deliberation.

“Protecting the integrity of the NHC against wrongdoing is the highest priority for the NTRA. This includes collusion to gain an unfair advantage over the rest of the field,” said NTRA president and CEO Tom Rooney.

The NTRA publishes each player's selections on its website following the conclusion of the NHC. In this instance, an individual brought an allegation of collusion to the attention of NHC auditors after reviewing the players' selections on the NTRA's website. The NTRA investigated and corroborated the claim.

The NTRA will continue to advance protocols and auditing procedures to ensure a fair and level playing field for the thousands of horseplayers who comprise the NHC Tour and compete at the world's most prestigious handicapping contest.

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The balance of Thursday's 10-race program at Laurel Park was cancelled due to prolonged lightning in the area.

Thunder and lightning were first reported approaching post time for Friday's fourth race. Following a 30-minute delay, during which the main track was sealed and the rain began, steady lightning persisted and the decision was made to cancel out of safety concerns for Laurel's horses, horsemen, fans and employees.

Thursday's program was originally carded for June 30 but postponed due to poor air quality stemming from wildfires in eastern Canada.

Live action is scheduled to resume with a nine-race program Friday starting at 12:25 p.m. There will be carryovers of $16,427.18 in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 (Races 4-9) and $11,237.43 in the $1 Jackpot Super High Five (Race 6).

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