Eclipse Awards Ceremony Thursday

The 51st annual Eclipse Awards Ceremony will be held Thursday at Santa Anita beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Honoring Thoroughbred racing's 2021 champions, horse and human awards in 17 categories will be presented during the program, culminating with the announcement of the 2021 Horse of the Year.

Also during the ceremony, Ambassador Earle Mack will be presented with the Eclipse Award of Merit and Justin Mustari will be honored with an Eclipse Award as the 2021 Horseplayer of the Year.

TVG's coverage will begin with a “Green Carpet” Preview Show Presented by Keeneland at 7 p.m. ET, followed immediately with the awards ceremony.

In addition to TVG and RTN, the ceremony will be streamed live on NTRA.com, americasbestracing.net (ABR), Bloodhorse.com, DRF.com, Equibase.com, MyRaceHorse.com (YouTube), santaanita.com/live Thoroughbred Daily News (TDN.com), TOBA.org and XBTV.com.

The Eclipse Awards ceremony will be hosted by Acacia Courtney, Britney Eurton, Gabby Gaudet and Michelle Yu.

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David McCarty Takes Early Lead In National Horseplayers Championship

David McCarty of San Diego leads after Day 1 of the three-day 2022 NTRA National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) presented by Racetrack Television Network, Caesars Entertainment, and Bally's Las Vegas. McCarty amassed a bankroll of $162.80, leading a total of 643 entries from 509 individual players in the richest and most prestigious handicapping contest. All players wagered on 18 races from around North America, including eight mandatory races.

McCarty, a biotechnology consultant, had his biggest score of the day with an optional play in Aqueduct's eighth race. Runningwscissors went gate to wire going six furlongs, paying $29.20 to win and $9.80 to place. He also had longshot winners with Miss Casey ($17.40) in Laurel's fifth and Crafty Princess ($14.20) in the Fair Grounds opener. Overall McCarty cashed with 20 of his 36 win and place plays.

McCarty is making his eighth NHC appearance.

For the complete TVG Leaderboard and other contest information, please visit NTRA.com.

The three-day NHC continues Saturday at the Bally's Event Center, which has been transformed into the world's largest race book. Day 1 bankrolls will carry over to Day 2, which will require mythical wagers on eight mandatory races and 10 optional plays. The top 10% of the field after Day 2 will continue on to the Semifinals round Sunday, and the top 10 will play at the Final Table presented by Caesars Race and Sportsbook and Global Tote, A BetMakers Company, to determine the ultimate rankings, including the $725,000 first-place prize, and Eclipse Award as Horseplayer of the Year.

In the last three years with 36 plays the cut line after Day 2 averaged $183.20 ($192.20 in 2020, $184.20 in 2019, and $173.40 in 2018). Last year there were only 35 races due to a weather cancellation on a mandatory race. This year's top 10 percent will include the top 64 players. The current 64th place spot belongs to Joseph Carnevale with a score of $81.10.

In addition to its three presenting sponsors―RTN, Caesars Entertainment, and Bally's Las Vegas―the NHC is supported by official partners Daily Racing Form, EquinEdge, FanDuel Group, Four Roses Bourbon, NYRA Bets, Race Lens, TVG, and 1/ST Bet. The Final Table, where only the top 10 players advance to determine final placings based on seven climactic races, is sponsored by Caesars Sportsbook and Global Tote, A BetMakers Company.

Tour Winner Costello Playing for $5 Million Bonus

NHC Tour winner Kevin Costello (who goes by his middle name, Kevin, but uses his given first name, Joseph, in tournaments to make his taxes easier) is playing for what would be the biggest single payday in handicapping contest history if he can win this weekend's 23rd NTRA National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) presented by Racetrack Television Network, Caesars Entertainment, and Bally's Las Vegas. On top of the $725,000 first-place prize that everyone is dreaming of, the NHC Tour winner is eligible for a $5 million bonus if he can be the first to pull off the sweep.

The bonus is covered by a policy the NTRA purchases each year via Insurance Office of America (IOA). However, the premium is established for one entry and Costello is double-qualified this year with the maximum two entries. As a result, Costello had to pick which of his entries would be eligible for the bonus. He went with his second entry, which shows on the leaderboard as “Joseph Costello- 2.”

“There's a running joke with my friends that it always seems my second entry does better than my first,” Costello said. “I guess I tend to wing it a little more with my second entry. I have an inkling that, statistically, when I do win tournaments more of them have come from that second entry.”

Costello is a 6-time NHC qualifier.

Costello led the entire field after his first optional play of the day paid $32.40. Unfortunately, the payoff came on Entry 1, which is not eligible for the bonus.

Defending Champion Mustari Aims for Repeat

Justin Mustari, who became the youngest NHC winner in history last August at age 26, is looking to make history again this year as the NHC's first repeat winner.

“It feels good to walk back in this room again after everything that happened in the final race last year,” Mustari said. “It still feels like a miracle.”

Mustari, of Des Plaines, Ill., said after taking down the $725,000 first-place prize at #NHC2021 that he planned to buy a house for himself and girlfriend Paulina. That hasn't happened just yet because Mustari, like the expert horseplayer he is, insists on getting the price he wants.

“We were under contract one time but the seller backed out and the market right now is just so hard,” Mustari said. “I'm not going to buy anything way overvalued so I'm still waiting for the right one.”

Of course, another big check this year could allow Mustari to increase the top of his price range.

“I'm just chipping away today but tomorrow there are a lot of opportunities on the Pegasus card,” Mustari said.

Remington Announcer Day Makes NHC Debut

Track announcer Dale Day of Remington Park is making his NHC debut this year after qualifying in one of the free online contests open to all NHC Tour members on Horseplayers.com. Other track announcers who have qualified over the years include Travis Stone, Vic Stauffer, John Curran, and Nick Tammaro.

“I've been around horse racing a long time but I've never seen anything like this,” Day said. “You come down here in the morning and you just feel the anxiety.”

Day started playing in qualifiers three years ago after trying the free contest presented by “At the Races with Steve Byk.”

“I joined the NHC Tour after that and I've only played the free contests but now that I've been here and seen it I already know I'm going to be playing a lot more to try to get back,” Day said.

Day regaled a gaggle of NHC regulars with a story about a long-ago visit to Las Vegas with NHC Tournament Director and NTRA COO Keith Chamblin, who once worked with Day at Remington.

“It was December 1994 and we had just finished our season,” Day said. “Chamblin suggested we go to Vegas and we ended up with a big group from Remington.”

The group stayed at Barbary Coast and had a great time. After the first two nights, though, one member of the crew noticed that their considerable supply of booze, cigars and Daily Racing Forms seemed to be diminishing faster than could realistically be expected. The rest of the group chalked it up to excessive consumption.

Day came back to his room on the third afternoon and noticed that it smelled like cigar smoke, even though the group had been out all day. And that is when he found a stranger trying to hide in the back of the closet with a lit cigar and a fifth of whiskey.

“I was just buzzed enough to not be as scared as I should have been,” Day recalled. “I just looked at him and said, 'What are you doing?' He said it was his room. I told him, 'No, this is my room.' And then he jumped up and elbowed me and ran for it.”

Hotel security nabbed the trespasser, who confessed that he had been breaking into the room each day and helping himself to the Remington stash. Police later learned that the suspect had collected keys (back in the day of actual room keys as opposed to cards) from dozens of local hotels and had been ransacking them regularly for months.

Barbary Coast did reimburse Day for his room.

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$3.5 Million In Cash And Prizes Up For Grabs In National Horseplayers Championship

The 23rd NTRA National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) presented by Racetrack Television Network, Caesars Entertainment, and Bally's Las Vegas kicks off Friday in Las Vegas, Nev., with over 500 horseplayers from across the continent competing for more than $3.5 million in cash and prizes, including $725,000 to the winner.

Competitors range from professional gamblers analyzing every angle looking for a giant payday to deer-in-the-headlights rookies happy just to be here. All of them have one thing in common; there are no buy-ins at the NHC, thus everyone has earned their way into the prestigious event by qualifying in an NTRA-sanctioned qualifying contest held during the previous 12 months.

The contest runs Friday to Sunday at Bally's Las Vegas.

The NHC is the richest and most prestigious handicapping contest in the world. In addition to its unequaled cash prize the winner earns an Eclipse Award and the title of “Horseplayer of the Year.”

The NHC cash prize pool of $2,339,550 will be paid out to the top 10%, which means the top 64 finishers from a field of 643 entries will get a check of at least $10,000. The field comprises 509 individuals, 134 of whom are “double-qualified” with the maximum of two entries. A portion of the cash prize pool also goes to $50,000 in prizes for the Consolation Tournament open to the remaining 90% of players who do not make the cut after Day 2, as well as to three Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge entries worth $10,000 apiece. The cash prize scale boasts six-figure checks for the top four – $725,000 to the winner, $200,000 for second, $150,000 for third, and $100,000 for fourth. The top 10 that make up the Caesars Race and Sportsbook Final Table, Presented by Global Tote, a BetMakers Company, are guaranteed at least $50,000.

All qualifiers earned at least four nights at Bally's Las Vegas (rebranded this week Horseshoe Las Vegas as part of a multi-million dollar rebrand and renovation) and virtually everyone received travel stipends. NHC Tour prizes from 2021 NHC qualifiers account for another $355,500 to be officially awarded at Sunday night's annual Champions Dinner.

The NHC field will be reduced to the top 10 percent of players after the first two days. The highest 10 cumulative scores after the Semifinals round on Sunday morning will fill out the Final Table. Bankrolls amassed during Day 1, Day 2 and the Semifinals round will roll over to the Final Table, with the 10 finalists settling the NHC score in seven “mandatory” assigned races.

This year's track menu for mandatory and optional races comprises Aqueduct, Fair Grounds, Golden Gate Fields, Gulfstream Park, Laurel Park, Oaklawn Park, Santa Anita Park, and Tampa Bay Downs. Sunday's stakes-laden Houston Racing Festival card at Sam Houston Race Park will be eligible only for Final Table play.

“Interest in the NHC and NHC Tour has never been stronger,” said Keith Chamblin, NTRA chief operating officer and NHC tournament director. “We're so appreciative of the team at Bally's, our partners who hosted qualifiers in 2021, the NTRA staff, and, of course, horseplayers for all their support that makes the NHC a better experience every year.”

Players who do not make the Semifinals cut will still compete on Day 3, in a separate $50,000 Consolation Tournament.

A full scoreboard will be updated regularly at ntra.com/nhc, where fans and players can also find each day's contest race menu and news updates.

At the Races with Steve Byk will broadcast live on SiriusXM satellite radio (Sirius 219; XM 201) from Bally's and online at www.stevebyk.com daily, from 9-12 a.m. ET/6-9 a .m. PT on Friday and Monday, with bonus NHC coverage at www.SteveByk.com/listen-live-SiriusXM slated for 2-8 p.m. ET/11 a.m.-5 p.m. PT) Friday-Sunday. TVG will be reporting from Las Vegas throughout the event. Additional news and exclusive content will be shared on Twitter via the official NTRA account, @NTRA.

The NHC field is led by defending NHC champion Justin Mustari, who in 2021 at age 26 became the youngest NHC champion in the event's history.

As the 2021 NHC winner, Mustari received an automatic berth into this year's tournament to defend the title he won only six months ago, when the 2021 NHC was held in late summer due to a COVID postponement. Mustari amassed a winning bankroll of $370.80 over the three-day tournament from 52 mythical $2 Win and Place bets. He will seek to become the first-ever two-time winner of the NHC, as will nine other past winners that have qualified. The other qualifying champions are Thomas Goldsmith (2020), Scott Coles (2019), Chris Littlemore (2018), Ray Arsenault (2017), Jose Arias (2014), Michael Beychok (2012), Stanley Bavlish (2007), Steve Wolfson, Jr. (2003), and Judy Wagner (2001).

As the winner of the 2021 NHC Tour, Joseph (Kevin) Costello won $100,000 and an NHC berth. He is eligible for a $5 million bonus if he goes on to win at the 2022 NHC finals.

In its 23rd 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. NHC players qualified via contests hosted by 34 racetracks, casino race books, handicapping contest websites, Advance Deposit Wagering (ADW) platforms, simulcast distribution networks, horse owner associations, media outlets, and other Thoroughbred racing organizations.

The #NHC2022 qualifier hosts were: Aqueduct, At the Races with Steve Byk, Bally's Las Vegas, Belmont Park, Breeders' Cup, Canterbury Park, Colonial Downs, Del Mar, Gulfstream Park, Hawthorne, Hialeah, Horseplayers.com, Horsetourneys.com, Indiana Grand, Keeneland, Kentucky Downs, Little Red Feather, Lone Star Park, Los Alamitos, Meadowlands, Monmouth Park, NTRA, NYRA Bets, South Florida HBPA, Santa Anita, Saratoga, Sport of Kings, Race Lens, Tampa Bay Downs, The Big One, TourneyBets, Treasure Island, TVG, and Xpressbet.

The tournament format for the NHC is meant to be the best possible test of overall handicapping ability. Players attempt to earn the highest possible bankroll based on mythical $2 Win and Place wagers. Assigned “mandatory” races – eight per day on Day 1 and Day 2, and seven at the Final Table – are announced at least 36 hours prior to each contest day via direct e-mail to players and publicly on Twitter (@NTRA) and NTRA.com. The Mandatory Race Selection Committee is comprised of Steve Alford of William Hill, Jim Mulvihill of the Colorado Horse Racing Association, Brian Skirka of Monmouth Park and Eric Wing of HorseTourneys.com

The remaining 10 races on Day 1 and Day 2 and all 10 plays in the Semifinals round will be optional wagers on races at one of the seven designated tournament tracks.

On Saturday, the NTRA also will host an invitation-only online tournament, the 8th Annual NTRA NHC Charity Challenge presented by Four Roses Bourbon. A field of approximately 75 will compete for the $5,000 charitable prize with $2,500 set to be donated in the winner's name to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and the other $2,500 going to the winner's charity of choice.

In addition to its three presenting sponsors―RTN, Caesars Entertainment, and Bally's Las Vegas―the NHC is supported by official partners Daily Racing Form, EquinEdge, FanDuel Group, Four Roses Bourbon, NYRA Bets, Race Lens, TVG, and 1/ST Bet. The Final Table, where only the top 10 players advance to determine final placings based on seven climactic races, is sponsored by Caesars Sportsbook and Global Tote, A BetMakers Company.

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.

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Breeders’ Cup Buzz: How Top Handicappers Approach The ‘Best Two Days Of Racing’

With horses coming from all around the world and many of them meeting each other for the first time, the two-day Breeders' Cup World Championships is a prodigious challenge for handicappers but also offers tremendous opportunity for big payoffs and even life-changing scores. Full fields, top-class horses and a vast wagering menu make Breeders' Cup an exhausting and exhilarating handicapping and money-management exercise.

In this latest edition of Breeders' Cup Buzz, we sought out the opinions of some top handicappers to share how they approach this event, whether they are participating in the Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC) live money tournament or playing the races on their own.

Amy Brantley

So the best two days of racing are upon us!  At least, they are my favorite two days of racing. I have to prepare my plan of attack not just for betting the races but competing in the Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge. It may sound strange but I take two different approaches to my handicapping when preparing for betting and competing.

First, these two days provide the best value for making a life-changing score and that is the focus for how I handicap and structure my bets. There is a tremendous amount of information (data and video) that can be accessed from multiple sources; however, I have found too much information creates chaos. Therefore, once the pre-entries post, I begin researching the past performances and replays, trainer angles, European shipper statistics and value payouts from past Breeders' Cup races. I do want to give a positive experience shoutout to STATS Race Lens. I began using this program and creating my personal angles approximately a year ago and have realized positive returns.

My main focus for BC wagering is horizontal. The pick fours, fives and sixes get my full attention. I target two or three races in which I find two key horses per race. I then build my tickets around those races. The races I identify as ones with great value I go deep. Of course, I then pray for great racing luck!

Lastly, with respect to the BCBC, I focus more vertical in my wagering structure because of the rules of the tournament (win, place, show, daily doubles, exactas trifectas). Thus, my handicapping of a particular race goes into more detail to lay out how I see the race playing out to determine the exacta and trifecta outcomes. Even though I do use the same sources of data, my analysis of the race gets more granular. This differs from my approach of “covering” a race for horizontal wagers where I will go deep. Also, in tournament play I am focusing on the races that are distances and surfaces where I have had greater success and feel I have more confidence. It is hard to be an expert of every race condition so I definitely have my preferences from class, distance and surface that play heavily in my tournament play. Good luck to everyone during the two best days of racing!
– Amy Brantley is a 12-time NHC qualifier and member of the NHC Players Committee

R. Scott Coles

The Breeders' Cup can be one of the best betting opportunities of the year if you are willing to be patient. The fields are so competitive that strong opinions on logical horses can often overpay. I spend a lot of time with pool selection and building bets around the best pools for my opinions and bankroll. There is no reason to play every race, but it takes more discipline than I usually have on weekends like this. Some of my most profitable weekends have been where I hit a couple big pick 3's or doubles and didn't invest as much in the always tempting pick 6's.

I spend a lot of time with replays and trip notes throughout the year and key in on horses I have saved in my virtual stables. I do extensive work with back-testing angles specific to Del Mar in STATS Race Lens to help highlight horses that might have a sneaky edge in a certain race. STATS also helps with back-testing some breeding angles and in researching the overseas shippers. Finally, I try to put it all together and see who makes the most sense with the potential pace of each race.
R. Scott Coles was the 2019 Horseplayer of the Year and winner of the National Horseplayers Championship

Justin Mustari

I personally do not approach the Breeders' Cup from a handicapping standpoint much different than I would for any other day. I may start my process a couple days sooner but until entries and post positions are set, I would most likely not start handicapping. Other than the occasional emotional connection to a horse would be the only time I would be handicapping that specific race. That horse this year is One Timer running in the Juvenile Turf Sprint. My family and I are good friends with the connections of One Timer, so best of luck to them.

Once post positions are drawn, I use Brisnet PP's and Ragozin to do all my handicapping. My approach to the BCBC is a lot different than the NHC due to the format of “live money.” I plan around getting through day 1 with a minor increase in bankroll. Day 1 is not historically known for big scores. I like to position myself in a way that allows me to always have a chance on Day 2. By that I mean, a chance to reach the projected score I shoot for to win the contest. The hardest part of this contest Is being willing to go all in or close to it if needed. The winner will usually score over six figures in bankroll which most likely won't happen betting the race minimum.

When it comes to my live money betting style, I am not a player betting small chasing for a crazy outcome, kind of like I did in the NHC with the 19-1. I am not afraid to play huge exactas or trifectas because the pools during the Breeders' Cup allow it. When it's all said and done the guys who are at the top of the leaderboard are usually the ones who weren't afraid to bet. Good luck to everyone competing!
Justin Mustari is the 2021 NHC Champion and Horseplayer of the Year

Tom Quigley


The Breeders' Cup is the most intense period of handicapping for horseplayers at any point during the entire year. My advice is to do as much prep work in advance as humanly possible leading up to Day 1 on Friday, which includes watching race replays (and workout videos), researching pedigrees, and trying to predict the pace scenario for each individual race.

In addition to that, and perhaps most importantly, is to strategize on how you are going to attack the card from a wagering standpoint. Most of us will have the handicapping data needed to identify the main contenders, but you should spend just as much time thinking about what wagering pools you will be playing and how you will be extracting the most value from them!

Lastly, despite the hours of prep work you may (and should) have put in, don't be rigid once Championship Day arrives. Conditions often change. A speed (or anti-speed) bias may unexpectedly develop, a key contender may scratch, a horse you may love could get overbet and/or look worse than anticipated in the paddock, etc. Be alert to every handicapping factor at all times, providing yourself every opportunity to make a huge score!
Horseplayer Tom Quigley is VIP Player Concierge at Santa Anita, where he hosts pre-race handicapping seminars each racing day and Tweets out paddock observations at @Quigleys_Corner

Vic Stauffer

I tend to handicap the Breeders' Cup pretty much the same as any big day of racing, but the Breeders' Cup is a thousand-pound gorilla. One of the ways I've been successful as a handicapper is a work ethic that leaves literally no stone unturned, using all tools. I'll look at Daily Racing Form past performances, incorporate Thorograph and will do replays.

Replays are a laborious issue because of all the horses entered and the number of races. These two days are the only time I will look at replays of the last three races of every horse on the two cards, including the non-Breeders' Cup races that are part of the BCBC (Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge tournament). It's a lot of work, but it pays off. I'll say this is tedious, but then I'll remind myself that the next replay I watch will be the one that wins the BCBC for me.

My only betting is in the tournament, where you play dramatically different than you do at a regular day at the races with a bankroll. It's very much like the World Series of Poker. You have to look at the dollars in your bankroll as chips, not as actual dollars. If you didn't, you wouldn't be three races in and be $30,000 up and look to be all in with that $30,000. If you don't do that, you're not going to win.
Vic Stauffer is Oaklawn track announcer and an NHC regular who has won numerous handicapping tournaments around the country, including the 2021 Pacific Classic Betting Challenge at Del Mar

Michelle Yu

When I'm looking at Breeders' Cup it definitely makes it hard because there's quality top to bottom. I like to look for a horse who was able to overcome because in the Breeders' Cup you have to be good AND lucky. A horse that was able to win despite a troubled trip, or maybe with the pace not exactly to their liking, shows that they don't need everything to be perfect to bring an A race. Also, I think workouts leading up to BC are very important. Horses generally train to peak on a certain day and it can be pretty evident in the morning if that is not the case.

Overall I still try to keep to my same betting strategies as I do the rest of the year. Things that I like, I still like; things that I don't, I don't. I don't want to talk myself on to a horse if they don't fit those parameters. Because wagering is all about the numbers; you have to maintain consistency. Otherwise you don't know what works and what doesn't.

My favorite bets for Breeders' Cup weekend are always the pic fours. Especially if there's a race I like a price horse because then I feel like I can build my ticket around helping on that price.  I think that's probably backwards from a lot of people who like to try and build around a single!

I also love the doubles: the Juvenile Fillies to the Distaff and the Juvenile to the Classic. Doubles like that are super fun for me. Anytime they do head-to-heads as well, I'm always in on those.
– Michelle Yu is an on-air host and reporter based at Santa Anita who has covered racing around the world. She previously worked for trainers Ron Moquett and Steve Asmussen and is married to Santa Anita-based horseman Ryan Hanson.

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