ryan patrick scully | Horse Racing Free Tips

NTRA Releases Names of Disqualified NHC Players

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association announced the disqualification of three unnamed players from the NHC and NHC Tour for a period of two years on Thursday. After hearing input from the horseplayer community and others in the industry, the NTRA revealed on Friday that the players who colluded are Jordan Jayne, James Pauly and Ryan Patrick Scully.

“Protecting the integrity of the NTRA and the NHC tournament is among my highest priorities in this job,” said NTRA President and CEO Tom Rooney. “By not initially releasing the names of the players involved, even though our rules give us broad discretion to do so for all prize winners, I believed I was doing what was best for the NHC. The demand from the public we have received far outweighs my personal beliefs. I highly value the opinion of the horseplayers' community, without whom our sport would not be what it is and whom we work with to protect all NHC sanctioned contests throughout the year.”

These three players controlled five entries in the 2023 NHC. The event paid out to the top 78 entries. The NTRA has officially disqualified the five entries controlled by these individuals and will proceed to move all other entries up in the prize structure. The entries that finished 79-83 who did not make the initial cut will be moved into the prize structure. Additionally, the NTRA will distribute the difference in prize money for all other entries that move up in the prize structure. The NTRA will mail checks to all individuals involved and the official leaderboard has been updated.

The post NTRA Releases Names of Disqualified NHC Players appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Harrison Crowned NHC Champ; Kinchen DQd

David Harrison, a real estate appraiser and collateral analyst from Webster, New York, northeast of Buffalo and near the southern shore of Lake Ontario, took home the $725,000 first prize and an Eclipse Award as Horseplayer of the Year ad the 23rd annual National Horseplayers' Championship at Bally's Las Vegas Jan. 30.

The 63-year-old amassed a total of $342 over the course of the three-day tournament from 53 mythical $2 win/place bets–18 each during the qualifying rounds Friday and Saturday, 10 in Sunday morning's semi-final round and seven at the Final Table, intended to mimic the final stages of high-stakes poker events. When all was said and done, Harrison had a margin of $17.20 on Ryan Patrick Scully of Montgomery, IL ($200,000), while A. J. Benton of Manchester, NH, finished third another $3.80 behind.

Harrison entered the final race of Sunday's event–the Baffle S. at Santa Anita–with a $16.60 lead over Benton and $17.20 over Scully. He landed on Don't Swear Dave, who ran home for second behind odds-on Maglev, allowing Harrison to stand up in the saddle, figuratively speaking, before the race had crossed the wire.

“The guys in second and third only had a few options,” Harrison said. “Don't Swear Dave went up to 4-1 and I thought, 'If I don't have that horse they could nip me. And my name's Dave! I can't let that horse beat me.'”

Harrison was in 14th position to begin the day, but advanced steadily through the semi-final round.

“My goal was to creep up and I hit my first couple of races,” he said. “Then the one that really got my confidence up was the horse at Laurel–Let Me Finish. Every time I get into a discussion with my wife she's always telling me that–let me finish. That was one of my hunch plays and that's probably the reason I won.

He added, “This is an absolute life-changing score,” Harrison said. “I'm a middle-class, middle-income, hard-working guy. This is going to help me hopefully retire a little bit earlier than I'd planned. I'm totally overwhelmed and don't even know what else to say.”

Harrison said he has been handicapping since the late 1970s, when he would frequent Belmont Park, and credits the late New York Racing Association broadcaster and handicapper Harvey Pack for teaching him how to handicap. After the trophy presentation, Harrison tossed his Daily Racing Form in the air in tribute to Pack, who died last July at the age of 94.

Dale Day, the track announcer at Remington Park, finished 10th, good for a $50,000 payday and the proverbial icing on the cake, after his beloved Cincinnati Bengals outlasted the Kansas City Chiefs to secure a spot in the Super Bowl.

Kinchen DQd at NHC…

Jonathon Kinchen, winner of the 2015 NHC and widely recognized from duties at NYRA and FOX television, was disqualified from the NHC Saturday after it was learned that he was not in Las Vegas in person for the competition, as required by rule. Ron Flatter, reporting for Horse Racing Nation, was first to break the news.

According to Flatter, Kinchen was present at Gulfstream Park Saturday for the Pegasus program and employed an intermediary to run his bets, strictly prohibited as laid out in the rules for the NHC which read, “All wagers must be placed personally, and in person, by the contest player. To avoid being disqualified, no person shall, directly or indirectly, act as an intermediary, transmitter or agent in placing wagers for the contest player, unless prior authorization is given by NHC officials.”

According to Flatter, one of Kinchen's two NHC entries was in contention for the semi-final round.

Kinchen tweeted several times from Las Vegas in the days leading up to the contest, including a photo of an older gentleman with the Twitter handle @MarvBetRunner, but once news broke of the disqualification, took a decidedly defiant and sarcastic approach. On Jan. 30 at 1:01 p.m., he tweeted a photo, drink in hand, from what appears to be an outdoor venue in his typically eclectic garb with verbiage that read: “It was worth it…Also, I'm done being nice…” At 2:11 Sunday afternoon, Kinchen tweeted, “Yes @ronflatter, I got a statement…”

Monday morning, the NTRA issued a statement of its own regarding the situation, while not mentioning Kinchen by name. That statement reads: “The NTRA disqualified a player from the 2022 NHC for violating the official rules. One of the violated rules states, “All wagers must be placed personally, and in-person, by the Contest Player.” The disqualified player was not present at Bally's during the NHC tournament and his contest wagers were being submitted on-site by an intermediary without authorization. No authorization was given to the player to leave Bally's or the State; he violated both. The rules of the NHC are clearly outlined and all participants are required to sign them prior to the tournament.”

NTRA President and CEO Tom Rooney said, “The rules are clear that participants must be onsite to participate in the NHC. The NHC is the world's most prestigious handicapping tournament. The integrity of the event is of paramount importance–not just to us but to the thousands of men and women who attempt to qualify and play each and every year. The NTRA will staunchly and steadfastly follow the rules and defend the integrity of this prestigious event and it's participants.”

Kinchen tweeted Sunday at 2:58 p.m. that “'I got a statement” too…'” and suggested that he would address the issue in an upcoming podcast with his “partner in crime” Peter Fornatale.

The post Harrison Crowned NHC Champ; Kinchen DQd appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

‘Old-School’ Player, Harvey Pack Disciple David Harrison Wins National Horseplayers Championship

David Harrison of Webster, N.Y., topped a field of 643 entries to win the $725,000 first-place prize and an Eclipse Award as Horseplayer of the Year at this weekend's 23rd annual National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) presented by Racetrack Television Network, Caesars Entertainment, and Bally's Las Vegas.

Harrison amassed a winning score of $342 over the three-day tournament from 53 mythical $2 Win and Place bets – 18 on Friday, 18 on Saturday, 10 in Sunday morning's Semifinal round, and seven at the climactic Final Table presented by Caesars Sportsbook and Global Tote, A BetMakers Company.

The 63-year-old Harrison, who makes his living as a real estate appraiser and collateral analyst, held a $30.30 advantage over A.J. Benton and the rest of the field entering the Final Table.

Despite a tightening of the TVG Leaderboard from the first six of seven Final Table races, Harrison did enough to hold off his rivals late.

“This is an absolute life-changing score,” Harrison said. “I'm a middle-class, middle-income, hard-working guy. This is going to help me hopefully retire a little bit earlier than I'd planned. I'm totally overwhelmed and don't even know what else to say.”

The contest came down to the Baffle Stakes at Santa Anita – a 6 1/2-furlong turf sprint for 3-year-olds – with Harrison $16.60 ahead of Benton and $17.20 to the better of Ryan Patrick Scully. The other seven were at least $44 from the top.

Even-money favorite Maglev hit the lead in upper stretch and drew off easily. To slam the door shut, Don't Swear Dave closed for second, making it impossible for anyone to catch Harrison. As Maglev opened up Harrison did not wait to see him hit the wire before raising his arms in triumph and leaving the stage to celebrate with his friends in a far corner of the ballroom.

Harrison started the day in 14th and made his big moves in the morning's Semifinals round. At the Final Table, no player moved more than one position.

“My goal was to creep up and I hit my first couple of races,” he said. “Then the one that really got my confidence up was the horse at Laurel – Let Me Finish. Every time I get into a discussion with my wife she's always telling me that – let me finish. That was one of my hunch plays and that's probably the reason I won.”

Harrison has been handicapping since the late 1970s, when he would frequent Belmont Park, and credits the late New York Racing Association broadcaster and handicapper Harvey Pack for teaching him how to handicap. After the trophy presentation, Harrison tossed his Daily Racing Form in the air in tribute to Pack.

“I'm an old-school guy,” he said. “I just use the Form.”

Scully ended up second with $324.80, good for a $200,000 prize, followed by Benton with $321, which was worth $150,000.

The official Top 10, with placing, final bankroll, name, hometown (and prize):

1. $342.00, David Harrison, Webster, N.Y. ($725,000 + Eclipse Award + BCBC spot)

2. $324.80, Ryan Patrick Scully, Montgomery, Ill. ($200,000)

3. $321.00, A.J. Benton, Manchester, N.H. ($150,000)

4. $293.80, Frank Paros, Jupiter, Fla. ($100,000)

5. $286.00, David McCarty, San Diego ($75,000)

6. $260.00, Sally Goodall, Las Vegas ($70,000)

7. $253.20, Mike Somich, Raleigh, N.C. ($65,000)

8. $252.30, Shirley Wolff, Holmdel, N.J. ($60,000)

9. $243.50, Kevin Smith, Coral Gables, Fla. ($55,000)

10. $240.00, Dale Day, Yukon, Okla. ($50,000)

By virtue of his victory, Harrison also earns an exemption into next year's NHC and a berth to the 2022 Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge worth $10,000.

The full NHC and Consolation Tournament standings can be accessed at NTRA.com.

The NHC was held for the third straight year in the historic Bally's Event Center, which for three days was transformed into the world's largest race and sports book. The next NHC in 2023 will be at the same property but it will bear a new name, Horseshoe Las Vegas.

The NHC finals awarded cash prizes to 64 players—the top 10% of finishers—from a total cash prize purse of $2,339,550. An additional $50,000 went to the top 20 in today's Consolation Tournament. Including $355,000 paid out to top finishers in the year-long NHC Tour, NHC Tour travel awards, RTN subscriptions, and the $10,000 Charity Challenge tournament prize, plus $30,000 worth of Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge prizes in the form of entry fees, airfare, and hotel, the aggregate value of payouts this weekend in NHC cash and prizes totaled $3,568,592.

To make the Semifinals cut, the 509 individual NHC players were required to place 36 mythical $2 Win and Place wagers – 18 on Friday and 18 on Saturday. The highest 10 cumulative scores after the Semifinals round on Sunday morning moved on to the Final Table. Bankrolls amassed during Day 1, Day 2 and the Semifinals round rolled over to the Final Table, with the 10 finalists settling the NHC score in seven “mandatory” assigned races.

Final Table participants were relocated to a single table in the middle of the Bally's Event Center that served as NHC headquarters.

Final Table Race Results

Race: Winner ($2 Win, $2 Place), Second ($2 Place)

Gulfstream, Race 10: 8-Skyro ($11.80, $5.60), 5-Mid Day Image ($3.40)

Fair Grounds, Race 7: 8-Citizen West ($7.40, $4.20), 1-Abuelo Nuno ($6)

Sam Houston, Race 6: 11-Red Run ($12.80, $6), 1-Bloodline ($8.40)

Fair Grounds, Race 8: 10-Big Agenda ($6, $3.40), 3-Forever Mo ($3.60)

Sam Houston, Race 8: [Dead Heat] 9-Another Mystery ($23.60, $16.80), 6-Fantasioso ($10.80, $9.80)

Sam Houston, Race 9: 2-Greeley and Ben ($9, $4.60), 10-Mr Money Bags ($5.20)

Santa Anita, Race 9: 1-Maglev ($4.40, $2.80), 6-Don't Swear Dave ($4.40)

NHC Tour winner Kevin Costello advanced to the Semifinals with both of his entries, finishing 19th ($206) with Entry 1 and 53rd with Entry 2 ($173.60), which was the one eligible for a $5 million bonus if he could have won the NHC. Costello was the only player with two entries in the Semifinals round.

Defending champion Justin Mustari checked in at 108th ($137.20).

In a separate Consolation Tournament for players that did not reach the Semifinals round, David Wolff of Holmdel, N.J., husband of Final Table player Shirley Wolff, won the $10,000 top prize with a bankroll of $141.60 from 10 optional races. The Consolation Tournament started with bankrolls reset to zero. Cash prizes totaling $50,000 were awarded, from the $10,000 first prize down to $1,000 for 20th.

NHC weekend concludes this evening with the annual Champions' Dinner, featuring the presentation of prizes and the induction of the 2022 NHC Hall of Fame class: Michael Beychok, Stanley Bavlish, J. Randy Gallo, David Gutfreund, and Paul Matties Jr.

The 2022 NHC was the culmination of 310 qualifying contests held online and at racetracks and OTBs in 2021. From those contests, there were 44,553 entries played in hopes of making it to Bally's Las Vegas.

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 post ‘Old-School’ Player, Harvey Pack Disciple David Harrison Wins National Horseplayers Championship appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post