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Kevin Costello Makes History as First Repeat NHC Champion

Kevin Costello has officially won the 2023 National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) Tour, the first ever in the contest's 16 year history to win twice, announced the NTRA via press release Friday.

Having previously won in 2021 and qualifying every year since 2016, Costello secured a seat to the 2025 NHC in addition to the prize money and is eligible to take home a $5-million bonus should he become a three-peat winner at the 25th NHC competition in Las Vegas. Costello finished the 2023 Tour season with 24,053 points from 31 contests.

It was a close race for spots behind him as Michael Mulvihill finished in second with 22,991 points; Evan Trommer finished in third with 22,709 points; Sally Goodall placed fourth at 22,600 points; and Brett Wiener came in fifth with 22,399 points. The complete 2023 Tour results can be found here.

The post Kevin Costello Makes History as First Repeat NHC Champion appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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McCarty Maintains National Horseplayers Championship Lead Into Final Day

David McCarty of San Diego grinded out another day of consistent mid-range prices to maintain his lead after Day 2 of the 2022 NTRA National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) presented by Racetrack Television Network, Caesars Entertainment, and Bally's Las Vegas. McCarty has amassed a bankroll of $248.80 to lead 643 entries in the richest and most prestigious handicapping contest in the world. Sally Goodall, inducted into the NHC Hall of Fame last year, sits a menacing second with $245.60.

All players made mythical win-place wagers on 18 races Friday and 18 races on Saturday from eight racetracks. McCarty, making his eighth NHC appearance, began the day atop the TVG Leaderboard with a mythical bankroll of $162.80.

“My biggest winner today was 7 or 8-1 and yesterday it was 13-1,” McCarty said. “I haven't had any bombs. I wanted to get another $100 today and I almost got there. I've just been bouncing around between chalk and mid-priced horses.

“I'd like to capitalize on the fact that I'm already up there and at least finish in the top five.”

McCarty, 79, is a biotechnology consultant who ran multiple startups, including one that was purchased by a company that soon went public. He is a Turf Club member at Del Mar. McCarty has been playing horses since he was a teenager and ran daily double wagers to Santa Anita for his friend's father.

Goodall, a 20-time NHC qualifier, moved into the top 10 with a win in Tampa Bay's fourth. Five-year-old mare Moniques Daredevil won easily at 8-1 stretching out to two turns on the dirt.

“You have strategies and sometimes they work, sometimes not,” she said. “Every day is different and you just hope for the best. I like to make pedigree plays and today they worked for me.”

Both women in the NHC Hall of Fame are in the top 10. Judy Wagner, the 2001 NHC winner, is seventh with $201.80. There are two former NHC winners among the top 10 – Wagner and 2019 champ Scott Coles (ninth, $200.70).

NHC Tour winner Kevin Costello made the cut with both of his entries, sitting in 16th ($187.40) with Entry 1 and 54th with Entry 2 ($162), which is the one eligible for a $5 million bonus should he win the NHC.

The leading earner on Day 2 was Mike Somich, who put together a $169.80 performance. Even after getting blanked on Day 1 the performance was enough to make the cut in 37th place with $169.80. Somich, 38, of Raleigh, N.C., will receive a Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge entry worth $10,000.

The three-day NHC concludes Sunday at Bally's. The top 64 entries (top 10%) after today's Day 2 action carry their mythical bankroll into Sunday's Semifinals round, which will require mythical win-place wagers on 10 races from a menu of 22 races. The top 10 from the Semifinals advance to Sunday afternoon's Final Table presented by Caesars Sportsbook and Global Tote, A BetMakers Company, to determine the 2022 NHC champion. The grand prize winner will receive the $725,000 first-place prize and an Eclipse Award as Horseplayer of the Year.

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

Defending champion Justin Mustari will not continue on to the Semifinals. He checked in at 108th ($137.20).

Canale Wins Charity Challenge
Michael Canale, senior producer of broadcast and video content at Oaklawn Park, won the 8th Annual NTRA NHC Charity Challenge presented by Four Roses Bourbon with a final bankroll of $87.30 from eight contest races. Matt Rybaltowski, the sports betting writer, finished second with $82.50 and Sean Clancy checked in third with $79.10.

Canale selected the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance to receive a $2,500 donation in his name to go along with another $2,500 committed to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.

“I've been in this game well over 20 years and I just think it's important to give back to the horses and make sure they're well taken care of,” Canale said. “The two causes in acing that are closest to my heart are the jockeys, because I've gotten to know so many of them over the years and have such respect for what they do, and the horses.”

A field of 71 contested the NHC Charity Challenge. Canale, who covered previous NHCs on site in his roles as a producer with TVG and HRTV, joins an illustrious list of past winners: track announcer and jockey agent Jimmy McNerney (2021), broadcaster and public handicapper Jude Feld (2020), public handicapper Dawn Lupul (2019), racing executive and public handicapper Ed DeRosa (2018), public handicapper Ellis Starr (2017), broadcaster and handicapper Matt Bernier (2016), and broadcaster Bob Neumeier (2015).

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.

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Mustari Leads NHC After Day 2, Championship Concludes Sunday

Justin Mustari of Des Plaines, Illinois, holds a slim advantage over 2014 champion Jose Arias following the second day of competition in the 22nd National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) presented by Racetrack Television Network, Caesars Entertainment, and Bally's Las Vegas.

Mustari has amassed $283.30 leading 563 entries in the richest and most prestigious handicapping contest in the world. Arias, of Bell Gardens, California, has $278. All players made mythical win-place wagers on 17 races Friday and 18 races on Saturday from seven North American racetracks. Mustari began the day in 14th place with a mythical bankroll of $135.70.

Mustari, 26, is participating in his third consecutive NHC. He took the lead in the final eligible race of the day, Del Mar's 11th, selecting $8 winner U.S. Danger.

“It's definitely pretty crazy,” Mustari said. “I had one of those days where you just try to put yourself in a good position. I hit my last three or four races. I just played horses I thought would win and didn't worry about playing prices like a lot of people do.”

Mustari said after the contest day was done that he would try his best to relax by going to dinner with his family. His father Frank and his uncle Dan also qualified this year, and the Mustaris are well-known regulars in the contest world.

“I learned everything from my dad,” Mustari said. “He's been playing horses since he was young. That's how I got into the game. I started playing contests as soon as I turned 21.”

Mustari works for his dad's insulation contracting company. He double-qualified at Hawthorne Race Course (the other entry finished out of the money in 266th).

Arias held the lead going into the final eligible race and sits in the enviable second position entering the Semifinal round.

“It's a blur right now,” he said of the afternoon, citing Grade 2 Pat O'Brien Stakes winner Ginobili ($12.80) as one of his best plays of the weekend and crediting owners Slam Dunk Racing and trainer Richard Baltas for their handling of the emerging top-class sprinter.

Defending champion Thomas Goldsmith will continue on to the Semifinals with both of his entries – one in 38th place with a $184.60 bankroll and the other in 42nd with $183.20

Other recognizable names making the cut are defending 2020 NHC Tour winner and 2021 NHC Hall of Fame inductee Sally Goodall (39th, $184.20) and husband-and-wife duo Cheryl McIntyre (47th, $178.50) and Mike McIntyre (48th, $176.80), right next to one another in the standings.

The three-day NHC concludes Sunday at Bally's. The top 56 entries after Saturday will carry their mythical bankroll into Sunday's Semifinal round, which will require mythical win-place wagers on 10 races from a menu of 22 races. The top 10 from the Semifinal round advance to Sunday afternoon's DraftKings Final Table to determine the 2021 NHC champion. The grand prize winner will receive the $725,000 first-place prize and an Eclipse Award as Horseplayer of the Year.

Greg Knepper of West Lawn, Pennsylvania earned $157.00 to win the individual Day 2 honors. That effort earned him a free berth into the 2021 Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge.

Sarah Wiener, Norma Mendoza, Sally Goodall, Jeannie King, Karen Richards, and Cheryl McIntyre comprise a group of six female players who are in the top 56 moving on to Sunday's Semifinal round.

This year's track menu for mandatory and optional races is comprised of Del Mar, Ellis Park, Golden Gate Fields, Gulfstream Park, Monmouth Park, Saratoga Race Course, and Woodbine Racetrack. All but Gulfstream and Golden Gate are part of the NHC for the first time.

The National Horseplayers Championship is presented by Racetrack Television Network, Caesars Entertainment, and Bally's Las Vegas and sponsored by 1/ST BET, Breeders' Cup, Capitol OTB, Century Bets, Daily Racing Form, Draft Kings, EquinEdge, FanDuel Group, Four Roses Bourbon, Hawthorne Racecourse, Hialeah Park, HorsePlayers.com, HorseTourneys.com, Keeneland, Monmouth Park, NYRA Bets, Roberts Communications, Santa Anita Park, STATS® Race Lens, The Stronach Group, TVG, and Xpressbet.

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Sally Goodall, Ray Arsenault Inducted Into NHC Hall Of Fame

Demonstrating remarkable success against the nation's top horseplayers over many years while earning their respect, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) proudly announced today that Sally Goodall, the 2020 National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) Tour Champion, and Ray Arsenault, the 2017 NHC Champion and Eclipse Award winner as National Horseplayer of the Year, have been inducted into the NHC Hall of Fame.

Goodall of Las Vegas, Nev., and Arsenault, from Thornhill, Ont., outside Toronto, represent the seventh class of NHC Hall of Fame inductees. Goodall and Arsenault will be recognized during the NHC Champions Dinner at the conclusion of the 22nd NTRA National Horseplayers Championship Presented by Racetrack Television Network, Caesars Entertainment and Bally's, set for Aug. 27-29 at Bally's Las Vegas. Since its launch in 2014, the NHC Hall of Fame has inducted two impact figures each season, making Goodall and Arsenault the Hall's 13th and 14th members.

Goodall's induction is extra special because her husband, Richard Goodall, was inducted into the NHC Hall of Fame in 2020. In addition to the 2020 NHC Tour Champion title, Sally Goodall has qualified a record-tying 18 times for the NHC, which began with her first qualification in 2006.

“I don't have the words to express how excited and honored I felt when I received the call from the NTRA informing me that my fellow players had inducted me into the Hall of Fame,” said a delighted Goodall. “I have really loved playing in the NHC contests for 20 years and this wonderful honor is simply the cherry on top of my mooncake.”

Arsenault has quite a resume of accomplishments of his own. He is the second all-time NHC money winner. A hallmark of consistency, Arsenault is an 11-time NHC qualifier with four top 30 NHC finishes, and two top 10 finishes at the Championship in Las Vegas. Arsenault is an NHC Mentor, and worked with the NTRA to rename the NHC Rookie of the Year Award in honor of the late Jim Nace, a popular and longtime contest player, fellow mentor to many horseplayers and six-time NHC qualifier.

“It is a great honor to be put in the Hall of Fame and to be alongside the many people who are well respected in the game we love to play,” said Arsenault who became interested in horse racing contests in 2002 when he and a friend were watching his uncle in a Woodbine contest that was offering three seats to the NHC in Las Vegas along with cash prize money. “I knew then I would be going the following year,” Arsenault recalled. “In my second contest in 2004, I finished second, winning cash and a trip to Bally's for the NHC. It opened up a new world for me. I have met so many great friends and it has allowed me the opportunity to visit most of the beautiful race tracks in North America.”

The NHC Hall of Fame was created to honor and recognize outstanding contributions and achievements of individuals who participate in the NHC and the NHC Tour. Those considered meet one or more of the following criteria:

Competed in NHC-sanctioned tournaments and played consistently well over an extended period of time.
Gained the respect and admiration of their peers.
Contributed to the overall growth and success of the NHC and/or tournament play in general, with indelible positive and lasting results.

Each year, nominees are selected by a panel of former NHC Champions, NHC Tour Champions, Hall of Fame Members, current Players Committee Members, and Tournament Directors. Final Voting was expanded this year to include individuals who have been Tour members for at least 10 years and have qualified at least once for the NHC.

In addition to Goodall and Arsenault, this year's Hall of Fame ballot included: Stanley Bavlish, Michael Beychok, Dennis Decauwer, Jim Goodman, David Gutfreund, Paul Matties, Jr., Rich Nilsen and William Shurman.

Goodall and Arsenault will be enshrined next to fellow NHC Hall of Fame members Roger Cettina and Richard Goodall (2020), Bryan Wagner and Trey Stiles (2019), Chris Larmey and Steve Wolfson, Jr. (2018), Paul Shurman and Steve Wolfson, Sr. (2017), Steven Crist and Judy Wagner (2016), and Mike Mayo and Ron Rippey (2015).

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