Today I received an e-mail from Alex Waldrop with the National Thoroughbred Racing Association that I wanted to share because of our own Tom Atwater’s accomplishments. The PRECOG10 group’s horseracing guru is one of the “304 best horseplayers in North America” that Waldrop refers to below. He qualified for a seat at the NHC Championship last January and finished the year ranked 72nd. Hurrah for Tom!
“A less public but no less important display of that same passion [as the Eclipse Awards for Horse of the Year] is the DRF/NTRA National Handicapping Championship to be held January28-29 at the Red Rock Casino, Resort and Spa in Las Vegas. This event will draw 304 of the best horseplayers in North America to one of Las Vegas’ best race and sports book facilities. For two days, the players will vie for over $1 million in prize money. All who compete at the NHC will have qualified at one of 109 local tourneys held at racetracks, OTBs, casinos and Internet sites.
These men and women love the intellectual challenge offered by handicapping horse races. They also love the rewards of picking winners. This year’s NHC winner will take home a minimum of $500,000. In 2012, the total prize money will go to $2 million estimated with the winner’s share set at $1 million. Not bad for two days of work.
At the NTRA, we believe in honoring horseplayers at the NHC every bit as much as we believe in honoring owners, breeders, trainers, jockeys and horses at the Eclipse Awards. If horses and horse people are the foundation of our game, players are the economic engine that fuels it. Both segments are vitally important and without one, there would not be the other. That’s why it’s fitting that we honor both at this time of the year.”