Greater than 1,000 handicappers descended on Horseshoe Las Vegas for one final probability to qualify for the twenty seventh annual match.th yearly Nationwide Horseplayers Championship (NHC) The winner of the competition was Michelle Mount of Glendora, Calif., who took dwelling the primary prize of $30,130 and earned a spot within the NHC Fundamental Occasion beginning Friday.
Mount constructed a stable lead within the afternoon portion of the match and held on to a $0.24 lead over runner-up Evan Litman of Murrieta, California. Littman received the ultimate race of the match, Race 2 at Turfway Park, however fell just some cents wanting sufficient pay to win.
Initially conceived because the final massive alternative for gamers to take to the NHC subject the night time earlier than the primary occasion, the Final Likelihood/First Likelihood match has shortly grown over time and is now one of many largest handicap tournaments of the yr as a standalone occasion. The whole prize cash for the competition was $167,587, divided among the many prime 10 winners.
On a day when there have been few longshot winners in 55 contest races at seven tracks, Mount added to his winnings by choosing mid-priced winners within the 5-to-1 odds vary. Gamers tried to construct the best winnings from a complete of 11 optionally available and obligatory $2 win and place bets. Mount’s tournament-winning rating of $106.70 proved to be sufficient to carry off Littman’s complete of $106.46. Littman earned $27,159 for second place and likewise certified for the NHC.
Whereas the $167,587 money purse is a vital added bonus, the vast majority of the purse for Final Likelihood/First Likelihood tournaments is made up by the NHC qualifying spots on supply. The Final Likelihood/First Likelihood match awarded a complete of 47 NHC spots, together with 32 2026 NHC Finals contestants and 15 2026 NHC Finals contestants. Subsequent The NHC finals will happen in March 2027. A whole listing of Final Likelihood/First Likelihood Qualifiers and all different NHC match data may be discovered at www.NTRA.com/NHC.
Third-place finisher John Petoskey completed roughly $10 behind the highest two with a contest complete of $96.04, incomes him a third-place prize of $24,187. Charles Barnhart positioned fourth and received $21,216. Eddie Inman completed fifth and received $18,244.
Former NHC Champion and newly inducted into the NHC Corridor of Fame, Chris Littlemore completed sixth within the NHC Final Likelihood, incomes $15,273 in prize cash.
Rounding out the highest 10 and winnings have been Chuck O’Mara ($12,302), Evan Topol ($9,330), Jim Brown ($6,359), and Michael Warren ($3,387).
The twenty seventh Nationwide Horse Gamers Match will likely be held March 13-15 at Horseshoe Las Vegas. Prize cash for the NHC Fundamental Occasion was decided at $3,238,000.
