The second day of the National Thoroughbred Horse Racing Association (NTRA) National Equestrian Championship (NHC), hosted by Caesars Entertainment, Horseshoe Las Vegas and the Racetrack Television Network (RTN), ended on Wednesday. Seven with Francis Boustany of Lafayette, Louisiana maintained its first-day lead with a budget of $291.20. He’ll reach the semifinals on Sunday with a $13.20 lead.
This is Boustany’s seventh NHC and it is the most successful he has had to date. He admitted, “It’s hard to have two favorable, consecutive days, and today I had almost as much total score as yesterday.” About tomorrow, he said, “Anything can happen. There are a lot of good players here. I have a very good total, so it’s good to bring it.”
The NHC field has dropped to the top 10 percent of players later today. The 10 people with the highest cumulative points after the Semi-Finals on Sunday morning will fill the Finals Table. Money accumulated during Day 1, Day 2 and the Semi-Finals will be carried over to the Finals Table, with the 10 finalists determining the number of NHC points in the seven “required” designated races.
Semifinal School 78 has 6 double qualifiers, Paul Calia, Ed Decke, Jordan Jayne, John Nichols, James Pauley and Steven Wells. Jordan Jayne was in 52nd place with a budget of $179.90, being the last contestant to compete for a chance to win $1 million thanks to Hawthorne Racecourse. Three women Linda Rodriguez, Cara Yarusso and Christy Moore will participate in the semi-finals.
Second place leading up to Sunday’s semi-finals with a $278.00 bankroll is Paul Calia. Third place is Gary Fenton with $259.60, fourth place is David Browning with $243.40 and fifth place is Steven Wells with two entries and an identical score of $239.70. The full rankings can be found on NTRA.com.
The 2023 NHC winner, who will be named Sunday at the conclusion of the Final Table, will take home a whopping $800,000, up from last year’s $725,000 grand prize and will be honored named Equestrian Player of the Year at the Eclipse 2024 Awards. The total cash prize pool to be offered over the three days is a record $3,115,350, up 33% from last year. NHC 2022 paid for the top 64 finishers. This year, the top 78 finishers will take home the prize money. The full prize structure can be found online.
Jude Feld Wins 9th Annual NTRA Charity Challenge
The 9th annual NTRA/NHC Charity Challenge, organized by NTRA Charities, sees a diverse group of players compete in an online handicap contest that benefits charities and reflect the NHC format. Race announcers, online personalities, NHC sponsors, podcast hosts, journalists, and other industry representatives compete every year. First place went to Jude Feld, Horse Racing Radio Network broadcaster and former coach, who was also a multiple first-time winner of the Charity Challenge.
“Playing a competition is a lot different than playing every day, because I look for horses with a score of at least 8-1,” said Feld of this year’s win. Old Friends is my favorite charity to support and I first supported it when I won in 2020. Great work Michael Blowen and his staff do to care for our retired Purebred friends was very important to me.”
Feld’s final cumulative budget of $84.40 topped the field for the day. His big win was the second race of the competition, which was Laurel Park’s sixth. The eldest son won the one-mile option claim race for which Jude collected $33.60 thanks to his mythical winning spot pick.
The top ten finishers in the 2023 competition are:
1. Jude Feld, Horse Racing Radio Network broadcaster and former coach
2. Rachel McLaughlin, Race Analyst and Production Manager at Horseshoe Indianapolis
3. Frank Carulli, Handicap and Blogger for Xpressbet
4. Ray Paulick, Publisher of the Paulick Report
5. Jeremy Balan, Journalist and Sports Writer
6. Jim Mulvihill, Editor of BloodHorse Daily
7. Matt Carothers, Host and Analyst at TVG
8. Jeff Bratt, Host, Commentator and Acceptor at Woodbine Entertainment
9. Jay Privman, Retired Daily Racing Form Reporter and Eclipse Award Winner
10. Rich Perloff, Host and Analyst at Fan Duel/TVG
This year, the “total prize pool” has doubled to $10,000 for charity, in praise of NTRA Charity. $5,000 will be donated to Jude’s Old Friends choice and an additional $2,500 will be donated to the Thoroughbred Post-Pure Care Alliance and the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Foundation. HorseTourneys.com hosted the Charity Challenge and the Breeders’ Cup provided additional prizes to the top 3 finishers as credits to their HorseTourneys.com account.
More information about this year’s NHC
The NHC, the world’s wealthiest and most prestigious handicap competition, brings together more than 600 top equestrians competing for more than $3.1 million in cash and prizes. All eligible people will receive four free nights at Horseshoe Las Vegas and travel reimbursements totaling more than $1 million.
The NHC tournament format is considered the best possible test of overall handicap by selecting a winner. Players strive for the highest possible bankroll based on the mythic $2 Win and Place bets. Designated “mandatory” races — eight races per day on Days 1 and 2, and seven races at the Final Table — are notified at least 36 hours prior to each competition day via direct e-mail. to players and publicly on Twitter (@NTRA) and NTRA.com.
The NHC field will drop to the top 10 percent of players after the first two days. The 10 people with the highest cumulative points after the Semi-Finals on Sunday morning will fill the Finals Table. Money accumulated during Day 1, Day 2 and the Semi-Finals will be carried over to the Finals Table, with the 10 finalists determining the number of NHC points in the seven “required” designated races.
In addition to the three current sponsors – Caesars Entertainment, Horseshoe Las Vegas and RTN – NHC is also supported by official partners Daily Racing Form, EquinEdge, Four Roses Bourbon and Race Lens.
Interested viewers will have the ability to watch and listen to the action taking place at the NHC all weekend in multiple locations. Rachel McLaughlin, Race Analyst at Horseshoe Indianapolis, will host the NHC broadcast that will be available on all NTRA social media platforms. Additionally, At the Races with Steve Byk will air live on SiriusXM satellite station (Sirius 219; XM 201) from Horseshoe Las Vegas and online at www.stevebyk.com daily, 9-12 a.m. ET/ 6-9 am . PT on Fridays and Mondays, with additional NHC coverage at www.SteveByk.com/listen-live-SiriusXM scheduled 2-8pm ET/11am-5pm ET Pacific) next Friday-Sunday. America’s Best Racing and Hawthorne will also stream from the event.
To register for the NHC Tour, visit www.ntra.com/membership.
This press release has not been edited by BloodHorse. If you have any questions, please contact the organization that produced the release.
