Defending champion Brian Troop heads a record field of 305 horseplayers who will gather at Red Rock Casino, Resort and Spa on January 28-29 to vie for horse racing’s official title of 'Handicapper of the Year' and a first-place prize of $500,000 in the $1,119,000 Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship

. The total estimated purse, which will be adjusted next Wednesday pending turnout at Red Rock’s Last Chance tournament, represents an NHC record.

The NHC has enjoyed outstanding growth since its inception. By way of comparison, the first NHC in January 2000 carried a total prize pool of $200,000 and a winner’s share of $100,000.

“We are delighted to return to Red Rock in Las Vegas for what has become the most anticipated tournament in the world among horseplayers,” said Keith Chamblin, senior vice president of the NTRA. “This year’s field of 305 is our biggest ever, which means this year’s NHC will be not only the richest but the most competitive in the event’s history.”

As the 2010 DRF/NTRA National Handicapping Championship winner, Brian Troop of Barrie, Ont., received a special exemption into the tournament to defend the title he won last January when he bested 301 other horseplayers in the two-day competition. The 62-year-old accountant won by amassing a mythical bankroll of $266.00 from a total of 30 $2 win-and-place wagers pared from a mind-numbing menu of more than 130 races run at seven different tracks. Troop, who took over the lead last year early on in Day 1 and never looked back, will look to become the first ever two-time winner of the NHC, but he will face five other past champions who qualified for the finals this year. Judy Wagner, Steve Wolfson, Jr., Ron Rippey, Stanley Bavlish and Richard Goodall—the winners of NHC II, NHC IV, NHC VII, NHC VIII and NHC IX, respectively—will all be in the field with the same goal of a historic win in Las Vegas.

Contestant Tom Noone of Redondo Beach, Calif., will be hoping to make NHC history of a different kind. As the winner of the third annual NHC Tour in 2010, Noone not only won a $75,000 bonus for his top scores in the year’s NHC qualifying events, he is eligible to receive a $2 million bonus should he emerge victorious in the January 28-29 competition. So a win by Noone in Las Vegas would result in a payday of $2.5 million ($500,000 first-place NHC purse + $2 million NHC Tour bonus).

In its 12th year, the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship is the most important tournament of the year for horseplayers and is the culmination of a year-long series of NTRA-sanctioned local tournaments conducted by racetracks, casino racebooks, off-track betting facilities and horse racing and handicapping websites, each of which sends its top qualifiers to the national finals. This year’s finalists advanced from one of 109 local tournaments held at more than 50 different sites across North America since January 2010.

So far, more than 100,000 people have participated in these local tournaments. In addition, a 'last chance' tournament will be held at Red Rock on January 26 in order to fill the remaining five starting berths in the field of 305. Red Rock will also host the second annual 'Red Rock Shootout' on Sunday, January 30. The Sunday contest is a qualifying event for the 2011-12 contest year.

The tournament format for the DRF/NTRA National Handicapping Championship is meant to be the best possible test of overall handicapping ability. Players attempt to earn the highest possible bankroll based on 15 mythical $2 win-and-place wagers on each day of the two-day tournament. Eight of those wagers will be on mandatory races as selected by a panel comprised of Daily Racing Form National Handicapper Mike Watchmaker, NTRA Senior Director of Media Relations Eric Wing and Red Rock Casino Director of Race and Sports Jason McCormick.

The remaining seven races each day are optional plays to be made on races at one of eight designated NHC tournament tracks: Aqueduct, Fair Grounds, Golden Gate Fields, Gulfstream Park, Oaklawn Park, Santa Anita Park, Tampa Bay Downs and Turf Paradise.

Regular Championship updates will be posted on the Internet throughout the two-day contest at both ntra.com and drf.com.

(NTRA)