John O’Neil, of Huntington Station, New York, topped a field of 606 entries to win the $800,000 first-place prize and an Eclipse Award as Horseplayer of the Year at this weekend’s 16th annual Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship (NHC).
The NHC, presented by Racetrack Television Network, Sovereign Stable and Treasure Island Las Vegas, offered record overall prize money of $2.363 million.
The 74-year-old O’Neil amassed a winning score of $327.20 over the three-day tournament from 47 mythical $2 Win and Place bets – 15 each on Friday and Saturday, 10 in Sunday morning’s Final 50 contest and seven in the climactic Final Table contest exclusive to the overall top 10.
Ken Jordan, of Farmingdale, New Jersey, finished second with $291.70.
O’Neil was the NHC two-day leader at the end of Saturday’s races but lost the lead toward the end of the Final 50 contest that led to the Final Table. In the seven mandatory races that made up the Final Table, however, O’Neil cashed in four of them. Three of them were winners – Huntstown ($6.40) in Tampa Bay Down’s 10th race, Main Man Mike ($14.40) in Gulfstream Park’s 11th, and Aperfectdaytofly ($7.40) in Santa Anita’s seventh.
“It was short-priced horses that got me there but that’s what we had today,” O’Neil said. “Thank God for very few bombs.”
O’Neil was introduced to handicapping on visits to the old Jamaica Race Course in Queens in the 1950s.
“My brother took me one day when I was 14 or 15 and I’ve been doing it every day since,” O’Neil said. “It’s been a journey to get here, believe me. This probably makes me even after a lifetime.”
The top three NHC finishers, and four of the top five, qualified as a result of finishing among the top 150 on the NHC Tour, a distinction which earns guaranteed entry to the NHC.
O’Neil is a small-business owner on Long Island.
“We work 60, 70 hours per week pushing trucks and asphalt,” he said. “This will make it a little easier.”
The official Top 10, with final bankroll (and prize):
First – John O’Neil, $327.20 ($800,000 and Eclipse Award for Horseplayer of the Year)
Second – Ken Jordan, $291.70 ($250,000)
Third – Matthew Ransdell, $269 ($125,000)
Fourth – Joseph Muzio, $266.30 ($100,000)
Fifth – Myles Richards, $262.20 ($75,000)
Sixth – Joe Scanio, $260.20 ($65,000)
Seventh – Jonathon Kinchen, $256.60 ($59,000)
Eighth – Robert Pontani Jr., $247.90 ($54,000)
Ninth – Brian Troop, $245.60 ($52,000)
Tenth – Mike Ferrozzo, $234.40 ($50,000)
Kinchen completed the Final 50 stage with two entries in the top 10 but each individual is permitted only one entry at the Final Table. Kinchen’s highest bankroll carried over to the Final Table while the “other” entry was automatically good for 11th-place money ($25,000).
Troop was attempting to become the first two-time NHC winner. His eighth-place finish is the highest ever by a former champion.
By virtue of his victory, O’Neil also automatically earns an exemption into next year’s NHC finals.
The NHC was held for the fourth straight year in the Treasure Island Ballroom.
In the first-ever NHC Future Wager offered by Treasure Island, O’Neil paid off at 5-2 as a member of the Field, which consisted of players who qualified late in the year.
The NHC 16 finals awarded cash prizes to the top 50 finishers from a total purse of $2,215,000. An additional $65,000 went to the top 20 in today’s Consolation Tournament. Including $200,000 paid out to top finishers in the year-long NHC Tour, a $100 TI casino chip for every entrant, NHC Tour travel awards, RTN subscriptions and the $10,000 charity tournament prize, plus $30,000 worth of Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge prizes in the form of entry fees, bankrolls, airfare and hotel, the aggregate value of payouts this weekend in NHC cash and prizes totaled a record $2,681,000.
To reach the Final 50, the record 606 NHC entrants were required to place 30 mythical $2 Win and Place wagers – 15 on Friday and 15 on Saturday. This is the second consecutive year with a three-day format including the Final 50 and Final Table. Final Table participants were relocated to a single table on the stage of the Treasure Island Ballroom that served as Contest headquarters.
Final Table Race Results:
Race: Winner ($2 Win, $2 Place), Second ($2 Place)
Tampa Bay, Race 10: Huntstown ($6.40, $4), Go Bernie Go ($6.20)
Gulfstream, Race 10: Dancing House ($4.20, $2.80), Resistivity ($5)
Gulfstream, Race 11: Main Man Mike ($14.40, $8.20), Caminito ($10.40)
Oaklawn, Race 9: She’s Live ($5, $3), Mauk Dirty to Me ($6.60)
Santa Anita, Race 7: Aperfectdaytofly ($7.40, $4.20), Lolo El Canonero ($6.80)
Santa Anita, Race 8: Pure Tactics ($14.40, $7.80), Hay Dude ($6.20)
Santa Anita, Race 9: Sum Midnight Star ($9.60, $5.60), Militant ($8.40)
The full NHC and Consolation Tournament standings can be accessed at ntra.com.
The 2014 NHC Tour winner Eric Moomey, who was eligible for a $2 million bonus if he could top the NHC, had two entries – one finished in 493rd place with a $41.40 bankroll and the second in 598th with $7. A record 4,875 NHC Tour members participated in 2014 qualifiers hoping to win a coveted spot in the NHC Finals.
(NTRA)