Louisiana Champions Day at Fair Grounds
Saturday is Louisiana Champions Day at Fair Grounds. First post for this event is noon. Wind Chill Factor, bred by Cam Casby, is entered in the $100,000 Lassie, race 8, and has the outside post in the 12-filly sprint. The 2-year-old daughter of Casby’s race mare Shakopee broke her maiden at Canterbury this past summer and recently won a stake race at Delta Downs. She is owned by her trainer Gary Scherer and Canterbury’s 2014 leading owners Al and Bill Ulwelling of Elk River, MN.
Saturday’s In The Money Contest features the 12-race Fair Grounds program. The minimum prize pool is $650; entry is $10.
Road to Kentucky Handicapping Contest
The annual Road to Kentucky Handicapping Contest will begin earlier than usual in 2015. The first day of the 16-week contest is scheduled for Saturday, January 17. Total prize money will be $30,000 with both weekly and overall prize money going to the top players. Look for more information in the coming weeks. The contest, as always, will be free to enter.
NHC Tour 2015
Following a record breaking year in 2014, registration is now open for the 2015 Daily Racing Form NHC Tour. The 2015 Tour, which officially begins January 26, will be the richest ever, offering $250,000 in prize money and a minimum of 22 berths to the 2016 NHC.
Canterbury Park will host a NHC qualifying event and to win the 2016 NHC entries players must be NHC Tour members so signing up for the Tour now and taking advantage of the free contest offered by the NTRA throughout the year makes sense for those intending to play in the Canterbury contest.
NHC Tour membership includes an array of member benefits including:
· Eligibility to compete for a seat at the January 2016 NHC;
· Eligibility to compete for $250,000 in prize money awarded to Tour point leaders;
· Top 20 finishers at the end of the year will each receive prize money and be eligible to compete for a $25,000 bonus to be paid to the individual who achieves the highest overall finish at the 2016 NHC. This individual also will earn a berth in the 2017 NHC.
· Overall Tour winner will receive $75,000 and a seat to the 2017 NHC;
· Eligibility to compete in free online tournaments offering 20 seats to the 2016 NHC;
· Exclusive discount from Daily Racing Form on unlimited DRF Classic or DRF Formulator past performance plans–15% discount for first-time Tour Members and 10% discount for those renewing their Tour Membership;
· Individual membership in the NTRA, which include benefits and discounts from NTRA Advantage partners and membership in the Horseplayers Coalition that supports NTRA legislative initiatives in Washington, D.C.;
· Individuals finishing among the top 150 points leaders on the year-end NHC Tour Leader Board, who have not already qualified to the 2016 NHC at an onsite or online NTRA-sanctioned Tournament, will automatically qualify for the 2016 NHC
· Season-ending points leader will be eligible for a $2 million bonus* should he or she win the January 2016 NHC:
· Weekly e-newsletter featuring recaps of previously held tourneys, player profiles, schedules and links to upcoming Tournaments, etc.
A tentative 2015 NHC Tour calendar will be released soon. Until then, please note that there are still plenty of opportunities to qualify for the next month’s NHC through our official online qualifier, NHCqualify.com.
Best of luck at the races and, as always, thank you for your ongoing support of the NHC.
CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE 2015 NHC TOUR.
CLICK HERE FOR THE 2015 NHC TOUR RULES.
Qualify for the Horse Player World Series Dec. 20
Canterbury Park will conduct a Horse Player World Series qualifying satellite contest Saturday, Dec. 20. Entry to the contest is $100. For every 20 entries, one player will win an entry to the event at The Orleans Casino in Las Vegas for the March 26-28 annual event plus airfare and accommodations.
The format requires entrants to make 10 mythical $2 Win Place wagers on 10 races of choice from the start of the day until contest end at approximately 5:30 pm.
Mulvihill Elected Turf Publicists President
The Turf Publicists of America (TPA) has elected Jim Mulvihill of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) to serve as president of the organization for 2015 and 2016, it was announced Tuesday by outgoing TPA President Mandy Minger at the TPA’s Mark Kaufman Workshop at the University of Arizona Symposium on Racing and Gaming. Mulvihill served as a vice president for 2013-14.
At the same time it was announced Sophia McKee of Emerald Downs and Joe Bacigalupo of the NTRA were elected as 2015-16 vice presidents. This will be a second term for McKee while Bacigalupo will be serving his first term.
The TPA is an organization that was created in 1951. It is comprised of approximately 140 Thoroughbred racing publicists and marketing executives at racetracks throughout North America with the shared goal of promoting the sport of Thoroughbred racing.
Each year, the organization sponsors the TPA Big Sport of Turfdom Award to recognize an individual or individuals who enhanced the sport of thoroughbred racing through their cooperation with the media and racetrack personnel. The Big Sport of Turfdom has been presented annually since 1966.
