Handicapping championship is at the post
By Gregory A. Hall
[email protected]
The Courier-Journal
It's racing's version of the World Series of Poker -- or at least organizers hope it can reach that kind of cult status.
The eighth National Handicapping Championship starts today at Bally's Las Vegas featuring 255 handicappers from all over the country, with 18 from Kentucky and Indiana including Ellis Park owner Ron Geary.
"If poker can catch on like it did, I see no reason horse racing couldn't do the same," said contestant David Crone, of New Albany. "I mean, every new race offers an entirely new puzzle. In my opinion, it's the most enthralling puzzle-solving game you can take part in."
The championship is the culmination of a yearlong series of qualifying tournaments at tracks throughout North America -- most of which have entry fees -- and new online qualifying tournaments.
"We aspire for the event to become something akin to the World Series of Poker," said Keith Chamblin, senior vice president of communications for the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. The NTRA sponsors the handicapping event along with the Daily Racing Form.
But it's harder to translate the event to television without something like the World Series' "pocket camera," which allows viewers to see the cards each poker player got, he said.
"We haven't found thoroughbred racing's equivalent …," Chamblin said, "and until we do, you know, it's somewhat of a mixed bag in terms of the quality of the story that we're able to tell on television."
Previously, ESPN provided delayed and condensed coverage of the handicapping championship. This year's coverage is on TVG, the racing and wagering television channel.
A more immediate goal is increasing the prize money for the handicapping championship to $1 million, Chamblin said. This year's $836,750 is a record.
The overall winner gets $400,000, but prizes also are awarded for the top finishes each day and in a team competition.
Each day in the two-day event, contestants make mythical $2 win and place bets on a horse in each of 15 races. Eight are mandatory races, and players select seven other races on their own from six tracks. Points are accumulated based on the winning bets.
In contests like qualifying tournaments at Churchill Downs, some contestants are hunched over their data; others look more relaxed, leaning back in their chairs and joking; while others -- during races -- are screamers.
Geary, who bought Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky., last year from Churchill Downs Inc., said he doesn't show much emotion during the competition. He finished 19th two years ago and 75th last year, he said.
Despite what might be the conventional wisdom, Geary said owning a racetrack won't help him.
"It's a disadvantage if you're really focusing on running the racetrack, because you don't have any time to even think about handicapping," he said. Geary said he isn't as prepared this year.
Crone, a 23-year-old University of Louisville communication senior, is competing for the second time.
His brother Phil Crone, 22, is in his first championship and is eligible for a $1 million bonus that Churchill Downs Inc. is offering to seven people who won its tournaments.
David Crone said he has been around racetracks longer than he can remember. Their father, Tom Crone, also is a horseplayer.
"He tells me that when I was a baby, he would go to old Louisville Downs with a diaper in his back pocket and me," David Crone said.
Phil is a University of Evansville actuarial science senior, meaning his handicapping is more numbers-driven than David's, which is influenced by intuition.
The contest is part strategy and part luck.
For instance, David Crone said, on the first day in last year's contest, three of his horses threw their jockey coming out of the starting gate -- something that he normally might go months without seeing.
By Gregory A. Hall
[email protected]
The Courier-Journal
It's racing's version of the World Series of Poker -- or at least organizers hope it can reach that kind of cult status.
The eighth National Handicapping Championship starts today at Bally's Las Vegas featuring 255 handicappers from all over the country, with 18 from Kentucky and Indiana including Ellis Park owner Ron Geary.
"If poker can catch on like it did, I see no reason horse racing couldn't do the same," said contestant David Crone, of New Albany. "I mean, every new race offers an entirely new puzzle. In my opinion, it's the most enthralling puzzle-solving game you can take part in."
The championship is the culmination of a yearlong series of qualifying tournaments at tracks throughout North America -- most of which have entry fees -- and new online qualifying tournaments.
"We aspire for the event to become something akin to the World Series of Poker," said Keith Chamblin, senior vice president of communications for the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. The NTRA sponsors the handicapping event along with the Daily Racing Form.
But it's harder to translate the event to television without something like the World Series' "pocket camera," which allows viewers to see the cards each poker player got, he said.
"We haven't found thoroughbred racing's equivalent …," Chamblin said, "and until we do, you know, it's somewhat of a mixed bag in terms of the quality of the story that we're able to tell on television."
Previously, ESPN provided delayed and condensed coverage of the handicapping championship. This year's coverage is on TVG, the racing and wagering television channel.
A more immediate goal is increasing the prize money for the handicapping championship to $1 million, Chamblin said. This year's $836,750 is a record.
The overall winner gets $400,000, but prizes also are awarded for the top finishes each day and in a team competition.
Each day in the two-day event, contestants make mythical $2 win and place bets on a horse in each of 15 races. Eight are mandatory races, and players select seven other races on their own from six tracks. Points are accumulated based on the winning bets.
In contests like qualifying tournaments at Churchill Downs, some contestants are hunched over their data; others look more relaxed, leaning back in their chairs and joking; while others -- during races -- are screamers.
Geary, who bought Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky., last year from Churchill Downs Inc., said he doesn't show much emotion during the competition. He finished 19th two years ago and 75th last year, he said.
Despite what might be the conventional wisdom, Geary said owning a racetrack won't help him.
"It's a disadvantage if you're really focusing on running the racetrack, because you don't have any time to even think about handicapping," he said. Geary said he isn't as prepared this year.
Crone, a 23-year-old University of Louisville communication senior, is competing for the second time.
His brother Phil Crone, 22, is in his first championship and is eligible for a $1 million bonus that Churchill Downs Inc. is offering to seven people who won its tournaments.
David Crone said he has been around racetracks longer than he can remember. Their father, Tom Crone, also is a horseplayer.
"He tells me that when I was a baby, he would go to old Louisville Downs with a diaper in his back pocket and me," David Crone said.
Phil is a University of Evansville actuarial science senior, meaning his handicapping is more numbers-driven than David's, which is influenced by intuition.
The contest is part strategy and part luck.
For instance, David Crone said, on the first day in last year's contest, three of his horses threw their jockey coming out of the starting gate -- something that he normally might go months without seeing.