Maryland Jockey Club

[Gambler]

I think there is a handicapping tournment being held next month by the Maryland Jockey Club. Could anyone tell me where I could get some info on it?
Thanks ed

[km]

The only thing I could find was this =

Link to Maryland Jockey Club Contest page (http://www.laurelpark.com/contests/contests.html)

[hurrikane]

Gambler,

Last year I think they held it in Apr. at LRL. They use to have on at Pim and one a LRL but I believe they have decided to hold both at LRL from now on. I haven't heard anything about it yet. It is usually the 100 buy in and 200 bankroll. Most money at the end of the day takes the cake. Last year top 2 from each tourney (one in Apr on in Oct) went to NTRA. Haven't heard anything as yet. These people are ususally very slow to respond and on any typical day the right hand has no idea what the left hand is doing.

If I hear anything new I'll post.

[Gambler]

Maryland Jockey Club Number 410-792-7775---Mailers aren't out yet. Its sometime next month.

[hurrikane]

thanks

[JimG]

So Maryland is having a contest next month, but have not released info about it. They must not want anyone playing that has a full-time job. It's hard to plan vacation, when you don't know when.

Yet another example of not treating fans properly.

Jim

[dehere]

Just an update of sorts. I was in touch with Laurel at the number listed on the NTRA web site on Thursday - March 25th (i think it was the 25th) - and they are sending out a mailing today supposedly. When I talked with them they intended to limit entrants to 200 and, as of the time I talked with them, there were 192 people on the mailing list. We'll see what happens, but this may be a hard one to get in. The big difference this year from last as far as I can tell is that there will be win, place and show wagering only with no exotics allowed. Supposedly the top three will qualify for the NTRA's.

[Gambler]

Thanks Dahere.

[HBee]

The Laurel tournament will be on April 24th. Attached is a link to the information onthe contest. http://www.marylandracing.com/contests/champions/champions.html

Herman

[Gambler]

hanks ed

[dehere]

I didn't see too many of you guys and gals there yesterday. Too bad, it was an interesting day to use HTR in handicapping. Chilly Rooster (66.50 buck winner in 8th at AQU) was playable off HTR. I had him highlighted with "bomb" next to his name but for some stupid reason went with Rogue's Agent (also very good in HTR, high odds, great class and wonderful TG numbers) and cursed myself after.

And then, the real kicker, was Key Storm in the 9th at PIM. Top Fr1 horse went off at 35-1 after drifting down as low as 17-1. I had my last $114 on him and was ready to go for the glory. He was there all the way, fought to get his nose in front in the final 16th and, then, from out of the blue, this #5 horse comes up and nips him at the wire. There went $4,000 for the win, a win in the contest and a trip to Vegas. Darn, darn, darn.

If you read the chart for the race it says Key Storm dueled between horses and faded. That wasn't no fade. He fought every step of the way. He just got beat by a closer at the wire.

Anyway, I came home to find myself in36th place in the BRIS contest so what was gonna be a day of reading papers, playing with family and such is now another day for horseracing. Oh well, I'll survive.

[hurrikane]

Thanks for the update. I had a family emergency and couldn't make it. After paying the 100 bucks too.

What was the final numbers on the top 4 if you remember and how many in attendance.

Also, I got the impression that the prize was just entry into the NTRA and not paying for the trip to vegas. Did they annouce anything there. I figured that might be the way they were handling the higher entry fee.

Thanks

[dehere]

Hurrikane,

I don't recall a specific mention of the trip to Vegas but never had the impression that the prize did not include the trip as well as the entry fee. The did pay down to something like 10th place.

They put income from any entrants above 150 directly back into the contest pool, but I left after my last losing bet and didn't see what the final outcome was. At the time I left there were two races left to bet so I doubt if the totals changed appreciably. At that time the leader was at about $1,900 with a fairly small spread between 1st and 4th. I'm kinda happy to say that the leader was another member from the Colonial Downs team from last year (actually, his wife) who happened to load up on a horse that paid something like 20 bucks to win.

This contest format is so incredibly different from the format at the Nationals and I kinda liked it. If you can build up a little kitty from a few modest winning bets early on you really get a chance to go for the fences later on with large bets on long price horses. I can see how the leaders could change pretty dramatically over the last few races if long shots happen to hit. Unfortunately for me and my buddy, George, our long shots did not fall into that lucky category.

[hurrikane]

Last race can be big.

Last year on the last race a lady put 400 win on a 7-1 shot and took the lead by a substantial amount.

I like the format but you are correct, you have to hit something early so you have a bank to play later on.....

[km]

Good try Dehere. That contest always comes down to one final hail-mary for everyone that has accumulated a few hundred. There was no NTRA qualifier apparently?

Awaiting results from HAW weekend tourney - will post after I hear from TommyC. If anyone else was there, let us have the scoop. Tommy is driving onto Vegas for the Coast Derby Shootout. There will 15 qualifiers to the "World Series" from that one.

re: NTRA/DRF National Handicapping Championship 2005
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The DRF seems completely lethargic now about the NHC 2005. Hardly any information on their website is updated and while we have reached Derby week, there are less than 15 known quailfiers from all venues so far this year and no one seems to be scheduling new qualifiers. The NTRA has not even announced the date of the finals in January. The NTRA.com website has no news about the event that I could find. Is it possible the whole thing is dead in the water?

[dehere]

Ken.

I am confused by your statement about an NTRA qualifier from Laurel. There were three NTRA qualifiers from the Laurel event. Following is an excerpt from the Rules distributed from the Laurel event.

28. The top three (3) Entrants with the greatest pari-mutuel winnings at
the end of the competition at Laurel Park on April 24th will
win entry into the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National
Handicapping Championship held in Las Vegas during January
of 2005. The three qualifiers must be in attendance at the
National Championship on each day of the event. Should any
person qualifying for the DRF/NTRA National Handicapping
Championship in Las Vegas be unable to travel and represent the
Maryland Jockey Club on the required tournament dates,
that portion of the prize will be awarded to the Entrant with the
next highest tournament “account bankroll.”


Also, as the following link indicates, each of the three qualifiers also got airfare, three nights lodging and that sort of thing. While at the contest they were also promoting their fall event with another three persons qualifying to go to Vegas.

http://www.marylandracing.com/contests/champions/championsreg.pdf

The link to the NTRA contest still exists but is definitely hidden on their web site but it still exists. Look for the "Games and Contests" link at the bottom of the major story section, just above the Citgo Racing to the Kentucky Derby. Eventually, with a few clicks, you get to this page:

http://www.drf.com/nhc/2004/nhc.html

which appears to be a drf link and not an NTRA link. From the looks of things there seems to be about as many qualifying events as last year and the BRIS event was sure well attended this week end as my wife's entry was somethere in the 1,000+ level of finish. I also know, based on my conversation with the folks at CNL that its their distinct impression that the contest is as real as ever.

In checking out the DRF site the link to the contest is as prominent as its ever been. Its on the right hand side of the drf home page under the heading DRF/NTRA NHC VI.

[km]

Thanks for straightening me out on the LRL contest Dehere.
Tough to get information on contests unless it comes from someone who is there.

I did read the DRF site, but the "latest" results shown are from February. The total number of qualifiers shown is 11 people. Has there been no one qualify in the last 2 months? There were at least 50 people qualified by Derby Day last year. Why no updates at either website? There is no exact date determined for the NHC 2005 - just "January 2005" - that strikes me as odd. NTRA seems to have no interest in promoting the event and hasn't even determined the date and they show basically nada on their homepage. There is definitely less energy surrounding the whole thing than last year.

I'm on your side Henry, want to see as many qualifiying tournaments as possible and lots of publicity and another dozen players from HTR in the finals. Great for HTR business. But the vibes are not good so far and that worries me.

[dehere]

And I agree Ken; the current status of the event sucks. The combination of the changes they have implemented regarding cost of entry and the competing announcement from the Coast folks have had a terrible impact on the event. I guess I am just trying to do my part to keep up the enthusiasm by making sure that whatever information that is available is not overlooked. As additional evidence of the lack of current support for the event that you point to is the fact that the weekly column that was appearing in every edition of DRF Simulcast Weekly is no longer present. Anyway, contests are fun and I intend to enter as many of the affordable ones as I can.

[timh]

Dehere, KM

I had the good fortune to qualify to the NTRA/DRF finals for the fourth time in Feb at Turfway. I think that the lack of a weekly column in the simulcast weekly is simply due to the fact that there really have not been any events. I am willing to bet that in this weeks edition there will be the report on Hawthorne and Laurel. As far as the vagueness about next years exact date that has always been the norm until maybe July. The thing that does bug me is that it is so hard to get information on the Million Dollar Tournament next January.

timholland

[km]

thanks for chiming in Tim - hope you are right and we see a little momentum going with the NHC soon -congratulations on qualifying for the 4th time!

[km]

There is some definitive information regarding the "World Series"; but as Tim alluded, lots of questions as well.

We know it is to be held on Jan 27-30 at the Orleans with a "purse of $1,000,000". You can qualify by finishing in the top 50 at the March or October Orleans; top 35 at the Gold Coast; and top 15 at the Derby event. Players that attend 3 of these tourneys can participate by buying an entry at half-price for $1000. Any other player may buy in for $2000. That's what we know so far.

Now the foggy part --
How many entries per person will be allowed? Can a player qualify or buy in more than once? Are partnerships permitted? Are expenses paid - or just the entry fee for the free qualifiers? (the word "free" is not used anywhere in the original flyer) Where are these "throughout the world" qualifiers they mention? Are there any venues (outside of Vegas) to qualify other than the Coast' contests so far in the USA or Canada, or on-line? I haven't heard of any. How many total players allowed in the final? Televised and sponsored? By Whom? ESPN and TVG say they know nothing. They list $200,000 as the contribution by the Coast casinos, but what if they don't get enough paid players for the whole million? The format has yet to be determined, but they did pass out a survey at the Orleans asking for preference. I put down 12-15 Win-Place bets with no mandatories and most others I talked to seemed in some agreement with that. I'm assuming the usual 3-day tourney. But there has been no further information since the Orleans announcement in March.