The NTRA’s National Horseplayers Championship [NHC] is ready to re-convene in Las Vegas for the 27^th time with the finals set for Friday through Sunday, March 13-15. The NHC handicapping tournament is the culmination of a year-long series of contests that crowns the next Handicapper of the Year as honored at the 2026 Eclipse Awards. The three-day event will award purse money of roughly $3 million plus travel awards, $300,000 in prize money for the NHC Tour, and other payouts that bring the total purse of the event up over $4 million.

The top prize in all of Thoroughbred handicapping will be up for grabs amongst an estimated field of over 800 qualifying entries from across North America (approx. 625 individuals including players that have qualified twice). They will battle it out in the three-day NHC main event at the Horseshoe Las Vegas, which will host for the fifth year in its massive 40,000 square-foot Events Center (Fun Fact: the space was originally constructed as a 2,200-seat jai alai fronton in 1973).

The finalists earned their trips to the NHC with wins or top finishes in hundreds of contests held throughout 2025 and early 2026 by 32 different tournament partners including racetracks, off-track race books, online tournament qualifying websites, advance deposit wagering platforms, and other organizations and media outlets. The complete NHC field will be rounded out by the top finishers in the on-site NHC Last Chance/First Chance Contest where a record field of over 1,000 entries is expected to add as many as 45 last-minute qualifiers to the field.

NHC contestants will compete to compile the highest earnings based on mythical win-and-place wagers throughout the three days of the tournament on races from top simulcast signals like Aqueduct, Colonial Downs, Fair Grounds, Gulfstream Park, Laurel Park, Oaklawn Park, Santa Anita Park, Tampa Bay Downs, and Turfway Park. The top 10 percent of the players in the standings after betting on a total of 36 mandatory and optional races during Friday and Saturday’s action will make the cut, advancing to Sunday morning’s final and deciding round of play. The top 10 scorers as of Sunday afternoon will then square-off at the “NHC Final Table” to decide the championship on Sunday afternoon.

Winning money and making memories at NHC. (NTRA Photo)

All players who make the cut – the top 80 in an 800-entry contest – will earn a share of the prize money, with $825,000 expected to go to the winner. Everyone who makes the cut will win at least $10,000, with the amounts gradually increasing with every higher placing. The second- through fifth-place finishers will take home $250,000 for second, $200,000 for third, $150,000 for fourth, and $125,000 for fifth.

The NHC field will include handicappers from 46 states and Canada, plus one qualifier each hailing from as far as Panama and New Zealand, who will be seeking to unseat reigning champion Dan Piazza from Chicago, who topped a field of more than 800 entries to win $825,000 in the March 2025 NHC finals. Piazza will defend his title against a field containing seven other past NHC champions who are all competing to become the first-ever two-time winner of the event. They are Mike Gillum (2024), David Harrison (2022), Justin Mustari (2021), Scott Coles (2019), Chris Littlemore (2018), Ray Arsenault (2017), and Paul Matties Jr. (2016).

Also in the field will be numerous NHC Hall of Famers including new NHC hall of famers Ken Seeman of Wantagh, N.Y., Kevin Engelhard of Franklin Park, N.J., Mike Ferrozzo of Eagan, Minn, and 2018 NHC winner Chris Littlemore from Smith Falls, Ontario, Canada.

Team ABR with NTRA's Tom Rooney. (NTRA Photo)

Many players in the NHC are multiple-year qualifiers including a sizable contingent of players that have qualified 10 years or more; however, the story of the NHC is not all about veterans. The recently concluded NHC Tour included 117 players who have qualified for their first-ever trips to the NHC in 2026. The rookies are led by Larry Pirollo of Largo, Fla., who has already earned a $5,000 prize as the winner of the 2025 Jim Nace for the NHC Tour Rookie of the Year award as the top-scoring first-year player on the NHC Tour.

The field for the 2026 NHC will range in age from the youngest player, 21-year-old Jason Santilla of Chicago, to the oldest player in the field, 90-year-old Bill Alberg of Denver. The most experienced players in the field will be Sally Goodall, Paul Shurman, and Trey Stiles – NHC hall of famers that have now qualified for the NHC 24 years.

The winner of the 2025 NHC Tour was Dave Nichols of Wayne, Pa, who topped 3,725 NHC Tour members to win a $75,000 first prize. He will be competing for a $5 million bonus at the NHC if he goes on to win the unprecedented NHC Tour/NHC finals double in the same season.

Handicappers cannot buy an entry to play in the NHC. Players must join the NTRA’s NHC Tour and win a spot with a high finish in an NTRA-sanctioned contest. Qualifying for next year’s NHC finals is already open. For more information and to join the NHC Tour, go to www.ntra.com/nhc. 

America’s Best Racing presents full coverage of the NHC with four “LIVE from LAS VEGAS! National Horseplayers Championship” livestreams, starting on Last Chance/First Chance Thursday. These livestreams, presented by MorningLine.io, are produced with Daily Racing Form and NTRA and will be hosted by ABR’s Dan Tordjman, Rachel Miller, and Alexa Zepp plus DRF personalities and will feature numerous guests throughout the four days. The four NHC shows will also be streamed on ABR’s Facebook, X, YouTube, and Instagram channels.