A Look at the National Handicapping Championship

Every day, all over the country, racehorses are the center of attention. But on January 27 and 28, the focus will be on the bettors.  The 13th annual National Handicapping Championship (NHC), hosted by the Daily Racing Form and NTRA, will be hosted in Las Vegas, Nevada where 486 horseplayers from Canada and the United States will be showing off their betting skills

The competitors in the NHC have made it to Vegas by competing at local qualifying tournaments and will play for a $1,000,000 top prize over two days of races. Just like the horses they bet on, each player is looking for the ultimate win and the chance to win the title of “Handicapper of the Year.” But to get to that point, they have to place a bet on 15 different races each day, including eight mandatory races picked by the tournament’s officials.

This competition is full of interesting figures and in the following slides, I'll introduce you to some of them.

All information in this article has come from the NHC media kit and competitor interviews with the author unless otherwise noted.

John Doyle

John Doyle is the defending champion of the National Handicapping Contest and is coming back this year to defend his title.

Doyle became a full-time horse player in early 2010 and qualified for the NHC that same year. However, he has been involved in horse racing since his dad took him to Belmont Park when he was a child and launched Derbywars.com with the co-founders of HorseRacingNation.com.

John Doyle's goal is to bring new players into the sport

"We have to continue growing the fan base because if you don't, the sport can't survive," Doyle said.

While winning last year's tournament didn't affect his enthusiasm for the sport, it has given him chances he never would have had before.

"[It has] given me access to people that I didn't have before," Doyle said. "Trainers, owners, and so forth because when you have the credentials, it helps you talk to people and people look at you in a different way. So I think its done a lot for me for my personal branding to help me get into places where I probably wouldn't have access prior."

Doyle's win last year was the ultimate come from behind, with him not coming out on top until the last race of the tournament. If he can pull off a win this year, he will be the first champion to win twice.

Player Fighting to Stay Alive

While most players will be fighting for the Championship in this tournament, Sheldon Finkelstein is fighting for his life.

Sheldon Finkelstein was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last May and was told he only had about a month to live. Finkelstein visited Del Mar in July as a bucket list trip and took part in an NHC qualifier at the track, winning a trip to the Vegas competition. His biggest goal was to make it to the tournament. Finkelstein told ESPN he will donate part of his winnings to cancer research if he was to win the contest.

All for His Sons

Roger Schumaker has a plan if he wins the Championship. He won't be spending the money on himself or bills or anything like that. Instead, he will be spending the money on his three sons.

Schumaker has terminal cancer so if he is the one taking home the $1 million, he will be buying houses for his three sons.

Going for History

John Doyle isn't the only champion trying to repeat his win. Six other winners will be coming back for another try. Brian Troop was in Doyle's position last year as the 2010 winner, and the three winners of the competition from 2006 to 2008 will be returning as well. In addition, the 2003 winner will also be in Vegas and the only female champion returning will be 2001 winner Judy Wagner.

Not only will these seven victors try to return to the Winner's Circle, they will also be trying to beat the best the "former victor" jinx of never finishing better than 11th after winning the Championship.

He Could Win $3 Million

While everyone has a chance to win $1 million at the end of this contest, Paul Shurman has a chance to go home with an extra $2 million. Shurman won the NHC Tour last year, winning $75,000 and a spot in the tournament.

Shurman has come close to the Championship before, finishing third three years ago. If he pulls off a win, he will take home $3,075,000 for all his efforts over the past year.

A True Patriot

Gordon Larson has two good reasons to be a fan favorite.

First, he is the oldest contestant at 84 years old (the youngest is 22-year-old Chris Bertolucci).

Second, he was an Air Force pilot in his younger years and was captured while fighting in Vietnam. But his time as a prisoner went even farther as he was a P.O.W. for six years.

Upping Their Odds

The Bertolucci clan has made the Vegas contest a family affair. Robert Bertolucci leads the pack by competing in his 10th NHC. Mark Bertolucci is entering his seventh NHC. Chris and Argie Bertolucci are rounding out the family competitors.

No one has said anything about if the money will be split four ways if one of the Bertoluccis win.

Hollywood Invades

One of the players in the contest wrote one of the most loved films in American history.

If you love Forrest Gump or The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Eric Roth is your guy. He won an Oscar in 1994 for Best Adapted Screenplay for Forrest Gump and was nominated for a Golden Globe for Benjamin Button. His achievements are being awarded with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Writer's Guild of America next month.

Athletes Move to Horse Racing

It takes one to know one and that apparently goes for athletes too. While they are betting on a different kind of athlete, these guys also played on the big stage.

For San Diego Chargers fans, they have someone to root for in Dick Harris. Harris was a top defensive back for the Chargers in the 1960s before making his way over to betting on the ponies almost 50 years later. His name was in the team's record book for over 20 years for holding the team's interception record.

Keith Swagerty may relate closer to the trainers of the horses than any of the non-industry people in this tournament. He played basketball at the University of the Pacific during his college career before coaching basketball at Seattle Pacific for 10 years.

Frank Mustari could be compared to a low-level stakes horse, as he was drafted by the L.A. Dodgers back in 1987. He joins Bill Holmes, who also toyed with the pros in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.

And to connect the two while keeping the baseball theme going, John Fasola was drafted by the Pirates in 1982 and his son was drafted by the Dodgers 18 years later in 2010.

Winning for a Good Cause

Without the racing industry, there would be no competition and four contestants want to give back if they win.

Christian Hellmers, Tracey Hauth, Dan Shugar and Nolan White (who also played football at Texas Tech) have promised to give up to 10 percent of their $1 million to thoroughbred retirement funds if they were to win the grand prize.

In a recent upsurge of finding different ways to care for retired thoroughbreds, this is a perfect place to highlight those efforts.