Brisnet customers take early lead in Las Vegas

Brisnet customers take early lead in Las Vegas

William Shurman led all rivals at the end of

the first day at the sixth annual Daily Racing Form/National

Thoroughbred Racing Association National Handicapping Championship (NHC).

The championship kicked off on Friday in Las Vegas at Bally's racebook.

Shurman, who is part of the Aqueduct team, had a bankroll of $178.60

by the end of the day and won the daily prize of $5,000 by hitting

longshot after longshot. This is his second straight year in the NHC,

qualifying last year at Turf Paradise. The Danville, California, native finished second in Aqueduct's

Handicapping Challenge to earn a berth in the 2005 championship.

Shurman's nearest rival, Damian Roncevich, showed a bankroll of $171

for team Del Mar #1 and earned $3,000 for second place. Michael Conway

of team Twin Spires Club bankrolled $154.80 by the end of play on Friday

and received $2,000 for rounding out the top three.

The rest of the top 10 on Friday were David Kassmier ($154), James

Michelson Jr. ($153), James Henry ($131.80), Calvin Manns ($130.70),

Richard Gaetano ($122.60), Charlotte Couris ($122) and Andrew Willnus

($121.80). Nine of the top 10 on the leader board through the first day

are all members of Brisnet.

The top three teams by the end of the day were Del Mar #1, averaging

a bankroll of $95.47 per player, Twin Spires Club with an average of

$91.93 and Turfway Park, averaging $89.93.

A total of 214 contestant qualified for this year's championship

through 57 different racetracks, racing organizations, OTBs, casinos and

websites. Members of Brisnet's team, who qualified in the Brisnet Online

Handicapping Challenge on April 24-25 are winner Pete Colwell, runner-up

Jeff Blaylock and third-place finisher Florence Rotman.

The grand prize for this year's NHC has been upped to $200,000 for

the winner, with a total of $400,000 given away during the two-day

tournament. Emphasis has been placed on individual prizes, which will

will now be paid out to the top 20 finishers instead of the just the top

10. The runner-up will receive $70,000, with $25,000 going to third,

$15,000 to fourth, $10,000 to fifth, $5,000 each for sixth through 10th

and $2,000 each for 11th through 20th place. Team purse money is now

winner-take-all, with a prize of $15,000 up for grabs.

The championship format gives players 15 mythical $2 win-and-place

wagers on each day of the contest, with eight of the 15 daily bets being

on mandatory races and the other seven up to the players' choices from

several tracks.