NTRA NHC Charity Challenge to benefit Old Friends

Political strategist and commentator James Carville,

actress and model Bo Derek, and former NBA coach and ESPN/ABC analyst Avery

Johnson are among the high-profile Thoroughbred racing fans and supporters set

to participate in Saturday's $10,000 NTRA NHC Charity Challenge, a handicapping

contest to benefit Old Friends Thoroughbred retirement farm and a charitable

cause of the winner's choosing.

The Charity Challenge is being held in

conjunction with this weekend's 16th Daily Racing Form/NTRA National

Handicapping Championship (NHC). The contest will be administered

by the handicapping tournament website www.HorseTourneys.com.

In addition to a handful of mainstream celebrities, the

contest will feature a host of sports media personalities and handicappers, from

retired jockeys Jerry Bailey, Richard Migliore and Rosie Napravnik, to national

sportscasters like Jeannine Edwards, Kenny Mayne, Chris Fallica and Randy Moss.

Other participants include DRF writers like Steve Crist and Mike

Watchmaker as well as Emmy Award-winning FOX Sports producer and longtime horse

racing fan Pete Macheska.

The winner will have $5,000 donated in their name to Old

Friends, the Thoroughbred retirement nonprofit with farms in Kentucky and

upstate New York, and another $5,000 to a charity of their choosing. Old Friends

was selected as a beneficiary at the behest of the late Mike Mayo, former

chairman of the NHC Player's Committee and 10-time NHC qualifier.

"Mike Mayo personified all that is good in horseplayers.

Without the horses and the horseplayers, there is nothing," said Michael Blowen,

founder of Old Friends. "I can't thank Mike and the NTRA enough for their

generous contribution and, perhaps more importantly, their acknowledgement that

these equine athletes are valuable even when their racing days are over."

The field also will include Acacia Courtney, a 2014 Miss

America finalist; Dave Johnson, longtime network television racecaller and radio

host; Bryan Wagner, 2009 NHC Tour Champion; Judy Wagner, 2001 NHC Champion; DRF

young guns Matt Bernier and Dan Illman; Ray Paulick, publisher of the Paulick

Report website; Mike Penna, Jude Feld and Steve Byk of SiriusXM Radio; and stars

of the reality television series "Horseplayers," Peter Rotondo, Peter Rotondo Sr.

and Lee Davis.

Each track with races included in the NHC will be

represented by one of their on-air analysts or handicappers.

Mayne and Fallica are also part of the field for NHC 16,

which will carry a purse well over $2 million and a first-place prize of at

least $800,000 (the full purse and prize breakdown will be announced Thursday

following registration for the "Last Chance" tournament at Treasure Island).

"The NHC Charity Challenge is another exciting new addition

to the NHC designed to raise awareness and funds for Thoroughbred aftercare and

broaden exposure for the Championship," NTRA Senior Vice President Keith

Chamblin explained.

Players will select one horse to win and place in each of

eight mandatory races (the same lineup used for the NHC) from tracks across the

country. Using a "Pick and Pray" format, all selections will be due Saturday

morning and any scratches will result in the player being assigned the post-time

favorite. The player with the highest hypothetical bankroll after the final

contest race will be declared the winner. In the event of a tie, there will be

no playoff; the donations will be split among the winners.

The full Celebrity Challenge field will be announced

Friday. Updates on scoring will be disseminated via Twitter (@NTRA) and

available on www.NTRA.com.

In its 16th year, the NHC is the most important tournament of the year for

horseplayers and is the culmination of a year-long series of NTRA-sanctioned

local tournaments conducted by racetracks, casino race books, off-track betting

facilities and horse racing and handicapping websites, each of which sends its

top qualifiers to the national finals. Each year, the NHC winner joins other

human and equine champions as an honoree at the Eclipse Awards.

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