December-January 2015-2016 /
American Turf Magazine
11
Contest Central
entry fee. The Hawthorne concept is
simple: buy-in with your bankroll and
play what you want to play that day on
your tournament entry player’s card.
If your final bankroll ends up one of
the highest – you win! Plus, you keep
your money.
When other tracks are charging you a
takeout in order to pay for your NTRA
entries, Hawthorne not only isn’t doing
that, they’re also not even charging
you an entry fee, either. The various
contests throughout the year will cost
you between $250-$350 to play, but all
of that money is your bankroll. Each
contest offers between 2-4 NHC quali-
fying spots (plus various other contests,
including the HPWS) for prizes.
Hawthorne is not the place to go
to play tournaments for cash win-
nings, but if you want to find a place
offering multiple chances at multiple
NHC qualifying berths, it is tough to
do any better than their value-packed
tournament schedule.
Best New Tournament Award:
The Conny goes to:
Mountaineer Park
Mountaineer Park joined the NHC
Tour for the first time last year, holding
a one-day, live-money tournament on
Sunday, September 27. While this con-
test was unremarkable in a lot of ways,
it still deserves recognition because
it represents the complete opposite
of a couple of the worst trends in the
tournament world. First, it is a new on-
track contest, held at a time when on-
track tournaments at far-flung tracks
never seem to appear anymore and
only seem to disappear. Second, at a
time when many racetracks are “pric-
ing out” most of their fans by hosting
live-money contests costing $1,000, or
$2000, or more to enter, Mountaineer
was open to the little guy, too. The con-
test cost only $50 to enter, and required
only a $100 starting bankroll.
The tournament was open to 100
entries and offered two NHC berths,
for a reasonable chance at qualifying.
Prize money was modest, but entrants
enjoyed free food and Daily Racing
Forms. Both live and simulcast races
from one other track were available,
and players could bet win-place-show
as well as exactas and trifectas.
It would be nice if more new tracks
would follow Mountaineer Park’s lead,
and give tournament players more
affordable on-track options at more
different locations, just the way NHC
qualifying used to be.
THE HISTORY OF THE CONNY
AWARDS
(2009-2014)
Top Overall Tournament
2014 – Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge
2013 – Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge
