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John O'Neil of Huntington Station, N.Y., topped a field of 606 entries to win the $800,000 first-place prize and an Eclipse Award as Horseplayer of the Year at the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship Jan. 23-25.  The NHC was presented by Racetrack Television Network, Sovereign Stable, and host Treasure Island Las Vegas. The event offered record overall prize money of $2.363 million.
The 74-year-old O'Neil amassed a winning score of $327.20 over the three-day tournament from 47 mythical $2 win and place bets: 15 each on Friday and Saturday, 10 in Sunday morning's Final 50 contest, and seven in the climactic Final Table contest exclusive to the overall top 10. Ken Jordan of Farmingdale, N.J., finished second with $291.70. O'Neil was the NHC two-day leader at the end of Saturday's races but lost the lead toward the end of the Final 50 contest that led to the Final Table. In the seven mandatory races that made up the Final Table, however, O'Neil cashed in four of them. Three of them were winners: Huntstown ($6.40) in the 10th at Tampa Bay Downs, Main Man Mike ($14.40) in the 11th at Gulfstream Park, and Aperfectdaytofly ($7.40) in the seventh at Santa Anita Park. "It was short-priced horses that got me there, but that's what we had today," O'Neil said. "Thank God for very few bombs." O'Neil was introduced to handicapping on visits to the old Jamaica Race Course in Queens in the 1950s. "My brother took me one day when I was 14 or 15 and I've been doing it every day since," O'Neil said. "It's been a journey to get here, believe me. This probably makes me even after a lifetime." The top three NHC finishers, and four of the top five, qualified as a result of finishing among the top 150 on the NHC Tour, a distinction that earns guaranteed entry to the NHC. O'Neil is a small business owner on Long Island. "We work 60, 70 hours per week pushing trucks and asphalt," he said. "This will make it a little easier."
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