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Join the Horseplayer’s Tour
The FREE TOC Horseplayer Tour feeder contests and Finals will be hosted on Horseplayers.com. There is no entry fee to participate and you DO NOT need to compete in all of the contests.
Eligibility
- Players must be 21 years of age or older to play.
- All participants must be TOC members with a current CHRB owner license.
- All participants must register for a Horsesplayers.com account.
- All participants playing for the National Horseplayers Championship Grand Prize must be a member of the NHC Tour prior to competing in the Final TOC Handicapping Tour Qualifier held on December 26, 2023. You may go to www.nhctour.com to join the NHC Tour.
- Thoroughbred Owners of California will reimburse the $50 NHC membership fee to the top 60 qualifiers participating in the final round in the form of a $50 Horseplayers credit.
- The credit will be applied when the top 60 qualifiers have been verified as eligible for the final round and their NHC membership dues have been paid.
Schedule of Events
The TOC Handicapping Tour feeder contests and Finals will be hosted on Horseplayers.com. There is no entry fee to participate. TOC will send a private link to participate in each round. Please DO NOT forward the link.
- Contest 1 – April 29 – Golden Gate Fields - Results
- Contest 2 – May 29 – Santa Anita Park - Results
- Contest 3 – July 21 – Del Mar Thoroughbred Club races – Results
- Contest 4 – August 12 – Del Mar Thoroughbred Club races – Results
- Contest 5 – September 2 – Del Mar Thoroughbred Club races – Results
- Contest 6 – October 21 – Golden Gate Fields races – Results
- FINAL CONTEST – December 26 – Santa Anita Park races
General Rules & Regulations
All feeder contests and the final contest will be online only on Horseplayers.com.
- For “How to Play” on Horseplayers.com visit https://horseplayers.com/how-to-play.
The top 10 finishers from each feeder contest will be advanced to the Dec. 26 Final Contest.
All final contest participants must be a member of the NHC Tour to be eligible to win the Grand Prize- the National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) seat and prize package.
- You may go to www.nhctour.com to join the NHC Tour.
Maximum of TWO entries per player in the 6 feeders contest and in the Final Contest.
Players must place all wagers personally.
The decisions in all matters or disputes relating to this handicapping challenge will be handled by the TOC officials.
TOC reserves the right to make changes to the contest rules and races as necessary.
Prizes
The top finisher of the Final Contest will be declared the TOC Handicapping Tour Champion and receive an entry to the NHC to be held March 15-17, 2024, at Horseshoe Las Vegas.
The top finisher will also receive a $500 travel voucher and a four-night stay at Horseshoe Las Vegas.
There is no cash value to an NHC entry. The entry may not be sold or transferred. You must be present in Las Vegas to participate in the NHC.
If the winner is not a current owner licensed by the CHRB (a TOC member) or NHC Tour member the prize will go to the next highest finisher of the contest.
If the winner cannot attend the event the prize will go to the next highest finisher. The winner must accept the entry within one week of the conclusion of the Final Contest.
No NHC Tour points will be awarded in this contest.
The winner of the TOC Handicapping Tour will be eligible for a $1 million bonus if he or she were to win the 2024 National Horseplayers Championship.
The insured bonus will be subject to the terms of the insurance carrier and may be paid in the form of an annuity.
Contest Play/Selections
Making Selections (Picks)
Typical contests will have 8-15 individual race events. Mythical $2 Win/Place wagers ($2 to Win and $2 to Place) will be made on the horse a player selects in each race. Only one horse may be selected per race. If a player’s horse wins, the player collects on both the Win and Place wagers. If a player’s horse finishes in a Place position, the player collects only on the Place wager. All wagers and payouts from races are mythical and will be used as a score only.
Payouts will be reported according to the payout results from the track’s tote system.
Players will select horses by name and official program number. As with real wagering, coupled entries serve as one betting interest for the purposes of contest play. Selections may be made as early as the day prior to the contest as soon as the contest selection process is opened.
A PRIMARY selection MUST be designated. A player’s ALTERNATE selection will be assigned ONLY in the event of a scratch of a player’s PRIMARY selection. If a player does not make a PRIMARY selection, NO SELECTION will be considered to have been played.
In the event of a scratch of a player’s primary selection, the Alternate pick becomes the active selection. If the Alternate selection is also scratched, the player will be assigned the post-time favorite.
Format
All six feeder contests and the December 26 Final Contest will use the PICK & PRAY format, selections for ALL contest races will be locked once the first contest race in the schedule (in any chronological position) is closed. In PICK & PRAY events, players must have all selections made prior to the first contest race closing and may not edit selections throughout the tournament.
Scoring Caps
HORSE RACING CONTESTS: There is a cap on both the Win and Place scores. The maximum score on a Win bet is $42 (20-1 odds) and the maximum score on a Place bet is $22 (10-1 odds). Scores are completely mythical.
Late Scratches
In the event of a scratch, players will be assigned their Alternate pick, if one has been selected. If an Alternate pick also scratches or has not been chosen, the Primary horse will be replaced with the post-time favorite for that race. Selections WILL NOT RE-OPEN after closing due to a late scratch (i.e., at the gate). If a horse is declared a non-starter, that horse will be treated as a late scratch.
A PRIMARY selection MUST be designated. A player’s ALTERNATE selection will be assigned ONLY in the event of a scratch of a player’s PRIMARY selection. If a player does not make a PRIMARY selection, NO SELECTION will be considered to have been played. If a PRIMARY pick is scratched and the player does not have an ALTERNATE pick, the player will get the post time favorite.
Race/Event Cancellations
At least 70 percent of the race events that comprise a contest must be completed to constitute an official contest. If at least 70 percent of the individual race events in a particular contest have been completed, the contest will constitute a complete and official contest and will be scored according to the remaining events. If less than 70 percent of the contest events have been completed, the contest will be cancelled with entry fees refunded to all players.
If race cancellations PRIOR to a contest result in less than 70 percent of the original contest lineup remaining, contests administrators reserve the right to either (a) cancel the contest and refund entry fees; or, (b) time permitting, to replace the cancelled events with substitute events.
Tiebreakers
Should there be a tie in earnings in any event, ties will be broken in accordance with the following procedures: (a) the entry(s) with the most number of winners selected will win the tie; if a tie still remains, then (b) the entry(s) selecting the horse with the highest mutuel WIN payout will win the tie; if a tie still remains, then (c) the entry(s) with the most number of mutuel PLACE payout horses selected will win the tie; if a tie still remains, then (d) the entry(s) with the highest mutuel PLACE payout will win the tie; if a tie still remains, then (e) the entry(s) with the most number of SHOW (third place finishers that did not Win or Place) horses selected will win the tie; if a tie still remains, then (f) the winning entry(s) will be determined by a random draw among eligible entries. If in FEEDER contests there are ties remaining after all tiebreakers have been applied, the value of the prizes involved will be equally split among those players tied for the position(s).
Audit Period
There is a 48-hour audit period after the completion of each contest, for the purposes of allowing for changes in the unlikely event of scoring errors or other circumstances. While the leaderboard will display the final payout results immediately, these results will not be official until the audit period is over.
The contests will be considered complete immediately following scoring the final contest event. Players have up to 24 hours following the completion of those events to alert tournament officials of possible scoring errors and request necessary adjustments.
Exclusions & Ownership Rule
There are no restrictions regarding participation or horse selection as it relates to horse owners or for those individuals related to persons with ownership, training, or other interests in horses competing in contest races.
Official Decisions
TOC officials retain the right to make any decisions, including the disqualification of players, that they deem appropriate regarding any circumstances. Official decisions by TOC officials are final.
Conditions
Players will select one betting interest from each of the designated contest races by selecting a bullet next to the entry/runner’s name. Selections must be made prior to the contest deadlines as outlined above.
The official final order of finish and mutuel prices according to United States tote will determine the payoffs.
The Leaderboard will be updated on the website as soon as possible at the end of each designated contest event. It is the responsibility of the player to bring any alleged error, issue, or complaint to the attention of HorsePlayers.com by completing a Customer Support request and describing the alleged error, issue or complaint in detail.
All rules are subject to change.
Disclaimer & Release
Entrant agrees that none of HorsePlayers.com or Thoroughbred Owners of California and their respective employees or affiliates (collectively, the “Released Parties will be responsible for any: (a) late, lost, garbled, misdirected, incomplete, or damaged entries; (b) any contest disruptions, injuries, losses or damages caused by events beyond the control of Sponsor; or (c) any printing or typographical errors in any materials associated with the contest. In no event will the Released Parties be responsible or liable for any damages or losses of any kind, including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential or punitive damages arising out of Entrant’s access to and use of Sponsor’s websites or the downloading from and/or printing material downloaded from those sites.
None of the Released Parties is in any way responsible or liable for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer on-line systems, servers, or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any e-mail or entry to be received by Sponsor on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any associated website, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to Entrant’s or any other person’s computer or peripheral equipment related to or resulting from participation or downloading of any materials from this website or in connection with this contest.
