Keeneland on Oct. 12 hosted the $3,500 Fall BCBC/NHC Challenge, a live-money handicapping contest held in cooperation with TwinSpires, XpressBet, NYRA Bets, 4NJ Bets, HPI and TVG. The entry fee was $3,500 with $2,500 going to the live bankroll and $1,000 to the prize fund. Players were required to wager a minimum of $400 in at least five races at Keeneland and wager a minimum total of $2,500. Prizes included cash and as many as six Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC) berths and 10 National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) spots.

Dave Nichols of Wayne, Pennsylvania, pounded a $200 double connecting 24-1 longshot Surface to Air in the ninth race to 9-5 favorite Poster in Race 10 to cash for nearly $24,000 to win the event.

“Dave began playing at Keeneland when his wife, Jen, called me a few years ago and arranged to give Dave an entry to the Keeneland tournament as a gift,” Keeneland Director of Wagering Development Jim Goodman said. “Guess that paid off this year because Dave won the $56,000 first prize along with a berth in the NHC and an entry into next month’s Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge at Del Mar.”

Bob Traynor of Oceanside, California, narrowly missed catching Nichols with a $1,000 exacta in Race 10 that yielded a payoff of $21,000. That was good for a second-place prize of $28,000 plus spots in the BCBC and NHC.

Paul Shurman of Dix, New York, hit a $150 double into the final race to cash for more than $17,000 and finish in third place. Shurman already was double-qualified for the NHC, so he picked up $14,000 in prize money, a BCBC spot and free entry into a $3,500 tournament at Keeneland in 2025.

In all, six BCBC and 10 NHC spots were awarded.

BCBC: Dave Nichols, Bob Traynor, Paul Shurman, Ryan Petrunyak, Tony Zhou and Dan Slattery

NHC: Dave Nichols, Bob Traynor, Ryan Petrunyak, Dan Slattery, Dan Riddell, Ken Seeman, Steven Wells, David Mullin, Frank McGoey and Pete Acocella.