Littlemore hangs on in NHC

Oh, Canada! On Sunday night, in the ballroom at Treasure Island in Las Vegas, Chris Littlemore became the second straight winner Canadian winner of the National Horseplayers Championship.

“It must be something in the water,” quipped the 58-yearold Littlemore, a retired auto worker from Whitby, Ontario, who proudly noted that he handicaps only with a Daily Racing Form and a pen. He grimly hung on at the end of the three-day, three-round event and will take home $800,000 and represent all horseplayers at the Eclipse Awards in 2019 as Horseplayer of the Year. He finished with a score of $348.30 from 53 mythical win-place bets.

This was the fifth NHC appearance for Littlemore, who had a single entry, earned via the NHC Tour. His previous best NHC finish was 29th in his first attempt, 2014, and he also won the Sunday consolation tournament one year.

“It’s life-changing for me,” Littlemore said. “I’m paying for [my kids’] education now, and that’s great. I’ve got a buddy I retired with from work. He won $1 million two weeks ago on the lottery in Canada. For me to do this two or three weeks after that is astonishing, really.”

This was the fifth consecutive year with a three-day format. After two days of regular play there was a cutline, with 10 percent of the field advancing to Sunday. Sunday began with a semifinal round of 10 optional races, after which the top 10 proceeded to a final table to play eight mandatory races.

Littlemore grabbed the lead mid-afternoon on Saturday when he landed an 18-1 winner, Holiday’s Angels, in the seventh at Oaklawn Park, followed later by a 12-1 shot, Dano’s Dream, in the eighth at Golden Gate Fields. At the end of Day 1 Littlemore was in 11th place with a bankroll of $124.60.

“My goal the first day was to try to get to $100,” he said. “I got $125. That was a good day. You have to have two pretty good days here to get to the [top 10 percent]. So when you have a good day, you’re just trying

to get to the money. That’s my mind-set.”

“I didn’t feel that confident,” Littlemore said of entering the contest’s third day as the leader. “I didn’t like the card that well. I got lucky that a lot of chalk came in and kept me on top. As the day wore on, I wasn’t having a good day, so I just kept picking away. I was fortunate enough that no big longshots came in to overtake me, and I picked the right horse in the last and it got me through.”

That winner, War Heroine, returned $11.20 and $5.20 and was Littlemore’s only winner on the contest’s third day, though he did manage several place cashes. In the end, it was a final

table notable primarily because so little happened, barring a little jockeying between players for the minor awards.

The overall purse at the event was a record $2,474,400. The field size was also a record 702 entries (568 individual players, 134 of whom held the maximum of two entries). Players can’t buy into the NHC; they must win their way in via a qualifying tournament online or via live venue.

In the NHC Future Wager offered by Treasure Island’s race book, Littlemore was part of the favored field, consisting of those who qualified after Dec. 10. The field opened at 8-1 and closed at 4-1.