The annual National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) is a magnet for many top horseracing handicappers and bettors that is known for attracting the tournament game’s most seasoned veterans and heavy hitters. The NHC is not all about the sharks, however, because there are tremendous lifelong handicappers out there everywhere that are still finding their way into the handicapping contest world for the first time. Many veteran players just so happen to be tournament newcomers. Those two things are not mutually exclusive.

One of those newer tournament players is Michael Abernathy of Port Charlotte, Fla., who was the winner of the 2024 Jim Nace NHC Tour Rookie of the Year award, which annually goes to the top-scoring first-year player on the NHC Tour. Abernathy’s score was good enough to place him 22^nd overall amongst roughly 5,500 NHC Tour members in the 12-month season that concluded at the end of February.

“Last March, I saw the NHC on TVG (FanDuel TV) and I instantly knew it was meant for me. I signed up and had an incredible run on both HorsePlayers and HorseTourneys,” said Abernathy, a rookie in terms of the NHC who is far from being a novice newcomer to the sport.

Abernathy enjoying some recreation time. (Courtesy of Michael Abernathy)

Abernathy, 60, is a native New Englander who has been playing the races since his teens when his dad and uncle would take him to the greyhound races Friday nights at Lincoln Downs in Rhode Island.

“It was a dog track, but I became quite skilled at reading the form and structuring bets,” Abernathy said. “Those were some of the best memories of my life.”

For years, Abernathy had to balance the demands of raising a family of five kids and advancing his career, which is in the aggregate construction materials industry, while his horse playing mostly took a backseat. He was limited to playing the Triple Crown days and occasional trips to the Mohegan Sun RaceBook in Connecticut. That all changed later in life when he and his wife Wende, whom he calls his “fishing and handicapping coach,” relocated to Florida. It was there and then that Abernathy turned his garage into his own little racebook control center and refocused on his horse racing hobby.

Abernathy’s NHC results were rapid and dramatic. Playing online contests at HorseTourneys.com and HorsePlayers.com, he quickly earned two NHC qualifying spots and built a 10,000-point lead in the Rookie of the Year leaderboard by June.

“I knew I had a real shot. I’ve been telling my wife I might win the Rookie of the Year title in the NHC,” Abernathy said. “Her response has been, ‘I’ll believe it when I see it.’”

The Jim Nace Rookie of the Year recognition did indeed come to pass for Abernathy, who accumulated 20,684 points on the NHC Tour to outpace second-place rookie Dean Malizia who finished with 17,245 points. Points on the NHC Tour are awarded for wins and high finishes in on-track and online handicapping tournaments over the course of the 12-month NHC Tour season.

The NTRA sets aside $15,000 in prize money annually just for Tour rookies. Abernathy won a $5,000 prize for first place, while Malizia took home $4,000 for second. The top five was rounded out by third place Justin Schwartz who won $3,000, fourth place Edwin Claunch who won $2,000, and fifth place Edward Masry who won $1,000. All of them earned at least one qualifying berth into the 2025 National Horseplayers Championship, which will be held on March 14-16 at Horseshoe Las Vegas.

“I’m excited about the event and love the competition,” Abernathy said about attending his first NHC. He singled out his online nemeses G.T. Nixon and Rafael Lopez as players that he is looking forward to competing against. “Every weekend was a fierce battle.”

When it comes to his tournament play, Abernathy says his favorite angle is handicapping a horse’s connections “from owners, trainers, jockeys, and grooms to hot walkers and everyone in between, they all play a role.”

He also believes a good attitude is important.

“I believe that maintaining a positive attitude and persistence leads to great results.”