Andy Hennosy, an Ohio native and resident of Plant City Florida, represented the FHBPA at the recent NHC Championships in Las Vegas Nevada. Hennosy earned his seat at the 21st edition of the NTRA event by besting the best FHBPA handicappers at Gulfstream Park.
The event, which featured a total prize pot of $2,997,500, was contested over 3 days at Bally’s on Feb 7,8, and 9. There were 729 entrants into the finals and Andy finished a creditable 104th, falling less than $10.00 short of qualifying for the final day and a guaranteed pot of gold.
“It was so close”, Andy said, “it came down to going 0-4 in photo finishes, just didn’t get the head bob I needed”. Hanging in the top 70 early on after posting a 24-1 shot, he went thru a long drought of close calls and 2nd place finishes. He took a shot at a capped (20-1 limit) horse late on day 2 and popped a big win that took him to the edge of day 3 qualification.
“Overall, it was a very good experience, the large ballroom was well equipped with a huge basketball type scoreboard hanging in the middle and plenty of TV’s to follow the action, said Andy, “ It’s tough handicapping 36 races over 2 days”.
Like many first timers at the event, Andy did not know anyone, and was fortunate to end up at a table of good guys. “We were a mellow group, while some were loud and banging tables as they cheered on their picks”, he said, “one guy at our table finished high on the board and eventually cashed $60,000, it was a fun group to be a part of”.
Andy first got into the horse game as a youngster up north with his father Bill, who was the State Fire Marshall for the State of Ohio and raced horses at old Beulah Park (now relocated and renamed as Mahoning Valley Race Course). He is a partner the Pinnacle Racing Stable, owning a number of runners being managed by FHBPA Board Member, Adam Lazarus.
He has a current 3 year old named for his father, “Fire Marshall Bill”, who is currently prepping for a debut.
Congrats to Andy for winning the local event, and for representing us well out in the desert…..see everyone next year.