CDI Offers $1M Handicapping Bonus to Club Members

Churchill Downs Inc. will offer a $1-million bonus to a Twin Spires Club member that wins of one of the company's qualifying tournaments and the 2006 Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas.

Dubbed "The Million Dollar Bonus Tour," the program is sponsored by Daily Racing Form and will run throughout 2005 as CDI holds qualifying tournaments at each of its seven racetracks. In order to be eligible for the bonus, winners of the CDI qualifying rounds must be registered members of the Twin Spires Club prior to their participation in CDI tournaments.

Membership in the Twin Spires Club is free. Members of California's Golden State Rewards Network are also eligible for qualifying rounds.

The following is a schedule for qualifying tournaments:

Arlington Park (Sept. 18)
Calder Race Course (July 10 and Nov. 25-27)
Churchill Downs (Aug. 20)
Ellis Park (Nov. 5)
Fair Grounds (Dec. 3-4)
Hollywood Park (Nov. 25-27)
Hoosier Park (July 2)

"There is tremendous buzz surrounding the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship amongst serious horseplayers," CDI director of marketing Jeremy Clemons said in a release. "The 'Million Dollar Bonus Tour' will tie our contests together in a way that provides an extremely exciting and lucrative opportunity for our contest winners."

In all, 214 finalists competed in the 2005 NHC, having qualified in one of 92 tournaments held by 57 racetracks, off-track betting facilities, casinos, Web sites, and equine-related organizations in 2004. The 2005 winner, James Michelson Jr. of West Bloomfield, Mich., won $200,000. Twin Spires Club qualifier Michael Conway of Glencoe, Ill., finished second. The Twin Spires Club Team captured the team portion of the 2005 contest and netted $5,000 for each of its three members.