Canadian Ray Arsenault wins major handicapping competition in Las Vegas
Canadian Ray Arsenault finds himself in the same lofty company as California Chrome.
The heralded thoroughbred captured a 2016 Eclipse Award as American racing’s horse of the year. Arsenault, of Thornhill, Ont., secured his own Eclipse Award on Sunday after winning the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas.
The event drew a record 654 entrants and with the victory Arsenault, 64, captured the US$800,000 winner’s share after amassing a top score of $407.70 in his seventh appearance at the three-day event.
“It’s pretty special,” Arsenault said via telephone from his winter residence in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “I wasn’t prepared for what was going to happen (winning), I didn’t really even think about it.