Enborg, McGuire Top Race Lens Final 50, Earn 2026 NHC Berths

Edward Enborg and Mark McGuire finished as the top two in Equibase’s Race Lens Final 50 and earned qualifying berths to the 2026 National Horseplayers Championship in Las Vegas, March 13-15, 2026, along with four-night stays at the Horseshoe Las Vegas and $500 travel vouchers. The Race Lens Final 50 concluded on February 21 as the cap to the Race to the NHC series, and officials have not published which of the two finished first versus second.

Organizers framed the promotion as a season-long pathway into the NHC. “The ‘Race to the National Horseplayers Championship (NHC),’ a series of 25 free handicapping contests exclusively for subscribers of Race Lens, Equibase's interactive past performance product, concluded on February 21 with the end-of-season qualifier ‘Race Lens Final 50’ awarding the top two finishers qualifying berths to the 2026 National Horseplayers Championship in Las Vegas from March 13-15, 2026,” the Equibase press release said.

BloodHorse spelled out how the weekly contests fed the final event. “Beginning last summer and running through mid-February, the top two contestants from each weekly contest qualified for the Race Lens Final 50 with the top two finishers - Edward Enborg and Mark McGuire - earning not only a qualifying berth to the NHC next month, but also a four-night stay at the Horseshoe Las Vegas and a $500 travel voucher, courtesy of Race Lens,” the BloodHorse excerpt reported. BloodHorse also noted that third through seventh finishers in the Final 50 won entries into the Last Chance / First Chance contest to be held prior to the NHC at the Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas.

The Race to the NHC is co-hosted by Equibase and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, with the contests run on Horseplayers.com, described in the release as “the official online qualifying site of the NHC and Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge.” The series was limited to Race Lens subscribers and consisted of 25 free handicapping contests leading to the end-of-season Final 50 qualifier.

The push from Enborg has data behind it beyond Race Lens. HorseTourneys’ weekly recap shows Edward Enborg “racked up 4 firsts and 5 seconds from just 10 contest races to collect $9,996 in our first HT Tour event of the new year, our $15,000 Gtd. Pick & Pray, which ultimately paid out a total of $22,213.” That run, plus other online contest wins across January, places Enborg in strong pre-NHC form. HorseTourneys coverage also highlights the wider contest ecosystem: William “Bubble” Gumm won NHC seats in $165 Pick & Pray events, Gregory Lewis edged Enborg in a Laurel qualifier, Craig White captured a $1,500 berth, and Jim Trepinski took a $4,986 top prize in a Big Bucks Pick & Pray.

Equibase’s social channels acknowledged the winners as well; an Instagram excerpt read, “Huge congratulations to Race Lens users Edward Enborg and Mark McGuire on winning this year's Race to the NHC!!!” The supplied post is truncated and neither winner’s comments nor the full list of third-through-seventh finishers were supplied in the materials provided. With seats, hotel stays and travel vouchers secured, Enborg and McGuire are headed to Las Vegas for March 13-15, and a Last Chance / First Chance field drawn from Final 50 finishers will be staged at the Horseshoe Casino prior to the championship.