Kinchen apologizes for DQ from horseplayers championship

After being disqualified from the just-concluded National Horseplayers Championship, 2015 NHC Tour winner and Fox Sports TV analyst Jonathon Kinchen said Monday he was sorry.

“I apologize to my fellow competitors for distracting any attention away from the event itself,” Kinchen said in a midday Twitter post.

Without mentioning Kinchen by name, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association defended his disqualification, saying “the integrity of the event” must be protected.

In a 203-word statement issued Monday morning, the NTRA said it was “the first ever disqualification” in the 23-year history of the tournament. It confirmed “the disqualified player was not present at Bally’s during the NHC tournament, and his contest wagers were being submitted on-site by an intermediary without authorization.”

Kinchen confirmed he went to South Florida rather than stay in Las Vegas, where he had registered in person Wednesday to take part in his seventh NHC.

“This weekend, while participating in the NHC, I traveled to Gulfstream Park to attend the Pegasus World Cup, planning to return to Las Vegas for the final day of the competition,” Kinchen’s Twitter post said. “At the time I did not believe that I was violating any tournament rules. I learned that was incorrect and was subsequently disqualified from the competition. While my traveling to Florida certainly did not give me an unfair edge or advantage, the rules are clear, and I accept the disqualification.”

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Kinchen was ruled to have violated contest rule 95, which says, “All wagers must be placed personally, and in person, by the contest player. To avoid being disqualified, no person shall, directly or indirectly, act as an intermediary, transmitter or agent in placing wagers for the contest player, unless prior authorization is given by NHC officials.”

Kinchen confirmed he used a runner to try and make his bets in the contest.

“There was nothing about what I did that was cheating,” Kinchen told Horse Racing Nation in a telephone call Monday afternoon. “I broke a rule. I wanted to be in Florida. I flew in (to Las Vegas) on Wednesday. I registered. I left, and I was going to return on Sunday if I made the cut.”

“No authorization was given to the player to leave Bally’s or the state,” the NTRA said. “He violated both.”

In the NTRA statement, new chief executive officer Tom Rooney was quoted as saying, “The NHC is the world’s most prestigious handicapping tournament. The integrity of the event is of paramount importance, not just to us but to the thousands of men and women who attempt to qualify and play each and every year. The NTRA will staunchly and steadfastly follow the rules and defend the integrity of this prestigious event and its participants.”

The three-day NHC ended Sunday with a victory by David Harrison, 63, a real-estate appraiser and collateral analyst from Webster, N.Y. He became the tournament’s 23rd first-time champion. No one ever has repeated.

At the end of his statement, Kinchen said, “(I) offer my congratulations to David Harrison on his well-earned victory.”