5 are named to National Horseplayers Championship’s Hall of Fame

Stanley Bavlish, Michael Beychok, J. Randy Gallo, David Gutfreund and Paul Matties Jr. have been selected for induction into the National Horseplayers Championship’s Hall of Fame.

The five handicappers represent the eighth class of NHC Hall of Fame inductees, according to a news release from the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. They will be recognized during the NHC Champions Dinner Sunday at the conclusion of the 22nd NTRA National Horseplayers Championship.

Bavlish won the 2007 NHC and made the Final Table in 2016. Beychok won the 2012 NHC and is the event’s all-time leading money earner. Gallo was one of the “founding fathers” of the NHC while also serving as a tournament host through his Bettor Racing OTB and a Final Table participant in 2019. Gutfreund won the 2018 NHC Tour, has qualified 15 times, and boasts two top-10 finishes. Matties won the 2016 NHC and has qualified 13 times.

Bavlish, of Frederick, Md., has remained among the most consistent and respected contest players since he won the 2007 NHC in his first year of qualifying. A three-time finisher in the top 10 percent at the NHC, Bavlish finished ninth at the Final Table in 2016. He is the longtime owner of multiple Subway restaurants and director of the Independent Purchasing Cooperative for Subway franchisees. Bavlish is a 14-time NHC qualifier, a member of the NHC Players’ Committee and an NHC Mentor.

Beychok, of Baton Rouge, La., became the only person to win $1 million at the NHC in 2012 when Glorious Dancer scored a nose victory in the final race of the contest to give him a one-dollar advantage, a life-changing payday and an Eclipse Award as Horseplayer of the Year. Beychok, who later claimed Glorious Dancer and retired her to a farm in Louisiana, is a strong advocate for racehorse aftercare as well as horseplayers. A political consultant who also contributes picks as a public handicapper for The Advocate newspaper in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Beychok is the NHC’s all-time leading money earner and a 12-time qualifier.

Gallo, who died in November in Jupiter, Fla., at age 72, was not on this year’s Hall of Fame ballot and instead was unanimously inducted by the NHC Players’ Committee and the NTRA. A friend, mentor and advocate for all horseplayers and one of the founding fathers of the NHC, Gallo made the Final Table in 2019 and was a seven-time qualifier. The most well-known member of a horse-loving and gambling family synonymous with the NHC and contest play around the country, Gallo was a popular tournament host through his Bettor Racing OTB operation in South Dakota as well as a highly successful handicapper and gambler.

Gutfreund, of Chicago, Ill., is one of the most accomplished horseplayers in the history of the NHC. He captured the 2018 NHC Tour after winning five contests in less than six months. A 15-time qualifier, Gutfreund has two top 10 finishes at the NHC and has finished in the top 20 four times. Gutfreund, who once won $90,000 on a 20-cent multi-race wager, also is a highly skilled card player with more than $1 million in career poker earnings.

Matties, of Ballston Spa, N.Y., is widely regarded as one of the nation’s foremost handicappers. Part of a family deeply involved with horses and betting, Matties captured the 2016 NHC the same year his brother, Duke, finished fourth. He also won the $50,000 NHC Consolation in 2019. In addition to being a successful professional gambler, Matties is an original member of Beyer Associates, which produces speed figures for Daily Racing Form, a former Racing Times columnist, and founder of horseplayer services company NHPlays. Matties is a 13-time qualifier and formerly served on the NHC Players’ Committee. The Matties brothers have combined to win hundreds of multi-race wagers at racetracks from coast-to-coast and can be found every summer in their favorite spot in the “backyard” at Saratoga.

Honorees were chosen by their peers, and 693 NHC Tour Members were eligible to vote and a total of 248 ballots were cast.

The main criteria for nomination to the NHC Hall of Fame are as follows:

• Competed in NHC-sanctioned tournaments;

• Played consistently well over an extended period of time;

• Gained the respect of peers;

• Contributed to the overall growth and success of NHC tournament play, with indelible positive and lasting results.