An NHC “Also Eligible” Draws In

On July 7th, 2019, Melvin Simonovic finished in 4th place in an NHC qualifier on HorseTourneys.com. It was a solid effort, but unfortunately for Melvin, the contest only awarded NHC seats to the top there finishers. We’ve all been there, and it sucks.

The July 7th contest was one of several impressive performances for the father of 2019 NHC 5th-place finisher and potential co-host of the LoneSpeed podcast one day, Steve Simonovic. A review of Melvin’s 2019 NHC Tour Points Detail (below) shows the man can compete, scoring Tour points seven times.

Still, with a mere five days until NHC 2020 kicked off at Bally’s, Melvin still didn’t have a seat. But that all changed on Saturday morning.

One of the seat-winners in the July 7th HT contest had to back out of the NHC, and Melvin got the call from the NTRA that he had been “moved up” the leaderboard retroactively. A seat in the 2020 NHC was now his. Who even knew that could happen?

Melvin’s sons Mark and the aforementioned Steve will be joining him at Bally’s as NHC contenders themselves. “I was elated when I got the call from Holly and Michelle,” said Melvin. “I have been trying desperately to qualify this past month with tough beats. Now I get to have a family affair with my two sons, Steve and Mark.”

Word from Vegas is that the odds on any of the Simonovic clan winning the NHC just dropped to 30-1 with Melvin drawing in. These odds have not been confirmed. The identities of the gentlemen in the pics below HAVE been confirmed. Steve and Melvin are in the top pic, and Mark is below.

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