It was an exciting three days here at HorseTourneys with some closing weekend stakes at Del Mar helping to decide a number of the featured competitions on Saturday and Sunday.
Our $5,000 Guaranteed game on Friday went to David Sullivan who prevailed over Brisnet’s Ed DeRosa. The runner-up finish was hardly a disappointment for DeRosa, who has been playing the races enthusiastically for most of his life but only began playing tourneys a year or two ago.
Actually it would have been a major upset had DeRosa not Tweeted in some way about his Friday exploits. He is the author of more than 100,000 Tweets (accurate as of press time)!
In Saturday’s $12,500 Guaranteed tourney, Joe Ward and Raymond Riley accounted for the lion’s share of the dough.
And Annals of Time (in the Hollywood Derby) was the last link…
…in Joe Link’s winning chain of selections in our Horse Player World Series full-package qualifier. Link and William Ortega each won $1,500 HPWS entries, plus four nights at The Orleans (separate rooms) and $500 cash.
Sunday’s star of the day (as far as I’m concerned, anyway) was Michael Lazarus. And not just because he won our $1,500 Guaranteed Exacta Box game.
A lot of hardcore Horse Tourneys stalwarts have shied away from our exacta box games – worried, perhaps, that those tourneys are dramatically different from the mythical win/place affairs they are more familiar with. At the end of the day, though, it’s always all about handicapping races. Just ask Lazarus.
Utilizing the same strong opinion that earned him a $1 three-horse exacta box payoff of $116.50 on Aqueduct’s 8th race, Lazarus tabbed 14-1 winner Da Wildcat Girl in our Horse Player World Series entry-only qualifier. That, along with a well-chosen longshot at Fair Grounds, won Lazarus an HPWS entry along with Tim Downs. Such success across two different tourney formats on the same day is seldom seen here at HorseTourneys or anywhere, for that matter. It’s a little bit like a switch hitter homering from both sides of the plate in the same game. So congratulations, Michael. Mickey Mantle would undoubtedly be proud.
Elsewhere on Sunday, Michael Marlaire captured our package to the Surfside tournaments on Dec. 30 – Jan. 1. Look for more such qualifiers for the next few Sundays.
Our first crack of the year at an NHC 18 Last Chance qualifier proved to be very popular at the entry box.
Congratulations to our nine (count ‘em nine) winners: Jay Parker, Jon Van Niel, Barbara Bowley, James Carey, Charles Nelson, Jeff Bussan, NHC winner Stanley Bavlish, Curtis Meyer and Chris Larmey.
Lastly, our $7,500 guaranteed tourney was particularly exciting due to the circumstances surrounding the tight finish in the game’s last race, the Matriarch Stakes from Del Mar.
(Photo credit: Benoit)
That was Edgar Prado riding the winner (#12) Miss Temple City and Florent Geroux aboard runner up (#7) Roca Rojo. But from a HorseTourneys standpoint, it was Howard Welsh atop Miss Temple City and James Michelson at the controls of Roca Rojo. Those were the horses Welsh and Michelson (our top two heading into the race) had selected in the Matriarch, and the results of the blanket finish dictated the results of our tourney and its $3,750 first prize. Had Roca Roja nipped Miss Temple City, Michelson would have nipped Welsh. Still it was a nice payday to James for running second.
It’s excitement, outstanding accomplishments and unmitigated joy like all of the above that’s on display virtually every day here at HorseTourneys. Thanks for reading about some of last weekend’s highlights. And here’s to you creating some of your own this weekend. Good luck!