It’s always a letdown when the cold reality sets in that there will be no Triple Crown winner. But even though no HorseTourneys player managed to win three tournaments this weekend, we’re still very proud of those who managed to win two.
Rick Broth bagged two coveted prizes on Sunday winning an NHC seat…
…by finishing third behind fellow NHC package winners Tom Timlick and Scott Nelson. And Rick improved on that $140.90 score slightly that same day when he became our latest qualifier to The BIG One.
Rick, like all The BIG One competitors, now instantly becomes eligible for the $500,000 lump-sum bonus should he sweep The BIG One and the NHC. Difficult…but hardly impossible…and extremely rewarding.
Speaking of The BIG One, our 2016 winner of it was Dan Flanigan.
Two weeks ago, Dan won the right to defend his title at Laurel and last weekend was another, ahem, big one for Dan as he finished first in Sunday’s $10,000 Guaranteed event…
…and also in our Wynn qualifier where he won a $2,000 entry along with Anthony Trezza and Rob Henie. Dan actually had the same score in the two tourneys despite the fact that the contest races were slightly different in the two events. In both contests, the Minneapolis-area resident owes a debt of gratitude to Flying Point, the first-time starter that won first out on the grass in the 9th at Belmont and paid $41.80 to win and $17.60 to place.
Another dual-winner was Les Instone although, unlike Broth and Flanigan, Les did his winning across two days.
Les cast his Gold Coast Summer Classic entry in stone by finishing third in Saturday’s qualifier behind James Amedure and Dan McCormick.
And he came back strong on Sunday by hitting the $1 exacta in the 9th at Belmont for $98.75 to win $600 in our $1,500 Guaranteed Exacta game. So Flying Point was an important horse for him as well on Sunday.
There was action aplenty at HorsePlayers as well last weekend.
Jeff “Boom Boom” Joffrion got things started in style with a lucrative victory in Friday’s NHC-BCBC Combo qualifier. Look for your next chance to win seats to the two most important tournaments in one contest in a couple of weeks.
On Saturday, Jim Daraklis topped a large field of 2,762…
…to win a $10,000 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge entry in that day’s free HorsePlayers qualifier. Now there’s a man who will have fun betting this year’s Breeders’ Cup! And the 50 people who finished closest behind Daraklis won a $20 entry in a future BCBC feeder.
HorsePlayers also hosted a Saturday qualifier for the NHC, with Ryan Russell and 2007 NHC winner Stanley Bavlish coming out on top.
Bavlish, of course, will now attempt to become the first two-time winner of the NHC. He is already just one of three NHC Champions to subsequently earn a seat at the event’s Final Table (along with Brian Troop and last year’s runner up, Steve Wolfson, Jr.).
On Sunday, G.T. Nixon was the one, winning the day’s BCBC qualifier over David Watts.
Given the strong participation in the tournament, we were able to award Watts a partial, $2,500 entry into the BCBC for running second.
Other big weekend winners were Richard Grose, who won Friday’s $7,500 Guaranteed tourney; Nicholas McMurdy, who earned $12,500 for winning Saturday’s $25,000 Guaranteed Preakeness Day event; Pete Acocella and Richie Bennett who earned their way on Saturday to Monmouth’s June 3 Pick Your Prize Tournament (you’re last chance to qualify for this one comes next weekend); and Melvin Simonovich, who punched his ticket on Sunday to the Arlington Handicapping Challenge.
Congratulations to all the big winners last Friday and Saturday at the Treasure Island Wager to Win Contest—especially Friday’s NHC seat winners: Mark Streiff ($45,000 in cash winnings as well), Joe Pettit ($18,000), B. Fay ($13,500), N. Bristow ($9,000) and HorseTourneys qualifier Matthew Rentze ($4,500)….and Saturday’s NHC seat winners: Gene Cahalan ($44,500), B. Johnson ($17,800), HorseTourneys qualifier Eric Moomey ($13,500) and M.H. Hartsell ($8,900).
There may not be a Triple Crown on the line this year, but the Belmont Stakes Handicapping Challenge on June 9-10 will still be every bit as fun and rewarding—and your next chance to qualify for that $10,000 buy-in event is right here at HorseTourneys next Sunday, May 28. And low-cost feeders for Sunday’s direct qualifier will be available all week long.
Thanks for spending part of Preakness weekend with us. On to Memorial Day weekend!