Many have called the Belmont Stakes card the year’s best set of races this side of the Breeders’ Cup. We’ll be ready for it—and for you—here at HorseTourneys and HorsePlayers with 18 featured tourneys that can line your pockets with serious cash and or send you to just about any live tournament you might want to play in this year. And if your sights are set on the NHC, this is your weekend to take a serious shot online. There will be no fewer than four guaranteed opportunities to qualify for the Big Dance—at a wide variety of price points.
We’ll kick the weekend off with a pair of featured games on Friday—one at HorsePlayers and one at HorseTourneys.
The HorsePlayers feature is extra special—a guaranteed NHC qualifier with an entry fee of just $50. This is a Pick & Pray game with one package awarded per 200 entries but at least two packages awarded no matter what. Contest races are the 7th and 9th from Churchill Downs, the 7th through 11th at Belmont on Belmont Stakes eve; and the 4th, 6th and 7th from Santa Anita.
For cash game specialists, there’s also our regular Friday $7,500 Guaranteed event with $3,750 to the winner and payouts down to fifth place. Entry is $190 with a limit of 44 entrants. Contest races are the 6th, 7th and 9th from Churchill Downs; the 5th, 7th and 8th from Woodbine; the 7th and 9th from Monmouth; and the 2nd and 3rd from Arlington—10 races in all.
The 13-race schedule for our Saturday featured tournaments includes eight graded stakes races, of which five are Grade Is. Of course, this is largely courtesy of the blockbuster Belmont Stakes Day card. To celebrate the big day, we’re turning up the flame several notches on our Saturday cash game and making the Saturday event worth a guaranteed $75,000.
The winner of this live-format event will receive $30,000 with the top 12 finishers all receiving a payoff. Entries, at $595 each, are limited to 140.
There are two great Saturday contests at HorsePlayers,
In addition to the regular, Saturday BCBC qualifier—a Pick & Pray offered for $179—there’s an absolutely free NHC qualifier open to all 2017 NHC Tour members. If you are a member, you’d be silly not to play. The top five finishers will all punch their tickets to Vegas next February.
There is also a vast array of qualifying tourneys back here at HorseTourneys on Saturday—including HT’s very own NHC qualifier. This one isn’t free—it costs the usual $165. But two seats are guaranteed and you’ll only have to outdo 130 or so opponents rather than a few thousand.
Alternatively, you could take a swing on Saturday at two other fun Vegas events—the Wynn Handicapping Challenge and the Gold Coast Summer Classic. Both are live-format games with one entrant in 20 winning the featured prize. You may enter the Wynn (Entry Only) game for $116, and the Gold Coast qualifier for $58.
Those with an aversion to neon may prefer Saturday’s guaranteed qualifier to the Del Mar Handicapping Challenge (entry fee: $350). One $7,500 package will be awarded no matter how many participate and the winner instantly becomes eligible for a $10,000 HorseTourneys site credit bonus should he or she go on to finish first at Del Mar.
Here’s an at-a-glance look at Saturday’s considerable featured lineup at HorseTourneys:
Two things seem fairly certain on Sunday: 1) horse racing pundits will be debating who the current leader of the inscrutable 3-year-old division is; and 2) HorseTourneys will be hosting another giant day.
In fact, counting the featured NHC qualifier at HorsePlayers on Sunday (two seats guaranteed, $165 to play), we’ll be offering nine top games this day, making it nominally the biggest day of the whole weekend in terms of number of featured events.
At HorseTourneys, we’re excited to offer on Sunday our first qualifier to the 2017 Monmouth NHC Super Qualifier on August 26. This qualifier has a nice one-in-15 winning ration and entry is just $77. Winners receive a $500 entry and $500 for travel to Oceanport, NJ.
There’s also a special, one-time-only qualifier being held for next week’s Louisiana Downs NHC qualifier. This is a live format, entry-only game in which entry is just $35 and one and 10 will advance to the event in Bossier City, La.
Regular Sunday players are sure to recognize many other of their Sunday favorites on the day’s menu—including qualifiers to The BIG One, Surfside, the Arlington Handicapping Challenge, and the Hawthorne Summer NHC qualifier.
On the cold, hard cash front, we’ll be hosting our popular Sunday $10,000 Guaranteed game (live format) with $5,000 to the victor and prizes down to fifth place. And no Sunday is complete without our $1,500 Guaranteed Exacta game (live format as always) with $600 going to the winner.
With so many featured tourneys this weekend, picking and choosing which to play will be an especially important decision. Keep an eye out for last-minute, early-bird feeders on Friday and Saturday where you can win your way into big games later in the day at a fraction of the cost.
These last-minute feeders can be especially key if you have a strong opinion on a race or two early in the day.
Here’s hoping your strong opinions this weekend yield strong results. Enjoy the Belmont, and best of luck to all.