You know it’s a big weekend when Keeneland opens the doors to its Fall meet and the Breeders’ Cup preps start flying at you fast and furious. Saturday is also one of the biggest days ever at HorseTourneys as we host just our second ever $100,000 Guaranteed tourney.
Who is this man?
It’s Victor Mendes Sr. from Boca Raton, Fla. On August 26, he won the richest single-day prize ($40,000) in HorseTourneys history when he finished on top of the heap in our first six-figure game. You can join him in this rarefied HorseTourneys air come Saturday.
But first comes Friday—opening day at historic Keeneland.
Our featured schedule this day gets is topped by an old friend: the $6,000 Guaranteed Pick & Pray with pool-style payoffs that could mean a pot as high as $10,000 depending on how take part. It’s $190 to play this game that could serve as a good sharpener for the big game Saturday.
We’ll also host our first of two entry-only qualifiers during the weekend for the 2018 Horse Player World Series. One entry per 20 will win a $1,500 entry in this Pick & Pray.
Friday contest races are the 7th through 10th at Keeneland; the 2nd through 5th Santa Anita; and the 8th and 9th from Belmont Park—10 races in all.
Using the same races, HorsePlayers will host a special Low Ratio BCBC qualifier (Pick & Pray) on Friday with one $10,000 entry guaranteed, and one entry per 23 (at $500 each) earning the golden ticket.
We’ll also have a bevy of fun, low-takeout cash games and feeders structured purely around the Keeneland races each day. And we come out of the gate fast with these on Friday.
On to Saturday.
There are three top featured tournaments on Saturday, and they are all very important. But one takes the cake.
The $100,000 Guaranteed Pick & Pray is not only is the richest game of the day, but it also has the deepest schedule—15 races, including 10 stakes. On the mandatory menu are the 5th through 9th at Keeneland (all graded stakes), the 1st, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th from Santa Anita; and the 7th through 11th at Belmont Park. As noted earlier, the winner gets $40,000 and prizes (guaranteed regardless of how many sign up) will be paid down to 14th place. The field is limited to 161 entries with the entry fee set at $695.
We trim the contest menu to a more customary 12 races for our other two featured tourneys on Saturday, but you’ll want to take a long look at these as well—especially if you’ve already “done your studying” for these races anyway.
One is the “Last Chance” qualifier for the October 15 Keeneland NHC-BCBC Challenge. One entry in 25 (at $160 each) will earn a $3,500 package to one of the great racetracks (and contest venues) in the world.
There’s also a 2-seat-guaranteed NHC qualifier on Saturday. This one will be run in live-format mode, and it’s one of the first of many opportunities you will have to “Get Qualified” to the NHC this month.
In fact, HorseTourneys is the exclusive online qualifying home of the NHC throughout October—something we’re very excited about!
During this month of pumpkins, Columbus Day celebrations and more, HorsePlayers will be focusing on the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge.
Saturday offers a pair of BCBC qualifiers, including one of the suddenly-very-popular BCBC Super Qualifiers where one $1,000 entry buys you a 1 in 11 chance for victory. One $10,000 entry is guaranteed in each tourney, though there could be more than one awarded if participation warrants it.
The Sunday feature at HorsePlayers is (surprise!) a BCBC qualifier. But this one is sort of a hybrid of the two offered on Saturday.
It’s a Low Ratio qualifier for $500 with one entry guaranteed and a winning entry ratio of 1 in 23.
Another Sunday tourney with a $500 entry fee heads our featured schedule at HorseTourneys.
It’s an NHC Super Qualifier with one package guaranteed and 1 in 21 moving on to Treasure Island.
If you prefer more modest stakes, you can also shoot for the NHC on Sunday via a traditional $165 qualifier with two spots guaranteed. Both are live-format contests, so it’s mainly a question of which price point/winning ratio you feel more comfortable playing.
Also at your Sunday disposal, is a live-format qualifier to the Nov. 11-12 Del Mar Fall Classic (the weekend after Breeders’ Cup). One entry per 25 in this $236 event will advance to Del Mar for two beautiful, and potentially very rewarding, days.
Cash gamers are, of course, always accommodated at HorseTourneys and Sunday is no exception. There’s our $15,000 Guaranteed Pick & Pray with $7,000 to the winner and payouts down to 7th. Entry is $195 with a limit of 86 entries.
And our Sunday Exacta game will be guaranteed at $2,000 though it could go up to $5,000 depending on how many play. Entry fees for the Sunday three-horse-box fixture are $72 each.
Last but not least is our second and final Horse Player World Series entry-only qualifier of the weekend. Same drill as on Friday–$87 to play…Pick & Pray…1 in 20 win a $1,500 entry for next March.
Before we sign off, we want to send good luck wishes to the 27 HorseTourneys qualifiers who will be doing battle this weekend in the Orleans Fall Classic. And also to Mario Sanchez, Aaron Bernstein, Bruce Pratt, David Watts and Bruce D’Agostini. They are the five who will be representing HorseTourneys at this weekend’s Santa Anita Autumn Championships thanks to their prowess in our Santa Anita qualifiers.
Whether you’re a Santa Anita fan, a Keeneland Fan or a Belmont fan…a Dodgers fan, a Cubs fan or a Yankees fan, this promises to be a very exciting weekend. And, if you play your horses right, a very lucrative weekend as well. Especially on Saturday. Good luck to everyone, and thanks for reading!