Last Chances and first chances abound at HorseTourneys this weekend on a Memorial Day Weekend when the vast majority of featured events will be run as Pick & Prays.
The weekend gets off to a typically fast and traditional start with our Friday HorseTourneys staple.
It’s our up-to-$12,500 Pick & Pray with $7,000 guaranteed. The entry fee is $190, and total entries are capped at 75. Contest races will be the 6th through 9th at Pimlico; the 5th, 6th, 8th and 9th from Belmont and the 7th and 9th from Gulfstream–10 races all together.
We pick up the featured-tourney pace a bit on Saturday.
The main event at HorseTourneys—and the richest contest of the weekend—is our up-to-$30,000 Pick & Pray, which carries a buy-in of $260. Entries are limited to 133, but $20,000 is guaranteed to be awarded regardless of the number of sign-ups. The 12-race contest schedule is made up of the 6th through 8th at Belmont, the 8th through 12th at Monmouth (including four stakes at the Jersey Shore); and the 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th at Santa Anita (three of the Santa Anita races are stakes, including a couple of Grade 1s).
Using the same 12-race contest menu, HorsePlayers gets into the act with qualifiers for both the NHC and BCBC.
Both are regular qualifiers with 1 in 65 winning ratios, and both are Pick & Prays. One seat is guaranteed in the BCBC game and two prizes are assured in the NHC qualifier.
Sunday is Indianapolis 500 day—so perhaps it is appropriate that we really kick the featured schedule into high gear that day.
As per usual on a Sunday, our featured cash game is an up-to-$20,000 tourney (Pick & Pray this week) with $12,000 guaranteed.
There are also a couple of special qualifiers slated for Sunday.
One is the Monmouth Pick Your Prize Last Chance tourney. Based on recent weeks, this qualifier should have a good turnout. One $2,500 package will be awarded per each 25 entries received. If you win, you’ll be heading into next weekend’s event at Monmouth on a hot streak.
Another Sunday tourney of special note is our first qualifier for the June 30 Seize the Speed Betting Championship at Gulfstream Park. The Seize the Speed Betting Championship is a $3,000 buy-in contest with half being directed to the prize pool and half to your live betting bankroll. Players will compete for cash bonuses and seats to the Pegasus World Cup Betting Championship and the NHC.
We’ll also host another qualifier on Sunday for the August 10-11 Saratoga Betting Challenges (held this year on a Friday-Saturday for the first time). One in 25 entries will earn a $3,500 package to the Spa.
Last but never least is our up-to-$5,000 Exacta tourney which requires contestants to select a three-horse exacta box in each race. Note that this is a live-format game (like always), and $2,000 is guaranteed.
HorsePlayers has three featured events on Sunday. Two are super high-end affairs and one is a super low-end game.
Don’t feel like you’re slumming it if you play the low-end game. In fact, you should kick yourself if you’re a 2018 Tour member and don’t play it—because it’s a free NHC qualifier with Vegas berths going to the top three finishers. The entry fee might be low-end but the prizes are definitely high-end.
The other two Sunday HorsePlayer events have high-end entry fees–$500—but coveted prizes and highly attractive winning ratios.
One is an NHC Super Qualifier with one berth guaranteed and a 1 in 21 chance for success. The other is a BCBC Low Ratio qualifier with a 1 in 23 winning ratio. This BCBC event is a Pick & Pray like most of this weekend’s featured tourneys—but note that the NHC Super Qualifier will be run in live-format mode.
We hope that you are lucky enough to have Memorial Day off. If you do—or even if you don’t—we have a pair of Pick & Prays to help make your holiday Monday a bit more enjoyable.
One is a first-of-its-kind NHC qualifier. We call it a “lower ratio” qualifier, because instead of a 1 in 65 winning ratio, this one has a 1 in 45 ratio. It costs $240 per entry and two NHC packages are guaranteed. Going forward, all NHC qualifiers at HorseTourneys will be offered at this new price point—while the $165, 1 in 65 NHC qualifiers will continue to be offered over at HorsePlayers.
We know that some of you prefer the cold hard cash, and for you we offer a Memorial Day up-to-$12,500 Pick & Pray with $5,000 Guaranteed. This one costs $190 to play and entries are limited to 75 overall.
We wish you well in all your tourney endeavors and—even more—we hope you all enjoy a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend.