The first feeders to the second annual Pegasus World Cup Betting Championship are now posted on HorseTourneys, and the first direct qualifier to the ultra-high-end, live-bankroll tourney is slated for Sunday, July 8.
Round 1 qualifiers with an entry fee of $25 are currently available with one winner per each five entries advancing to the Round 2 qualifier on Saturday, July 7.
Direct feeders to the July 8 qualifier, with an entry fee of $54 and a winning ratio of one in 10, will be offered starting tomorrow, Wednesday, June 27.
The July 8 direct qualifier will have a $480 buy-in, and a one in 30 winning ratio. HorseTourneys winners will receive a $12,000 entry plus an additional $500 for travel.
The 2019 Pegasus World Cup Betting Championship will be hosted at Gulfstream Park on January 25-26, with the second day of the competition taking place on the day of the world’s richest race, the Pegasus World Cup.
The guaranteed prize pool for the $12,000 buy-in event will be a record $435,500. Should the Betting Championship attract more than 250 entries, the prize pool figure will increase. The prize pool will include five seats to the player’s choice of the 2019 or 2020 National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) and one $10,000 entry to the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC).
In addition to its outsized prize pool, the Pegasus World Cup Betting Championship is unique because that prize pool is fully funded by The Stronach Group and Gulfstream Park. The entire amount of each player’s $12,000 entry fee goes straight into the player’s starting betting bankroll for the two-day event. No portion of the entry fee is diverted to the prize pool.
Players can only qualify online for the Pegasus World Cup Betting Championship via HorseTourneys or Xpressbet.com. Those who participate in the January 25-26 finals can play from Gulfstream Park, Santa Anita Park, Laurel Park, Golden Gate Fields or Xpressbet.com.
The 2018 Pegasus World Cup Betting Championship offered a total prize pool of $371,000 and was won by NBC hockey and horse racing analyst Ed Olczyk, who turned his $12,000 starting bankroll into $65,858.20. In addition to his final bankroll, Olczyk received an additional $137,500 from the prize pool and entries to both the 2018 BCBC and the 2019 NHC.