One of the popular brick-and-mortar contests of any calendar year is the Monmouth Super Qualifier, held this year on Saturday, August 25 (Travers Day). The event offers a total of two Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge entries and seven NHC spots to the top nine finishers—plus cash bonuses. Our very first qualifier to this Monmouth staple will be offered this Sunday.
There’s plenty of action before then, of course, starting Friday with our up-to-$12,500 Pick & Pray, which will have a guaranteed purse of at least $6,000.
It carries an entry fee of $190, with a limit of 75 entries total. Contest races are the 6th and 8th from Ellis Park (aka the “Pea Patch”); the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 9th from Belmont (where it’s closing weekend); and the 6th, 8th and 9th from Gulfstream—10 races in all.
Saturday brings an array of familiar competitions, plus a special NHC opportunity at HorseTourneys.
The NHC game is a “Lower Ratio” qualifier for which the entry fee is a little higher ($240) than that of a “regular” qualifier, but the winning ratio is lower—just one in 45. As with all of today’s HorseTourneys featured events, this contest will be run in live-format.
For the straight-cash-minded, there’s an up-to-$30,000 tourney with a purse guarantee of $17,500. This one costs $260 to enter with an overall limit of 133 entries.
There are also three live-tournament qualifiers scheduled for Saturday. For $164, you can take a swing at a $3,500 package to both days of the August 10-11 Saratoga Challenge. For $79 you can win a $1,000 package to the Orleans Fall Classic in October. Or for just $63, you can earn your entry fees for the Hawthorne OTBs Summer NHC Qualifiers on July 27-28. (That means that Saturday’s qualifier serves as a “next-to-last-chance” event.)
The 12 contest races for these five, live-format tourneys are the 8th and 10th from Monmouth; the 7th through 10th at Belmont; the 9th through 12th from Gulfstream; and the 4th and 7th from Los Alamitos.
Using the same contest races, HorsePlayers joins the weekend featured action scene on Saturday with a Pick & Pray.
It’s a ‘regular” BCBC qualifier with one $10,000 entry prize guaranteed. This $179 buy-in game carries a winning ratio of 1 in 65.
Sunday is another frenzied, nine-featured-tourney day.
Most of this day’s tourneys will be run in live format, including the “first chance” at the Monmouth Super Qualifier mentioned at the top. Another is for our two-packages-guaranteed qualifier to The BIG One.
Hosted at Laurel on September 22-23, The BIG One offers 10 NHC seats, 10 BCBC entries and 10 Horse Player World Series entries in a field that will not number more than 57 (and it will only be that high if we get five last-minute buy-ins). You can win your way into this all-inclusive (including travel, hotel, welcome dinner and more) tournament on Sunday in our $515 Pick & Pray. Again, two packages are guaranteed to be awarded in Sunday’s qualifier.
One Sunday game that’s a Pick & Pray is our next-to-last qualifier for the Del Mar Handicapping Challenge. One in 25 entries will earn an $8,500 (including $500 for travel) package to the July 28-29 event.
One of our brick-and-mortar qualifiers is a guaranteed event this week—the contest for the Woodbine Mile Horseplayers Tournament. Held on Woodbine Mile Day, September 15, the Woodbine Mile Horseplayers Tournament carries an entry fee of $3,500 (Canadian). Winners here at HorseTourneys receive a package covering the entry fee plus $500 in U.S. currency for travel. The Woodbine Mile event offers a prize pool that includes two BCBC entries and four NHC berths.
On October 14, Keeneland hosts its NHC/BCBC Challenge. You can qualify for it here on Sunday when one in 25 entries will earn a $3,500 package to the land of Calipari.
Cash gamers will again be lining up for our up-to-$20,000 game with a purse guaranteed for Sunday at $12,000 regardless of how many sign up. The entry fee is $195 with a maximum of 118 entries accepted.
And, of course, there’s another up-to-$5,000 (with $2,000 Guaranteed) Sunday Exacta tourney. It’s $125 to play, and contestants are required to select a three-horse exacta box in each tourney race. The winner is based on total overall return on a $1 play. Remember that, in our Exacta tourneys, there are no price caps.
There’s another pair of featured tourneys at HorsePlayers on Sunday—one for the NHC and one for the BCBC—and note that these will both be Pick & Prays.
The NHC qualifier goes as a “regular” contest with a 1 in 65 winning ratio and a $165 entry fee.
The Sunday BCBC qualifier, meanwhile, will be a “Low Ratio” competition. It will have a $500 entry fee and a low winning ratio (1 in just 23). If the BCBC is “on your list,” then this Sunday qualifier should be too.
The following week, as most of you undoubtedly know, marks the opening of the Saratoga and Del Mar meetings. We have a $40,000 Guaranteed tourney lined up for opening Saturday (July 21), but there’s a lot of playing—and winning—to be done between now and then. We hope you can join us for a portion of the upcoming three days. Good luck!