We’ll have lots of HorseTourneys stars live onsite this weekend between the Pegasus World Cup Betting Championship on Saturday, a Monmouth NHC qualifier on the same day and the big Sam Houston contest on Sunday. We wish them all luck…and we hope they’re good at multi-tasking because there’s a lot going on her this weekend as well.
Most of our featured events this weekend will be run in live format, but if you like Pick & Prays, then Friday is your day!
Our up-to-$15,000 cash tourney with $7,500 Guaranteed is the tentpole for four marquee games on TGIF day. It’s $190 to play, and entries are limited to 90. Last Friday’s version of this game closed with a pot of $11,938.
We again have a qualifier-a-day this weekend to the Horse Player World Series. On Friday, you can play an entry-only Pick & Pray for $89. One of every 20 entries will earn a $1,500 spot in the mythical-money classic at The Orleans this March.
Qualifiers continue, of course, for the NHC Last Chance Tournament at Bally’s Las Vegas on NHC eve, February 6. The winning ratio is 1-per-10 in this $59 Pick & Pray. Again…should you win a $500 entry to this tournament and later earn an actual 2020 NHC seat, you have the option of keeping the entry, trading it in for $500 in HorseTourneys credit or transferring the $500 entry to another player. The deadline for letting us know of your plans is coming up soon…February 1.
There are two chances—one on Friday and one on Sunday—to land a $1,500 spot in the $100,000 Guaranteed Flo-Cal Faceoff. The Faceoff—to take place on February 29-March 1 here at HorseTourneys— will involve contestants making picks on every race from Gulfstream and Santa Anita during Fountain of Youth weekend. The Friday Pick & Pray, like Sunday’s, has an $86 entry fee, and carries a winning ratio of 1 in 20.
At HorsePlayers, the first of five weekend 2020 NHC qualifiers is on the docket.
It’s a $125 Pick & Pray with a winning ratio of 1-per-85. One prize package is guaranteed.
Contest races for Friday are the 6th through 8th at Aqueduct; the 7th through 10th from Gulfstream; and the 1st, 4th and 5th at Santa Anita—10 races in all.
More cash and more seats are on the table for Saturday, which is Pegasus World Cup Day.
The richest event of the weekend is Saturday’s up-to-$30,000 cash game with $17,500 Guaranteed. It’s $260 to play, and this one is a live-format game…as are the other Saturday features.
The Saturday qualifier to the Horse Player World Series is extra valuable because this one is a full-package qualifier. Winners get a $1,500 entry plus four nights at The Orleans (where each shower has a handy ledge on which to rest your beer) and a $500 travel credit deposited in your HorseTourneys account. The entry fee for this contest is $148, and the winning ratio is 1-per-20.
We also have a Saturday qualifier to the April 19 Keeneland Grade One Gamble—the first of two on the weekend. This one costs $236 to play, and one in 20 will scoop up a $4,000 package to the Gamble, where cash, NHC seats and BCBC entries will be up for grabs.
It also goes without saying that we’ll have loads of fun single-track tourneys on the Pegasus World Cup Day card at Gulfstream. Those should be posted on our home page sometime on Friday.
Two more 2020 NHC qualifiers (both live format) take place at HorsePlayers on Saturday…
…and each one is a little out of the ordinary. One is a $165 “Maiden Special” restricted to those yet to have won a spot at the 2020 NHC. One prize is certain to be awarded in this tourney.
The other is an Ultra Low Ratio qualifier with a buy-in of $1,000. The winning ratio is one per 10…but note that one prize is guaranteed. So keep an eye out in case entries are light. There might be value hiding where you wouldn’t necessarily look.
Six stakes from the Pegasus World Cup card (races 7-12) will comprise half of Saturday’s 12 contest races. The other six will be the 6th through 8th at Aqueduct; and the 7th, 8th and 10th from Tampa. Note that the Saturday features will start a little earlier than usual—2:31 pm ET—and that the final race of the contest will be the $3 million Pegasus World Cup at 5:34 pm ET.
Ten more featured contests are in store Sunday at HorseTourneys.
It will be hard to distract football fans from the rousing competition of the Pro Bowl on Sunday (rumor has it that, in a new wrinkle, tackling will be permitted this year)…but we’ll do our best with a Sunday lineup that includes our first qualifier to the 2020 renewal of The BIG One.
Fifteen contest seats and at least $75,000 in cash will be on the line next September 19-20 at Laurel amongst a field that will number no more than 57. Our first qualifier will be held at a reduced-for-2020 entry fee/winning ratio of $395 and one per 25. Winners receive an all-inclusive package comprised of hotel, travel stipend, welcome dinner, top shelf amenities at Laurel and more. The top 10 finishers will receive cash bonuses plus their choice of a seat to the NHC, BCBC or Pegasus World Cup.
Another new Sunday twist designed to take on the Pro Bowl head on is a Low Ratio qualifier to the April 19 Keeneland Grade One Gamble. It’s $460 to play this live-format tourney and one in 10 will pick up a $3,500 Keeneland entry plus $500 for travel.
Of course, we have an up-to-$20,000 tourney with $10,000 Guaranteed as well. The entry fee is $195, and entries are capped at 118.
There’s also an NHC qualifier at HorseTourneys on Sunday (and one over at HorsePlayers too). The one on our side of the street is a Low Ratio Pick & Pray. One of every 21 entries, at $500 per entry, wins a spot to the 2020 event. One prize is guaranteed.
Just as there’s still time to qualify for the NHC, qualifiers continue for the NHC Last Chance Tournament at Bally’s. One of every 10 entries in Sunday’s qualifier for it—at $59 each—will get a $500 spot in the NHC Eve competition. (And 2020 NHC Tour points will be available in that one too.)
We’re back to an entry-only affair for Sunday’s Horse Player World Series qualifier. It’s $89 to join the fun, and one in 20 will have a paid-up, $1,500 entry to the March Major in Las Vegas.
Another $1,500 entry—or two, or three—will be on offer in our Sunday qualifier to the $100,000 Guaranteed Flo-Cal Faceoff The entry fee is $86, the format is live, and the winning ratio is 1 per 20.
Another Sunday live-format game is our up-to-$5,000 Exacta tourney with $1,000 Guaranteed. Players choose a three-horse-exacta box play in each of the 12 contest races, and you get the returns of a $1.00 base play. No price caps are in effect in our Exacta tourneys. It’s lots of fun, and basically everyone has a chance until the very last race is over.
Sunday also offers our $8 Pick 6 Jackpot tourney. Seventy percent of the net pool goes to top finishers via the normal, $2 win/place scoring method, while the other 30% is directed to the Jackpot pool. Go six-for-six on winners and you could take down the Jackpot, which is now up to $4,624. You don’t have to be the only six-of-sixer to win the Jackpot, by the way. If multiple players turn the trick, the jackpot is shared.
As noted earlier, there’s another NHC qualifier over at HorsePlayers on Sunday.
It’s a $210, live-format play-in with one spot guaranteed. The winning ratio here works out to 1 in 50.
Again, good luck and safe travels to those playing at a brick-and-mortar tournament this weekend. And good luck as well to those engaging in tourney action from the comfort of their living room. You can’t beat the food and drink specials at home. Enjoy Pegasus Day and the rest of the weekend’s great racing.