Saturday marks the inaugural “running” of our newest guaranteed, multi-day cash tourney—the Exacta Extravaganza.
It begins on Saturday, ends on Sunday, and the format is simple. For an entry fee of $500, you get to make a three-horse exacta box selection on every race of the Kentucky Downs and Woodbine cards on both Saturday and Sunday. It’s a live-format game, so you can enter your picks right up until “off time” if you wish. Also, it happens to be an HT Tour event, so if you are participating in that, there are points to be won if you finish in the top 10.
Enough details…here’s the really good part: The pot is guaranteed to be at least $50,000. As of midday on Thursday, we have 18 entries. Perhaps we will get 82 entries between now and 1:10 pm ET (Woodbine’s first-race post time) on Saturday…but if we don’t, you’ll be looking at an overlay situation in a $50,000 game—and those don’t come along all that often.
Of course, you could conceivably get into the Exacta Extravaganza for just $59 if you succeed in our Last Chance feeder for it. It is one of six events on our Friday featured schedules at HorseTourneys and HorsePlayers.
So there’s the $59, 1-per-10 qualifier to the Extravaganza. Just like in the “finals,” this play-in will be conducted in Live, Exacta Box format. So, if nothing else, it’s good practice for the next two days!
Did you know that this weekend is also the final one in which to qualify for The BIG One? We’ll host a guaranteed qualifier to it each day of the weekend that will award a whopping 10 berths to the September 18-19 event. Friday’s opportunity carries an entry fee of $395, and TWO berths are guaranteed to be awarded. The two winners gets a $500 cash bonus to go along with their seat, while the 3rd-place finisher earns a $395 consolation prize/refund. As for the following weekend…we call The BIG One the “High Expectation Tourney” and here’s why. The field for the two-day event will number no more than 57 (and no one is allowed to play more than one entry). At stake among those 57 will be a cash-prize pool that currently sits at $134,000 and should continue to grow between now and September 18…plus 10 seats to top onsite tournaments around the country. It should be a really fun competition.
We also have several qualifiers this weekend to the October 16th Keeneland Fall BCBC/NHC Challenge. Friday’s has an entry fee of $206 and a winning ratio of 1-per-20. Winners earn a $3,500 entry, which can be played either on-track or at Xpressbet.
On the cash-game front, there’s Friday’s $15,000 Guaranteed No-Limit Pick & Pray. The entry fee here is $190. As a Friday/Saturday/Sunday featured cash tourney, this one is also an HT Tour event.
Once again,, the 2022 NHC and the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge are the focus this Friday at HorsePlayers.
Friday’s $75 NHC Pick & Pray offers two guaranteed spots in the 2022 event plus NHC Tour Points if you finish in the top 10 percent of the field. The winning ratio is 1-per-143. Remember—you must be a 2021 NHC Tour member, prior to the start of the contest, in order to be eligible for an NHC package in this or any other NHC qualifier. If you’re not a member, you can become one quickly and easily at NTRA.com for a $50 membership fee.
The other feature at HorsePlayers on Friday is a $500 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge Low Ratio Pick & Pray. At least one $10,000 BCBC entry is certain to be awarded.
Contest races for the Friday featured events are the 2nd and 8th from Golden Gate; the 7th through 9th at Gulfstream; and races 3 through 7 from Woodbine—10 races in all.
Saturday, of course, is Exacta Extravaganza Day.
With at least $50,000 on the line in a $500 buy-in game, we hope you find the Exacta Extravaganza to be…Excellent. Win, lose or draw, you’ll certainly get a lot of action for your buck. And the absence of a price cap should mean that everyone is still in contention right down to the very last race on Sunday in this HT Tour event.
Also an HT Tour event (yes, two on one day!) is Saturday’s $30,000 Guaranteed No Limit Pick & Pray. There is no limit as to how high the purse could go in this $350 buy-in test.
Headed out the door on Saturday will be another two guaranteed seats to The BIG One. Just like on Friday, this one is a $395 Pick & Pray.
For the highest of high-end players out there, there’s Saturday’s “up-to-$20,000” Big Bucks Pick & Pray, which carries a purse guarantee of $10,000. Entries—at $1,150 each—are limited to 20 (unless we get a late arrival or two from last-minute Saturday feeders…in which case the pot will exceed $20,000). Payouts go just to the top three finishers with the winner collecting 70 percent of the net pool, the runner up getting 20 percent, and the third-place finisher picking up the remaining 10 percent.
Adding to the accent on quality this Saturday is our NHC qualifier here at HorseTourneys. It’s a $165 Pick & Pray with two spots to next January’s event guaranteed.
The $15 Jackpot Pick 4 tourney on Saturday has a carryover of $871. In our Pick 4 Jackpot games (always run as Pick & Prays), going four-for-four means you win or share the Jackpot. (You don’t have to be the only winner.) Meanwhile, 70% of the daily net pool gets paid out to players via the traditional $2.00 win/place scoring system. The other 30% goes to the Jackpot pool. Entries in these Jackpot Pick 4 tourneys are limited to three per person.
Saturday’s Pick 4 Jackpot races are the 7th and 8th at Woodbine and the 8th and 9th from Kentucky Downs. Three of the four races are stakes.
A Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge qualifier is the featured tourney on Saturday at HorsePlayers.
It’s a $179 Live-format play-in. At least one $10,000 BCBC entry is guaranteed, and the winning ratio is 1-per-65.
The 12 contest races for Saturday are the 6th through 9th from Woodbine; the 6th through 10th (all graded stakes) at Kentucky Downs; and the 10th through 12th from Gulfstream. There are seven stakes races among this Saturday’s dozen.
By our usual standards, Sunday’s featured schedule may look a little light on quantity, but we think it is deceivingly strong in terms of quality. For a seven-race (featured) menu, there’s an awful lot to play for.
Obviously we will crown our first-ever Exacta Extravaganza champion on Sunday. Also a “first-ever” is Sunday’s The BIG One Blowout. FOUR guaranteed seats to the following weekend’s lucrative tournament will be handed out. It’s a Live-format tourney with a $395 ticket price (same as Friday and Saturday).
Another important Sunday game: our last chance qualifier to Thursday’s (September 16) Canterbury Big 10 BCBC Handicapping Contest. It’s a $177, 1-per-20 Pick & Pray with winners grabbing a $3,000 entry for next Thursday night’s contest. And that will be no ordinary contest. Up for grabs will be $10,000 in cash, two NHC spots and 10 (!) BCBC entries…all guaranteed! It may just turn out to be your best chance to win a BCBC seat all year long.
We’ll also have another Keeneland Fall BCBC/NHC Challenge qualifier (a Pick & Pray) on Sunday. It’ll have an entry fee of $206 and a winning ratio of 1-per-20. Winners garner a $3,500 entry to the October 16th tournament.
Sunday’s HT Tour event—and featured cash game—is our $20,000 Guaranteed, No Limit Pick & Pray. You can take part for $195.
The Sunday Big Bucks game is always operated in Live format. It’s an up-to-$20,000 competition with $7,500 Guaranteed and an entry fee of $1,150. Entries are limited to 20, and payouts go just to the first three finishers.
Our other Sunday featured cash tourney is the $15 Pick 4 Jackpot tourney (always a Pick & Pray). The Jackpot amount will depend on how many took part in the Saturday Pick 4 Jackpot tourney—and whether anyone went 4-for-4. Check our website or our Twitter feed starting on Saturday night for updates.
The HorsePlayers featured schedule on Sunday because it contains a tourney you should all be playing.
It’s a 15-race, FREE NHC qualifier with five spots in next January’s Las Vegas event guaranteed. All you need to do to play is to be a 2021 NHC Tour member. If you’re not already a current member, you can become one quickly and easily for an annual dues payment of $50 at NTRA.com.
There’s also a guaranteed Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge qualifier on Sunday—a Low Ratio Pick & Pray with an entry fee of $500 and a winning ratio of 1-per-23. At least one $10,000 entry is certain to be won.
Before we part company, here’s an update on a new feature at both HorseTourneys and HorsePlayers.
Have you ever found yourself under the gun—timewise—with the need to enter a dozen or so Pick & Pray selections with something like a minute to go before the first contest race? If so, or if there’s a day when you can’t make heads or tails out of the races and just want to leave your fate in the hands of Lady Luck, you can now make all of your HorseTourneys or HorsePlayers picks with a single click by using our new “Random Picks” button. (It works like a lottery “Quick Pick” option.) Our computer will randomly generate numbers of available horses to populate all your selection options. An added benefit: If you win playing this way, no one will give you grief on Twitter for playing all 4’s!
We’re not suggesting that you play this way, mind you…just letting you know that it’s there if you ever need it.
No matter the style or length of your personal selection process, we wish you good luck and good results in all of your contest play this weekend.