In the next couple of weeks, the Santa Anita Closing Day Challenge (October 31), the first-ever BCBC Last Chance tournament (Thursday, November 4 at Del Mar/Xpressbet) and the popular Treasure Island Wager to Win event (November 5) will all take place. You can take your first crack at winning a seat to one or all of the above tests starting this weekend.
Meanwhile, the Keeneland Fall BCBC/NHC Challenge is set for this Saturday at Keeneland/Xpressbet is set for Saturday. Your final opportunity to earn a $3,500 entry to this one (at Xpressbet, since all the on-track spots have been filled) is one of seven marquee games on the Friday featured schedule.
The Keeneland play-in calls for an entry fee of $206 and carries a winning ratio of 1-per-20. Winners receive a $3,500 entry, which can be played the following day at Xpressbet.
Entries for the Santa Anita Closing Day Challenge at Xpressbet will run you $1,500 apiece on “game day” October 31. But you can obtain one for $118 in Friday’s “First Chance”, 1-per-15 qualifier.
Another Friday First Chance is that for the new Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge Last Chance tournament, to be contested on BC Eve, Thursday, November 4. One of every 15 entries in Friday’s play-in will pick up a $1,000 entry for the 4th…which can be played on track at Del Mar or at Xpressbet.
Friday’s HT Tour event is our $15,000 Guaranteed No-Limit Pick & Pray. You can take part for $190, and there is no limit as to how high the purse could go.
We offer a daily Flo-Cal Faceoff qualifier on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday’s will be a $118 Pick & Pray with a 1-per-15 winning ratio. Winners earn a $1,500 entry into the $250,000 Guaranteed, all-cash blowout here in early January.
Once again, there is double-barrel featured-tourney Friday action at HorsePlayers focusing on the 2022 NHC and the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge.
Friday’s $75 NHC Pick & Pray offers two guaranteed seats to the 2022 event as well as potentially valuable 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 Friday 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 won in this competition.
Contest races for the Friday features are the 5th, 7th and 8th from Gulfstream; the 5th, 7th, 8th and 9th at Keeneland; and races 6, 7 and 9 from Belmont—10 races in total.
A healthy dose of Live-format tourneys comprise the Saturday featured schedule.
One of them is Saturday’s HT Tour event, our $30,000 Guaranteed No Limit game, and you can play for a buy-in of $350.
Another is our “Second Chance” qualifier for the BCBC Last Chance tournament on Thursday, November 4. The entry fee here is again just $79.
Saturday’s Flo-Cal Faceoff play-in will also be operated in Live format. An investment of $118 gets you in the door.
On the other side of the format coin is our Saturday Big Bucks game, which is always run as a Pick & Pray. It’s an “up-to-$20,000” tourney, with 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.
The $15 Jackpot Pick 4 tourneys are always run as Pick & Prays. Saturday’s has a carryover of $3,364. In our Pick 4 Jackpot games, 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 8th through 10th at Keeneland and race 5 from Santa Anita.
There are two Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge qualifiers on Saturday at HorsePlayers.
One is a $179 Live-format play-in with one $10,000 BCBC entry guaranteed. The winning ratio is 1-per-65.
The other also guarantees one grand prize, but it’s a Super Low Ratio Pick & Pray with an entry fee of $1,000 and a winning ratio of 1 in just 11.
The 12 featured-tourney races for Saturday are the 7th through 10th from Belmont; the 1st and 5th at Santa Anita; the 7th, 8th and 10th from Woodbine; and the 8th through 10th from Keeneland.
On Sunday, seven featured events are on the docket—one at HorsePlayers and six here at HorseTourneys.
Our third of three weekend qualifiers to January’s $250,000 Guaranteed Flo-Cal Faceoff takes place on Sunday. It’s a Live-format tourney with a required stake of $118, and one of every 15 will receive a paid-up $1,500 berth.
Sunday’s HT Tour event is our $20,000 Guaranteed, No Limit Live-format affair. Entries cost $195 each.
The Sunday Big Bucks tourney is always run in Live format. It’s an up-to-$20,000 test with $7,500 Guaranteed and an entry fee of $1,150. Entries are limited to 20, and payouts go strictly to the first three finishers.
Returning to the HorseTourneys lineup on Sunday is the popular Treasure Island Wager to Win contest (November 5). Sunday’s Live-format qualifier for it costs $79, and winners get a $1,000 entry to play on the Vegas Strip on Breeders’ Cup Friday.
There’s also a $179 NHC qualifier on the Sunday slate. It’s a Pick & Pray with two seats guaranteed.
Our other Sunday feature here at HorseTourneys is the $15 Pick 4 Jackpot tourney (always a Pick & Pray). The Jackpot amount will depend on how many played in the Saturday Pick 4 Jackpot tourney—and whether anyone went a perfect 4-for-4. Check our website or our Twitter feed starting on Saturday night for updates.
At HorsePlayers on Sunday, the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge hogs the featured-tourney stage for a second straight day.
It does so with 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 here.
Good luck to all of you this weekend, and especially those who are representing HorseTourneys in Saturday’s Keeneland Challenge.