With the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge now in the history books, we can now—at least for the time being—narrow our focus to seats for NHC, the $250,000 Guaranteed Flo-Cal Faceoff, the Thanksgiving Weekend contests at Hawthorne and, of course, the always popular prize of…cash.
The weekend featured-tourney fun (and seats and money) get rolling on Friday.
The day’s HT Tour event is our $15,000 Guaranteed No-Limit Pick & Pray. You can participate for $190, and there is no limit as to how high the purse could go.
There will be one Flo-Cal Faceoff qualifier per day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday’s is a $118 Pick & Pray with a 1-per-15 winning ratio. Winners gain a $1,500 entry into the $250,000 Guaranteed, all-cash tournament here on January 15-16.
On Friday at HorsePlayers, there’s the first of four weekend NHC qualifiers on this week’s schedule.
It’s an always-popular $75 play-in with two berths to the big, late-January event in Vegas guaranteed,as well as 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.
Contest races for the Friday features are the 7th through 9th from Aqueduct where it’s opening weekend; the 7th and 8th at Gulfstream; and races 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8 from Del Mar—10 races in all.
Five featured Pick & Prays come your way Saturday at HorseTourneys.
One of those is Saturday’s HT Tour event, our $30,000 Guaranteed No Limit Pick & Pray. You can take part for $350.
As promised, there’s also another opportunity—your second of the weekend—to earn a place in the January 15-16 Flo-Cal Faceoff. Again, the entry fee is $118, and the winning ratio is 1-per-15.
The second of four NHC qualifiers this weekend takes place right here at HorseTourneys on Saturday. It’s a $165, two-seats-guaranteed Pick & Pray. The winning ratio is 1-per-65.
For high-end cash gamers, there’s Saturday Big Bucks tourney, which, on Saturdays, is always run as a Pick & Pray. It’s an “up-to-$20,000” game, 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 $755. 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 3rd and 5th at Del Mar and the 9th and 10th from Woodbine.
Meanwhile, the featured-tourney races for the 12-race Saturday events are the 8th and 9th from Aqueduct; the 7th and 8th at Laurel; the 7th through 11th from Woodbine; and the 3rd, 5th and 7th at Del Mar.
Sunday is our busiest day of the weekend with seven featured events, including a brand new one.
Along with turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and bad Detroit Lions football, a Thanksgiving tradition—at least for contest players—is weekend contests at Hawthorne. On Sunday you can win your way into the Saturday-and-Sunday-of-Thanksgiving-weekend (November 27th and 28th) Hawthorne competitions. An entry fee of $118 gets you a shot at $1,000 in entry fees—enough to cover you for both Saturday and Sunday in Chicagoland.
Our third of three weekend qualifiers to January’s $250,000 Guaranteed Flo-Cal Faceoff takes place on Sunday. It’s a Pick & Pray with an entry fee of $118, and one of every 15 will earn a paid-up $1,500 berth.
Sunday’s HT Tour event is our $20,000 Guaranteed, No Limit Pick & Pray. Entries will set you back $195 each.
The Sunday Big Bucks tourney is always run in Live format. It’s an up-to-$20,000 affair with $7,500 Guaranteed and an entry fee of $1,150. Entries are limited to 20, and payouts go only to the first three finishers.
Another $15 Pick 4 Jackpot tourney will take place on Sunday. The Jackpot amount will depend on how many played in the Saturday Pick 4 Jackpot tourney—and whether anyone hit it. Check our website or our Twitter feed starting on Saturday night for updates.
The final two NHC qualifiers take place on Sunday at HorsePlayers.
One is a $165, Live-format qualifier restricted to those who have yet to earn a 2022 berth. The entry fee is $165 and one NHC seat is guaranteed in this 1-per-65 tourney. Please note that, due to the restricted nature of this event, no NHC Tour points will be awarded here.
There will also be a $500, Live-format, Low Ratio qualifier. The winning ratio will be 1-in-21, and note that there must be at least 10 entries signed up for this event to “go”.
Good luck to all!