It’s Dubai World Cup Day on Saturday, and while those races take place too early in the day (for us) to include in our Saturday multi-track schedules, we’ve included the final eight of the nine races on the program in a special, single-track, $10,000 Guaranteed, No Limit Pick & Pray. (The one race we’ll be leaving out is Meydan race 1, an Arabian race.)
Later that day is our first, $50,000 Guaranteed “Month-End Blowout.” Think of it as our usual $30,000 Guaranteed HT Tour event…except with a extra-high purse guarantee.
We also have not one but two Lone Star qualifiers on Sunday. One is to their Spring Betting Challenge ($1,000 buy-in) on April 30th. The other is to their Lone Star Million Betting Challenge game ($2,500 entry fee) a month later on May 30th.
Those are but four of a robust slate of 27 featured tourneys this weekend. The first six of those 27 will be hosted on Friday.
Friday’s HT Tour event is our $15,000 Guaranteed No Limit Pick & Pray. You can participate for an entry fee of $190.
Five important qualifiers are slated for Friday. One of them is to the Keeneland Grade One Gamble. The April 23rd contest will offer cash prizes plus seats to the NHC and Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge. You can play this year’s “Gamble” either on-track at Keeneland or at Xpressbet. Winners of Friday’s $207, 1-per-20 Pick & Pray earn a $3,500 entry to the Keeneland game.
The Monmouth Pick Your Prize Handicapping Challenge will be hosted by Brian Skirka and Co. on June 4th Based on 200 entries, the Pick Your Prize Challenge will offer a whopping 18 spots to the 2023 NHC, four Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge berths and cash prizes totaling $65,000. You can secure a $2,000 entry to it for $156 in Friday’s 1-per-15 Pick & Pray.
The $350,000 Guaranteed Players Championship, the middle leg of the 2022 Tourney Triple, will be hosted here at HorseTourneys on April 9-10. On Friday (and on Saturday and Sunday as well) a $156 entry fee buys you a 1-in-15 opportunity at a $2,000 seat into the lucrative, all-cash showdown.
On April 2, Gulfstream Park will again court the beautiful people and host the Florida Derby. That same day is the Florida Derby Challenge at Gulfstream Park and Xpressbet. (The players won’t be as beautiful, but they’ll bet a lot more!) You can pick up a $1,500 entry to the live-money tournament by winning our $118, 1-per-15 Pick & Pray.
The headliner at HorsePlayers is a $75 NHC qualifier.
It’s a Pick & Pray with two seats guaranteed and a winning ratio of 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 Friday are the 6th through 9th from Gulfstream, the 6ht through 9th at Aqueduct; and the 8th and 9th from Laurel—10 races in all.
As for Saturday and Sunday, it’s a Pick & Pray weekend this week, so most of the marquee games will be run in that “set-it-and-forget-it” mode.
For you early risers (especially on the West Coast), there’s our eight-race $10,000
Guaranteed, No Limit Dubai World Cup Pick & Pray. If you like to bet on races that those on track can’t bet on, this one is for you! All races will be included except for the lid-lifter…which is an Arabian heat…and there will also be some lower-stakes, single-track tourneys focusing on Dubai.
Recently we announced that the final featured Saturday cash game of each month would become the “Month-End Blowout”…and that it would have a $50,000 purse guarantee instead of the usual $30,000. The first of those is set for this Saturday. It’s a Pick & Pray with the customary entry fee of $350, and it also serves as the day’s HT Tour event.
The Saturday Big Bucks tourney is always a Pick & Pray (so as to alternate in format with the Sunday version). It’s an “up-to-$20,000” affair with a guaranteed pot 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 slightly 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 scooping up the remaining 10 percent.
The weekend’s second Monmouth Pick Your Prize qualifier is also part of the Saturday slate. It’s a $156 Pick & Pray with a winning ratio of 1-per-15. Winners garner a $2,000 entry for the first Saturday in June.
The same price tag ($156) and format are in effect for Saturday’s Players Championship play-in. It’s a 1-per-15 competition that offers $2,000 entries to the big All Optional Live, $350,000 Guaranteed game here on the weekend of April 9-10.
For $207, you can take a swing at another Keeneland Grade One Gamble qualifier. The winning ratio is 1-in-20, and the objective is to win a $3,500 seat into the April 23rd contest.
Also a Pick & Pray is Saturday’s $15 Jackpot Pick 4 tourney, which has a current carryover of $1,575. 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.
The Jackpot Pick 4 races for Saturday are the 8th and 10th on the “Claiming Crown North” card at Aqueduct and the 7th and 9th from Gulfstream.
The NHC and the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge share the featured-tourney spotlight on Saturday at HorsePlayers.
The NHC play-in is a $210 Pick & Pray with two seats certain. The winning ratio here works out to 1-in-50.
The Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge game is a 1-per-65 qualifier with one $10,000 entry guaranteed to be awarded.. The format is also Pick & Pray in this one.
Saturday’s 12 contest races are the 7th, 10th and 11th from Gulfstream; the 7th through 10th (all starter-allowance stakes) at Aqueduct; and the 5th through 9th from Santa Anita. Closing time is approximately 4:06 pm ET.
On Sunday, we offer no fewer than 11 features. Two are pegged to on-site events in the Lone Star State.
On April 30, Lone Star Park hosts its Spring Betting Challenge. If you walk up and purchase an entry on “game day,” it will set you back a grand. If you win our $79, 1-per-15 Pick & Pray on Sunday, you’ll save $921.
On May 30, Lone Star presents an even-bigger competition—their Lone Star Million Betting Challenge. The winning ratio for NHC seats this day will be a sweet 1-for-10, and there will be cash prized up for grabs as well. Sunday’s Pick & Pray requires an upfront commitment of $177, and 1 of every 20 will make off with a $2,500 seat, plus another $500 for travel to the Dallas metroplex.
The Sunday NHC qualifier will be held right here at HorseTourneys on Sunday. It’s a “regular,” $165 Pick & Pray with two spots assured and a winning ratio of 1-in-65.
Sunday’s HT Tour event is our $20,000 Guaranteed, No Limit tourney. You can test your skill in this Pick & Pray for $250.
Our Big Bucks game (always a Live-format conflagration on Sundays) is an up-to-$20,000 battle with an entry fee of $1,150 and a purse guaranteed to be at least $7,500. Total entries are limited to 20, and payouts go only to the top three finishers.
For a third straight day, we’ll again offer Pick & Pray opportunities to qualify for the Monmouth Pick Your Prize Challenge (June 4), the $350,000 Guaranteed Players Championship (April 9-10) , the April 2 Florida Derby Challenge and the Keeneland Grade One Gamble (April 23).
Another $15 Pick 4 Jackpot tourney takes 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 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge has the featured-tourney stage to itself at HorsePlayers on Sunday.
It’s a $500 Low Ratio Pick & Pray. One $10,000 seat is guaranteed, and the winning ratio will be 1-per-23.
Good luck to all of the HorseTourneys qualifiers competing this Saturday in the Sam Houston Texas Champions Day contest this Saturday. And good luck to you too!