After making their 2022 debut last Sunday, Spa & Surf Showdown qualifiers get the “One-a-Day” treatment this weekend. So if you’ve got your eye on the $400,000 Guaranteed final leg of the Tourney Triple, not a (weekend) day will go by when you can’t take a shot at landing a $2,500 seat for just $147.
Of course, much the same thing can be said about NHC and Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge qualifiers at HorsePlayers (and Monmouth Pick Your Prize qualifiers at HorseTourneys too). The weekend qualifying frenzy begins on Friday.
The Spa & Surf Showdown play-ins this weekend will carry an entry fee of $147, and one of every 20 entrants will earn a $2,500 place into the $400,000 Guaranteed, two-day, all-cash contest on August 6-7 (Whitney Weekend at Saratoga).
There are also daily qualifiers this weekend to the June 4 Monmouth Pick Your Prize Challenge. Friday’s “PYP” play-in is a $156, 1-per15 Pick & Pray with winners meriting a $2,000 entry to the June 4th Monmouth competition (which can also be played at Xpressbet). Based on 200 entries, the Pick Your Prize Challenge will offer 18 spots to the 2023 NHC, four Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge berths and cash prizes of $65,000.
Another Friday Pick & Pray qualifier is that for The Kentucky Derby Challenge on May 7. Seats are worth $3,000 each, but you can get one for $177 in Friday’s 1-per-20 Pick & Pray. The Derby Challenge can be played at Gulfstream, Santa Anita or Xpressbet.
We haven’t forgotten about our loyal cash-game aficionados. Friday’s HT Tour test is our $15,000 Guaranteed No Limit Pick & Pray. You can be test your skill in exchange for a $190 entry fee.
Over at HorsePlayers on Friday, there is both an NHC qualifier and a Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge play-in (the first of three that will be hosted for each event this weekend).
The NHC tourney is the customary-for-Friday $75 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.
The BCBC counterpart is a $500 Low Ratio Pick & Pray. The winning ratio is 1-per-23 and at least one $10,000 entry is guaranteed to be awarded regardless of participation levels.
Contest races for the 10-race mandatory tourneys on Friday are the 5th, 7th, 8th and 10th from Keeneland; the 5th, 7th and 9th at Aqueduct; and the 7th through 9th from Tampa.
As was the case on Friday, all of the Saturday featured tourneys will be Pick & Prays.
One of them is the richest tourney of the weekend, our $30,000 Guaranteed Pick & Pray, The entry fee is $350.
Also in Pick & Pray mode are the Saturday qualifiers to the Spa & Surf Showdown ($147 to enter, 1-per-20 winning ratio) and the Monmouth Pick Your Prize Challenge. ($156, 1-per-15).
The Saturday Big Bucks tourney is always a Pick & Pray. It’s an “up-to-$20,000” tilt 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 taking the lion’s share (70 percent) of the net pool, the runner up getting 20 percent, and the third-place finisher picking up the remaining 10 percent.
Another Saturday Pick & Pray is Saturday’s $15 Jackpot Pick 4 tourney, which has a carryover of $3,585. 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 6th and 10th from Aqueduct; and the 9th and 10th at Keeneland.
The NHC and the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge share the featured-tourney marquee on Saturday at HorsePlayers.
The NHC qualifier is $165 tourney with two seats guaranteed and a winning ratio of 1-per-65.
The BCBC game is qlso a 1-per-65 affair. At least one $10,000 entry is guaranteed to be headed out the door, and the entry fee is set at $179.
Saturday’s 12 contest races are the the 5th through 10th from Aqueduct; the 7th and 8th (both stakes) at Laurel; and the 7th through 10th from Keeneland. Closing time will be approximately 3:26 pm ET.
Eleven more features come your way on Sunday—all but one of them here at HorseTourneys.
The day’s NHC qualifier is on the HorseTourneys side of the street on Sunday. It’s a Live-format, $165 game with two 2023 seats guaranteed.
For the third consecutive day, we’ll offer opportunities to qualify for the $400,000 Guaranteed Spa & Surf Showdown (August 6-7) and the Monmouth Pick Your Prize Challenge (June 4).
An important Sunday qualifier is the one for The BIG One, a contest known as “The High-Expectation Event”. The two-day, mythical-money competition here at HorseTourneys will take place on Saturday and Sunday, September 17-18. The field for The BIG One will number no more than 57, and no one will be playing more than one entry. Despite such a select field, the top 10 finishers will all receive cash and his or her choice of a seat to the NHC, the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge, or the Pegasus World Cup Betting Championship. (At least two of the seats awarded must be for the NHC.) Sunday’s qualifier requires a $395 entry fee, and there is a limit of 27 entries that will be accepted. Also—the winner of the qualifier gets a $500 prize in addition to the seat…and the runner up receives a $395 refund/consolation prize.
Sunday’s HT Tour event is our $20,000 Guaranteed, No Limit Pick & Pray. The barrier to entry is $250.
The Sunday Big Bucks game is operated in Live format to serve as a change of pace from Saturday’s Pick & Pray version. It’s an up-to-$20,000 tourney with an entry fee of $1,150 and a purse guarantee of at least $7,500. Total entries are capped at 20, and payouts go solely to the top three finishers.
After a day off, a Kentucky Derby Challenge qualifier is back on the board for Sunday. If you win this $177, 1-per-20 Pick & Pray, you can test your mettle on Run for the Roses Day with a paid-up $3,000 entry.
There will be two Lone Star Park-related qualifiers (both Pick & Prays) on Sunday. One is to the April 30 Lone Star Spring Betting Challenge in which one of every 15 entries, at $79 per entry, will scoop up a $1,000 seat to the on-site contest in suburban Dallas.
A month later, on Memorial Day, May 30, Lone Star will host another on-site contest, the Lone Star Million Betting Challenge. Seats that day will cost $2,500. But you can get one of those—plus a $500 travel stipend—for $177 if you prevail in Sunday’s 1-per-20 Pick & Pray
There will be another $15 Pick 4 Jackpot tourney 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.
At HorsePlayers on Sunday, the featured attraction (and tourney) is a Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge qualifier.
It’s a $500 Low Ratio Pick & Pray. One $10,000 seat is guaranteed, and the winning ratio will be 1-per-23.
Twenty-four featured tourneys to pick from, and lots of cash and prizes waiting to be won. The rest is up to you. Good luck!