Saturday is the last day of April. That means it’s time for another $50,000 Guaranteed Month-End Blowout. The entry fee is the same as that of a usual Saturday featured cash tourney—$350—but we elevate the purse guarantee by $20,000 as a special bonus to recognize and reward our loyal cash-game participants.
That is just one of 24 featured events on the weekend schedule at HorseTourneys and HorsePlayers. The first six of those take place on Friday.
The Friday HT Tour competition is our $15,000 Guaranteed No Limit Pick & Pray. You can be a part of it for a $190 entry fee.
Since Kentucky Derby Day is a week from Saturday, this is the final weekend in which to qualify for the Kentucky Derby Challenge. Seats are valued at $3,000 each, but you can win one for $177 in Friday’s 1-per-20 Pick & Pray. The Derby Challenge can be played on May 7th at your choice of Gulfstream, Santa Anita or Xpressbet.
We’ll offer Kentucky Derby Challenge qualifiers each day of the upcoming weekend, and the same holds true for Spa & Surf Showdown and Monmouth Pick Your Prize Challenge play-ins.
The Friday Spa & Surf Showdown qualifier carries an entry fee of $147, and one of every 20 entrants will earn a $2,500 spot in the $400,000 Guaranteed, two-day, all-cash contest on August 6-7 (Whitney Weekend at Saratoga).
Qualifiers for the Monmouth Pick Your Prize Challenge require a financial commitment of $156 and are a 1-per15 proposition. Friday’s is a Pick & Pray with winners netting a $2,000 entry to the June 4th contest, which can be played on-track or 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.
At HorsePlayers on Friday, there is both an NHC qualifier and a Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge play-in (the first of three each this weekend).
The NHC game is a $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 pre-lim is a $500 Low Ratio Pick & Pray. The winning ratio is 1-per-23 and at least one $10,000 entry to November’s “final” is guaranteed to be awarded regardless of how many sign up.
The 10 contest races for Friday are the 6th, 8th, 9th and 10th on the closing-day card at Keeneland; the 5th, 6th and 9th on the first Friday card of 2022 at Belmont Park; and the 7th through 9th from Tampa.
The majority of Saturday’s featured tourneys will be contested in Live format, including the aforementioned Month-End Blowout.
The $350-entry-fee, $50,000-Guaranteed tourney also serves as Saturday’s HT Tour event. So…plenty of reasons to play.
Also in Live-format are the Saturday qualifiers to the Spa & Surf Showdown ($147 to enter, 1-per-20 winning ratio), the Kentucky Derby Challenge ($177, 1-per-20); 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” battle 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 $3,945. 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 7th and 10th from the “Welcome back” card at Santa Anita; and the 9th and 10th at Golden Gate Fields, where it will be San Francisco Mile Day.
The NHC and the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge share the featured-tourney spotlight on Saturday at HorsePlayers.
The NHC qualifier is Live-format, $165 tourney with two seats guaranteed and a winning ratio of 1-per-65.
The BCBC game is also to take place in Live format. It’s a 1-per-65 get-together, and at least one $10,000 entry is guaranteed to be awarded. The entry fee is set at $179.
Saturday’s 12 contest races are the the 8th and 9th from Belmont; the 10th and 11th at Gulfstream; the 7th, 10th and 12th from Santa Anita; and the 7th through 11th (all stakes) at Golden Gate. Closing time will be a little later than normal—approximately 5:01 pm ET.
On Sunday, we flip the calendar page over from April to May, and there are 10 featured tourneys to perhaps get the month off on the right foot for you.
We don’t have a “Month-Start Blowout,” per se, but Sunday’s HT Tour event is still pretty lucrative. It’s a $20,000 Guaranteed, No Limit game that will be run this week in Live format. The entry fee is $250.
For the third consecutive day, we’ll offer opportunities to qualify for the $400,000 Guaranteed Spa & Surf Showdown (August 6-7), the Kentucky Derby Challenge (May 7) and the Monmouth Pick Your Prize Challenge (June 4). Note that, unlike most of the day’s features, the Kentucky Derby Challenge qualifier will be a Pick & Pray.
A once-a-week qualifier hosted on Sundays is that for The BIG One. The two-day, mythical-money competition here at HorseTourneys will take place on Saturday and Sunday, September 17-18, and the field will be no larger than 57…and no one will be playing more than one entry. Despite such a small 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 calls for a $395 entry fee, and there is a maximum 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. This week’s qualifier to The BIG One will be in Live format.
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.
An attractive, on-track contest is coming up on Memorial Day, May 30. It’s the Lone Star Million Betting Challenge at Lone Star Park. Entries to it go for $2,500 each. But you can get a $2,500 entry—plus a $500 travel stipend—for $177 if you capture Sunday’s 1-per-20 Live-format qualifier.
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. Pick 4 Jackpot games, by the way, are always run as Pick & Prays.
A Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge qualifier and an NHC play-in are the May 1 features at HorsePlayers.
The BCBC competition is a $500 Low Ratio Pick & Pray. One $10,000 seat is guaranteed, and the winning ratio will be 1-per-23.
The NHC war will be waged in Live format. It’s a “regular,” $165 qualifier with a winning ratio of 1-per-65 and two seats guaranteed.
Good luck to everyone playing this weekend and especially to the HorseTourneys qualifiers competing in the Lone Star Spring Betting Challenge on Saturday in Grand Prairie, Tex. Bring it on home!