If you’re a dad who’s a contest player, it’s always fun to try and qualify for the NHC for not a lot of money. The same holds true for mothers, daughters and sons. On Father’s Day, all four groups will have their chance at HorsePlayers in an atypical three-seats-guaranteed NHC qualifier—with an equally atypical entry fee of $100.
Sunday’s play-in offers the final three of seven guaranteed NHC spots up for grabs during the Father’s Day weekend. The first two enter the ring on Friday.
Regulars have come to know and love the low-cost, high-reward NHC play-in hosted each Friday at HorsePlayers—a $75 Pick & Pray with two seats guaranteed and a winning ratio of 1-per-143. It’s a great opportunity not only to land a 2023 spot, but also to pick up potentially valuable NHC Tour points. Entries are limited to three per person. Remember—you must be a 2022 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.
There is also a Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge qualifier on Friday—a $500 Low Ratio Pick & Pray. The winning ratio is 1-per-23, and at least one $10,000 entry to November’s rich and important live-bankroll contest is certain to be won regardless of participation.
Here at HorseTourneys, there will be three featured events—including a Last Chance qualifier.
Sunday is the Santa Anita Closing Day Challenge at Xpressbet. Friday is the last-chance qualifier for it. Instead of shelling out $1,500 for a seat on Sunday, you can obtain one for $118 if you succeed in our 1-per-15 Pick & Pray qualifier.
Friday’s HT Tour event is our $15,000 Guaranteed No Limit Pick & Pray cash tourney. Entries cost $190 each.
There will a qualifier each day of the weekend for the Spa & Surf Showdown. Friday’s is a $147 Pick & Pray, with one of every 20 entrants earning on merit a $2,500 spot in the two-day, $400,000 Guaranteed, final leg of the 2022 Tourney Triple here on August 6-7.
Friday’s 10 contest races come from just two tracks—Gulfstream and Santa Anita—and the schedule begins a little later, 5:29 pm ET, than it does on most Fridays. The races on the slate are the 6th through 9th from the Hallandale Beach, Fla., oval; and the 4th, 5th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th at The Great Race Place.
On Saturday, the opportunity to qualify for the NHC exists right here at HorseTourneys.
It’s a $165 Pick & Pray with two berths to next March’s big dance guaranteed. The winning ratio is 1-per-65.
Almost everything is a Pick & Pray this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, including Saturday’s HT Tour competition, our $30,000-Guaranteed, No Limit cash game. It’s our richest event of Father’s Day weekend.
Another lucrative cash game on Saturday is our Big Bucks Pick & Pray. It’s an “up-to-$20,000” battle of wits with a guaranteed purse of $10,000. Entries—at $1,150 each—are limited to 20. Payouts go only 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.
Saturday is our first of consecutive-day qualifiers to The BIG One —a mythical-money contest here at HorseTourneys on Saturday and Sunday, September 17-18. In The BIG One, the field will be no larger than 57, and no one will be playing more than one entry. Despite the shallow field, the prize pool will be deep. 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.) Saturday’s Pick & Pray qualifier carries a $395 entry fee, and there is a maximum of 27 entries that will be allowed into it. Also—the winner of the qualifier gets a $500 prize in addition to the September entry…and the runner up receives a $395 refund/consolation prize.
As touched upon earlier, there will also be a Saturday qualifier (Pick & Pray, of course) to the Spa & Surf Showdown. The parameters are the same as in Friday’s version ($147 entry fee, 1-per-20 winning ratio).
At HorsePlayers, the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge has the stage to itself on Saturday.
A $10,000 BCBC entry can be yours in a $179 Pick & Pray with a winning ratio of 1-per-65. At least one November berth is guaranteed no matter how many (or few) take part.
Saturday’s featured-tourney race schedule is the 9th through 13th (including three stakes) from Monmouth; the 7th through 10th at Belmont; and the 8th, 9th and 12th from Gulfstream—12 races in all. Closing time will be approximately 3:51 pm ET.
Sunday, of course, is Father’s Day—which means dads have a built-in excuse to indulge themselves. For all others…we hope the Sunday schedule provides a worthy incentive. We’ll start with the pair of features at HorsePlayers—since that is where the $100 NHC qualifier will take place.
Again, three seats are guaranteed in this one (rather than the usual two). It’s a Pick & Pray, and the winning ratio works out to 1-per-100. It’s also a good chance at some relatively inexpensive NHC Tour points.
HorsePlayers will also be hosting a $500 Low Ratio, Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge Pick & Pray on Sunday. The winning ratio is 1-per-23, and at least one $10,000 entry will be headed out the door no matter what.
Here at HorseTourneys, six features are on the Father’s Day menu.
Sunday’s biggest cash tourney is our HT Tour event—a $20,000 Guaranteed, No Limit Pick & Pray. The doorman will ask you for $250 on your way in.
The only Live-format tourney of note this weekend is the Sunday Big Bucks game. It’s an up-to-$20,000 tourney with an entry fee of $1,150 and a purse guaranteed at least $7,500. Total entries are capped at 20, and payouts go strictly to the top three finishers.
You know by now that qualifiers for The BIG One ($395 entry fee, 1 seat guaranteed), and the $400,000 Guaranteed Spa & Surf Showdown ($147, 1-per-20 winning ratio) are each on the Father’s Day agenda. Both are Pick & Prays.
You can also play your way into two different “Summer Challenges” on Sunday. One is the two-day Del Mar Summer Challenge on July 30-31. Sunday’s Del Mar Pick & Pray carries an entry fee of $295, and one of every 20 competitors will grab a $5,000 entry to the sunshiny onsite competition.
Also on tap this Sunday is a Pick & Pray play-in to the Lone Star Summer Betting Challenge, which takes place on July 16 at the suburban Dallas racetrack. The entry fee for this one is $79, and one of every 15 entrants will take home a $1,000 entry.
Enjoy the weekend and enjoy the fun. Good luck!