With the Lone Star Summer Betting Challenge drawing near, qualifying for the July 16th contest is drawing short. Sunday is the final weekend opportunity to earn a $1,000 entry into the on-track tournament.
That qualifier is but one of 21 marquee games during a featured-tourney weekend that, as always, begins here on Friday.
The first of three HT Tour events this weekend is our $15,000 Guaranteed No Limit Pick & Pray. An entry fee of $190 gets you into the action.
There will be 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 a $2,500 berth into the two-day, $400,000 Guaranteed, all-cash tourney here on August 6-7.
There will also be a daily qualifier this weekend for the July 23 Haskell Challenge, which will be played exclusively at Xpressbet or, within the state of New Jersey, at 4NJBets. Friday’s 1-per-15 Pick & Pray costs $79, and winners earn a $1,000 entry for two weeks from Saturday.
Over at HorsePlayers on Friday, there are important qualifiers for both the NHC and the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge.
The day’s NHC qualifier is a $75 Pick & Pray with two seats guaranteed and a winning ratio of 1-per-143. 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.
The Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge game is a $500 Low Ratio Pick & Pray. The winning ratio is 1-per-23, and at least one $10,000 entry is certain to be headed out the door.
Friday’s 10 contest races are the 6th through 9th from Belmont; the 6th through 8th at Woodbine; and the 7th through 9th from Gulfstream.
Seven more features will be contested on a stakes-heavy schedule of races on Saturday.
The richest tourney of the week is Saturday’s HT Tour event, our $30,000 Guaranteed cash game. The entry fee is $350, and the format is Live.
The Saturday NHC qualifier takes place right here at HorseTourneys this week. It’s a “regular,” $165 battle with two seats guaranteed and a winning ratio of 1-per-65.
Our $10,000 Guaranteed Big Bucks game is always a Pick & Pray on Saturdays. It’s an “up-to-$20,000” affair with an entry fee of $1,150 each—and there is a limit of 20 entries that will be allowed in the door. Payouts go only to the top three finishers with the winner taking the biggest 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 the first of two straight days of Live-format 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 greater than 57, and no one will be playing more than one entry. Despite the modest field, the prizes will be gaudy. 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 qualifier requires a $395 entry fee, and there is a limit of 27 entries that will be allowed to compete. Also—the winner of the qualifier gets a $500 bonus prize in addition to the September entry…and the runner up receives a $395 refund/consolation prize.
As earlier noted, there will also be a Saturday qualifier to the Spa & Surf Showdown ($147 entry fee; 1-per-20 winning ratio) and the Haskell Challenge ($79, 1-per-15). Both will be contested in Live format.
At HorsePlayers, the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge has the featured-tourney stage to itself.
It’s a Live-format, $179 qualifier with a winning ratio of 1-per-65. At least one $10,000 entry for November is guaranteed to be won.
Saturday’s featured-tourney race schedule is comprised of big stakes days at Belmont Park, where it’s Stars & Stripes Day; Delaware Park, where it’s Del’ Cap Day; and Horseshoe Indianapolis, where it’s Indiana Derby Day. Our 12 Saturday contest races are the 6th and 7th from Delaware; the 7th through 12th at Horseshoe Indy; and the 6th through 9th from Belmont. Eleven of the 12 contest races are stakes, with seven of those being of the graded variety. Closing time will be approximately 3:00 pm ET.
Sunday offers nine featured-tourney opportunities, including that Lone Star Summer Betting Challenge qualifier.
If you purchase a Lone Star Summer Betting Challenge entry next Saturday, it will set you back $1,000. However, you can obtain one for $79 if you succeed in our final Sunday Lone Star qualifier. The winning ratio is 1-per-15.
Sunday’s richest cash tourney is our HT Tour competition—a $20,000 Guaranteed, No Limit Pick & Pray. An upfront investment of $250 gets you into this Live-format event.
Another Live-format test on Sunday is the Big Bucks game—an up-to-$20,000 tourney with an entry fee of $1,150 and a purse guaranteed to be at least $7,500. Total entries will again be capped at 20, and payouts go only to the top three finishers.
Live-format qualifiers to The BIG One ($395 entry fee, 1 seat guaranteed), the $400,000 Guaranteed Spa & Surf Showdown ($147, 1-per-20 winning ratio); and the Haskell Challenge ($79, 1-per-15) are all on the Sunday featured-tourney schedule as well.
The two-day Del Mar Summer Challenge is now just three weeks away…on July 30-31. Sunday’s Live-format Del Mar qualifier carries an entry fee of $295, with one of every 20 entrants picking up a $5,000 entry to the lucrative, Southern California on-track tournament.
On Sunday at HorsePlayers, you can attempt to qualify for the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge, the NHC…or both!
The BCBC game is a $500 Low Ratio qualifier that will be hosted in Live format. The winning ratio is 1-per-23, and at least one $10,000 entry is guaranteed.
The Sunday NHC qualifier is $165 Live-format matchup with two entries certain. The winning ratio is 1-per-65.
Enjoy all the stakes races on Saturday, and good luck in your tourney pursuits all weekend long. We’ll be back to recap everything here in this space on Monday. Here’s hoping that your name is one of the many I’ll be typing then.