We run a fair number of Exacta tourneys around here, but only once a year can you play one with (at least) $50,000 on the line. Welcome to Exacta Extravaganza weekend!
Here’s how it works: Entries cost $750, and you cannot play more than two entries. At least $50,000 will be paid out. It’s a two-day, Saturday and Sunday tourney with each day utilizing the full cards from Aqueduct, Gulfstream and Del Mar. In every race, from each of the three tracks, you make a mythical, three-horse exacta box play. If you hit, your score is credited with the return from a $1.00 wager. (There’s a payoff cap in place, but it’s a liberal one—$500 per race.) At the end of the two days, the player with the highest overall score wins the grand prize (which figures to be at least $22,500).
So there’s a lot of money at stake, and a lot of action to be had. The Exacta Extravaganza serves as one of four HT Tour events this weekend (and it counts as a “Saturday game” if you are keeping track of such things!). Our first HT Tour competition of the week is part of the featured schedule on Friday.
It’s a $15,000 Guaranteed, No Limit Pick & Pray, and it costs $190 to play.
On each day of the weekend, you can try to secure a spot for yourself in the $250,000 Guaranteed Flo-Cal Faceoff here on January 14-15. It’s the first leg in the 2023 Tourney Triple series. Friday’s Flo-Cal qualifier is a $118, 1-per-15 Pick & Pray. Winners nab a $1,500 entry for the Faceoff.
Since Saturday is the Exacta Extravaganza, and since we’re in charge of the Exacta Extravaganza, it means we can have a Last Chance qualifier for the Extravaganza on the day before it begins. (We’re very nimble that way!) One of every 10 entries, at $89 per entry, gets a $750 berth into the two-day “exoticfest.”
Please note: Just like the Extravaganza, itself, our Last Chance qualifier for it will be run in Live, Exacta Box format. You pick a three-horse exacta box in each of the 10 contest races.
Friday’s marquee game at HorsePlayers is an always-popular $75 NHC qualifier.
Two seats guaranteed in this Pick & Pray that carries 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.
Contest races for all of the Friday features are the 6th, 8th and 9th from Tampa Bay Downs; the 7th through 9th at Gulfstream; the 8th and 9th from Aqueduct; and the 2nd and 3rd at Del Mar—10 races in all.
The Exacta Extravaganza is the clear headliner on Saturday, but it’s hardly the only important tourney on the day’s bill of fare.
The other HT Tour game on Saturday—in addition to the $50,000 Guaranteed Exacta Extravaganza—is our $30,000 Guaranteed, No Limit tourney. The entry fee is $350 and the format is Pick & Pray.
For $384, you can try your luck in a Live-format qualifier to the Pegasus World Cup Betting Championship on January 28. Winners (one per every 20 entrants) get a $6,500 package that is playable on-track or at Xpressbet.
After a successful debut last week, we’ll be offering another Multi-Entry Mania tourney on Saturday. It’s only $5 per entry, although here you can play as many as 15 entries if you wish. It’s a No Limit Pick & Pray with a purse guaranteed to be at least $1,000.
On the other end of our entry-fee spectrum is Saturday’s Big Bucks Pick & Pray. It’s an “up-to-$20,000” get together with a purse guarantee of $10,000. Entries—at $1,150 each—are limited to 20, and payouts go strictly to the top three finishers. The winner collects 70 percent of the net pool, the runner up gets 20 percent, and the third-place finisher picks up the remaining 10 percent.
The Saturday NHC qualifier resides here at HorseTourneys this week. It’s a “regular,” $165 play-in. At least two spots are certain to be awarded in this Live-format test, and the winning ratio is 1-per-65.
As noted earlier, we’ll have another Flo-Cal Faceoff qualifier on Saturday. The entry fee is the same as Friday’s—$118—but the format this day will be Live.
Also on tap Saturday is another of our weekly, $25 Low Cap, No Limit games. Unlike those in the vast majority of our tourneys, the win-and-place payoff caps here will be set at 12-1 (to win) and 6-1 (to place) rather than the usual 20-1 and 12-1. The purse guarantee this week will be $1,000, and the format will be Pick & Pray.
The lone feature at HorsePlayers on Saturday is a Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge qualifier.
You can play this Pick & Pray in exchange for a $179 entry fee. The winning ratio is 1-per-65 and at least one $10,000 seat is certain to be headed out the door regardless of how many participate.
Subject to change, the 12 Saturday contest races will be the 7th, 8th and 10th from Aqueduct; the 6th, 7th, 9th and 10th at Gulfstream; races 7 and 8 (both stakes) from Laurel; and the 1st, 3rd and 5th out West at Del Mar.
On Sunday, we will crown a winner in the Exacta Extravaganza. In the meantime, there are also six featured tourneys that day in which you can begin anew.
The fourth of four HT Tour games this week is our $20,000 Guaranteed, No Limit tourney. It’s a Live-format affair, and $250 will get you in the door.
An upfront investment of $384 on Sunday will get you a 1-in-20 chance at a $6,000 Pegasus World Cup entry, plus $500 for your travel needs. It’s a Live-format tilt.
For the third straight day, you can take a shot at a $1,500 Flo-Cal Faceoff entry. The entry fee is again $118, and the format will be live. The winning ratio is 1-per-15 in this one.
Also in Live format is the Sunday Big Bucks tourney—an up-to-$20,000 skirmish with a purse guaranteed at $7,000. Total entries are limited to 20 (at $1,150 per entry), and payouts go solely to the top three scorers.
The NHC and the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge share the featured-tourney stage on Sunday at HorsePlayers.
The NHC qualifier is a Live-format game with a barrier to entry of $210. The winning ratio works out to 1-per-50, and two 2023 seats are guaranteed to be issued when all is said and done.
The BCBC play-in is a Low Ratio game. The entry fee is $500; the winning ratio is 1-per-23; and at least one $10,000 seat is guaranteed.
We wish safe travels to all of the HorseTourneys qualifiers who will be doing battle on Saturday in Texas at the Lone Star Fall Simulcast Betting Challenge—and good luck to all of our players at HorseTourneys and HorsePlayers during the exciting weekend ahead.