The final two direct, online qualifiers for the March 10-12 NHC will take place this Friday and Saturday at HorsePlayers. After that, the only remaining opportunity to get into the big dance will be through the First Chance/Last Chance qualifier next Thursday—and we’ll have a bunch of qualifiers for that event as well this weekend.
Time is even more of the essence if you’re hoping to win your way into the 1/ST Ultimate Betting Challenge. That $3,500 buy-in contest (playable at Gulfstream, Santa Anita or Xpressbet) takes place on Saturday. The final 1/ST UBC qualifier is part of the Friday featured-tourney schedule.
Friday’s final 1/ST Ultimate Betting Challenge Pick & Pray costs $207 to play, and one of every 20 entrants will win a $3,500 seat for the following day (Saturday).
The day’s HT Tour event is our $15,000 Guaranteed, No Limit Pick & Pray. The barrier to entry is $190, and the purse could reach $20,000 or more depending on participation…but it won’t be less than $15,000 no matter what.
There will be a Pick & Pray qualifier on each day of the weekend for the Players Championship, the Monmouth Pick Your Prize Challenge, the Keeneland Grade One Gamble and the NHC First Chance/Last Chance tournament.
The Players Championship qualifier is a $156, l-per-15 affair. Winners receive a $2,000 seat for the $350,000 Guaranteed second leg of the 2023 Tourney Triple here on Friday and Saturday, April 7-8.
Another $156, 1-per-15 proposition is our Monmouth Pick Your Prize qualifier. Winner(s) of Friday’s Pick & Pray earn a $2,000 entry for the popular June 3 on-track/online hybrid tournament.
The doorman will ask you for $207 if you decide to compete in tour Keeneland Grade One Gamble play-in. One of every 20 entrants on Friday (and on Saturday and Sunday too) will pick up a $3,500 berth.
Another tourney you can count on each day of the weekend is a qualifier for next Thursday’s NHC First Chance/Last Chance contest at Horseshoe Las Vegas. These play-ins call for an entry fee of $59, with one of every 10 entrants gaining a $500 spot in the NHC Eve battle.
The lone Friday feature at HorsePlayers is our third-to-last qualifier for next week’s NHC.
It’s a $100 Pick & Pray. The winning ratio is 1-per-100, but one seat is certain to be awarded even if fewer than 100 take part. Remember—you still 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 qualifier to the 2023 NHC.
Contest races for the Friday featured tourneys at both HorseTourneys and HorsePlayers are the 6th through 9th from Gulfstream; the 7th through 9th at Tampa Bay Downs; and races 5, 7 and 8 from Aqueduct—10 races in all.
Saturday is our busiest day of the weekend by far with 10 featured tourneys.
Saturday’s $30,000 Guaranteed No Limit Pick & Pray is the day’s HT Tour event. You can test your skill in exchange for an upfront investment of $350.
In fact, all of the Saturday features are Pick & Prays, including our $10,000 Guaranteed Big Bucks tourney. The purse could top $20,000, however, should we hit our maximum entry count of 20. The cost of doing business here is $1,150. Payouts go solely to the top three finishers with the winner receiving 70 percent of the net pool, the runner up getting 20 percent, and the third-place finisher picking up the remaining 10 percent.
After a very nice debut the previous Saturday, we’ll offer our second qualifier for the April 22 Lone Star Spring Betting Challenge this Saturday. One of every 15 entrants, at $79 per entry, will take home a $1,000 seat for the on-track contest in the Dallas Metroplex.
As mentioned earlier, there will again be Pick & Pray qualifiers on Saturday for the March 9 NHC First Chance/Last Chance tournament ($59 entry fee), the April 7-8 Players Championship ($156), the April 15 Keeneland Grade One Gamble ($207) and the June 3 Monmouth Pick Your Prize Challenge ($156). The price points and winning ratios for each are the same as those in place for Friday.
Three Live-format features—including the final two 2023 NHC qualifiers—occupy the spotlight on Saturday at HorsePlayers.
Both of these final NHC qualifiers are $500, Low Ratio skirmishes with winning ratios of 1-per-21. One is open to all, and the other is restricted to those without one 2023 NHC seat. Note that each of these Low Ratio NHC games require at least 10 entrants in order for the tourney to go forward.
The one Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge qualifier on the Saturday bill of fare is a $179 play-in with one $10,000 entry guaranteed to be won. The winning ratio here is 1-per-65.
The 12 contest races for our Saturday featured events are comprised of no fewer than 10 graded stakes. The dozen races in question are the 9th through 14th (all graded stakes) from Gulfstream where it will be Fountain of Youth Day; the 3rd, 5th and 6th (the San Felipe Stakes) at Santa Anita; and the 8th through 10th from the Gotham Stakes Day card at Aqueduct. Closing time will be approximately 3:01 pm ET.
Seven more featured tourneys on Sunday round out the weekend.
Sunday’s HT Tour event, our $20,000 Guaranteed No Limit tourney, is a Pick & Pray. You can participate for $250.
Our $7,000 Guaranteed Big Bucks tourney will be operated in Live format. It’s again an up-to-$20,000 game with entries costing $1,150. Payouts go just to the top three finishers on a 70/20/10 basis.
For the third consecutive day, we’ll have direct qualifiers to the Players Championship, the NHC First Chance/Last Chance tournament, the Keeneland Grade One Gamble, and the Monmouth Pick Your Prize Challenge. All four are Pick & Prays.
With NHC qualifiers having wrapped up on Saturday, the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge has the featured-tourney stage to itself at HorsePlayers on Sunday.
The lone such feature is a Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge Low Ratio tourney. The entry fee for this Live-format tilt is $500; the winning ratio is 1-per-23; and at least one $10,000 seat is certain to be handed out.
Good luck to all of you this weekend—including our HorseTourneys qualifiers who will be competing in Saturday’s 1/ST Ultimate Betting Challenge—and safe travels to all of you making the exciting trek to Las Vegas next week.