Saturday is Dubai World Cup Day and, once again, HorseTourneys will have a full menu of games on the rich race card from the Middle East.
Meanwhile, time is running out to qualify for the $350,000 Guaranteed Players Championship (April 7-8) and the Florida Derby Challenge (April 1). So if you haven’t secured your places in those events, it’s time to get crackin’.
Direct qualifiers to the Players Championship and the Florida Derby Challenge make up two of the six marquee games in the Friday featured-tourney lineup.
If you like Pick & Prays, this is your kind of weekend. All but one of the featured tourneys on Friday, Saturday and Sunday are of the “Set it and forget it” variety—including all six on Friday.
The Friday Players Championship qualifier is a $156, l-per-15 game. Winners lock down a $2,000 seat for the $350,000 Guaranteed second leg of the 2023 Tourney Triple here on Friday and Saturday, April 7-8.
Friday’s Florida Derby Challenge qualifier is a $118 Pick & Pray. One of every 15 contests will scoop up a $1,500 entry—playable at Gulfstream Park, Santa Anita Park or Xpressbet—a week from Saturday.
We’ll be offering Players Championship and Florida Derby Challenge Pick & Prays on each day of the upcoming weekend—and the same holds true for the Keeneland Grade One Gamble and Monmouth Pick Your Prize Challenge.
The Keeneland Grade One Gamble will take place on April 15. You can pick up a $3,500 entry to it on Friday (and Saturday and Sunday) for $207. The winning ratio is 1-per-20 and winners can play their entry either on-track in the Blue Grass or online at Xpressbet.
Friday’s Monmouth Pick Your Prize Challenge qualifier carries an entry fee of $156 and one of every 15 will garner a $2,000 entry for the popular contest in which you “draft” your prize at the end of the proceedings.
We haven’t forgotten you cash gamers. Friday also offers our $15,000 Guaranteed, No Limit Pick & Pray—which serves as the day’s HT Tour event. The cost to play is $190, and there is no limit as to how big the purse could grow—but it won’t be less than $15,000.
On Friday at HorsePlayers, the NHC occupies center stage.
The focus will be on a $75 NHC qualifier—and note that three 2024 seats are guaranteed here rather than the two which was the standard last year. Also…2023 NHC Tour will be available to those who finish in the top 10 percent of the field.
Remember—you must be a paid-up member of the 2023 NHC Tour in order to win this or any other NHC qualifier. If you’re not a member, you can become one quickly and easily for $50 at NTRA.com.
Contest races for Friday are the 6th through 9th from Gulfstream; the 5th, 6th and 8th at Aqueduct; and the 7th through 9th from Tampa Bay Downs—10 races in all.
There are 10 featured tourneys on Saturday (all of them Pick & Prays), including one special game.
All the way at the bottom of the above screenshot is a special, $10,000 Guaranteed Dubai World Cup tourney. It costs $190 to enter, and it’s a Pick & Pray, which could come in handy since the contest will get rolling sometime around 5:00 am Pacific Time (8:00 am or so ET). It’s a fun way to play the rich Dubai card…but you may want to get your picks in on Friday night!
Our richest tourney of the week is Saturday’s $30,000 Guaranteed Pick & Pray, which is the day’s HT Tour competition. The entry fee is $350.
Another Saturday Pick & Pray cash game is our $10,000 Guaranteed Big Bucks tourney. The price of participation is $1,150, and the winner receives 70 percent of the net pool, the runner up gets 20 percent, and the third-place finisher picks up the remaining 10 percent. Entries are capped at 20, and if we reach that figure, the total purse will exceed $20,000.
On Saturday, we offer a qualifier to the April 22 Lone Star Spring Betting Challenge. One of every 15 entrants, at $79 per pop, will reel in a $1,000 seat for the on-track-only tournament in suburban Dallas.
As mentioned earlier, there will again be Pick & Prays on Saturday for the April 1 Florida Derby Challenge ($118 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.
At HorsePlayers on Saturday, you can compete for a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge, the NHC…or both!
The BCBC game is a $179 Pick & Pray that guarantees at least one $10,000 entry for the world’s most prestigious live-bankroll contest held annually in November. The winning ratio is 1-per-65.
Also a Pick & Pray is Saturday’s NHC qualifier—a $165 affair that guarantees two spots in the 2024 field. The winning ratio in this one is also 1-per-65.
There are 12 contest races on tap in our Saturday featured tourneys. They are 6th through 11th from Gulfstream, the 7th through 9th at Tampa and the 8th through 10th from Aqueduct. No race has fewer than 8 betting interests (before scratches) and 10 of the 12 have 10 or more. Closing time is slated for approximately 3:07 pm ET.
Sunday is an “Elite 8” day here—not because of the NCAA tournament, but because of our eight featured tourneys that day.
Sunday’s HT Tour gathering is our $20,000 Guaranteed Pick & Pray. A cover charge of $250 will get you in the door.
Looking for a Live-format game this weekend? Look no further. Sunday’s $7,000 Guaranteed Big Bucks tourney is always run as a Live game. It’s an up-to-$20,000 battle with entries going for $1,150. Payouts go just to the top three finishers on a 70/20/10 basis.
Your opportunity to qualify for the 2024 NHC takes place right here at HorseTourneys on Sunday. It’s a $165 “two seater” with a winning ratio of 1-per-65. The format is Pick & Pray.
For the third straight day, we’ll have direct qualifiers to the Players Championship, the Keeneland Grade One Gamble, the Florida Derby Challenge and the Monmouth Pick Your Prize Challenge. All four are Pick & Prays.
The lone Sunday feature at HorsePlayers is focused on the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge.
It’s a $500, Low-Ratio Pick & Pray. The winning ratio is 1-per-23; and at least one $10,000 seat is certain to be flying out the door.
Good luck to everyone this weekend—and especially those representing HorseTourneys on Saturday in the Laurel Champions tournament. May your horses run to your expectations!