Not many big tournaments take place on a Wednesday, but the Canterbury NHC/BCBC Handicapping Contest does—this Wednesday, September 13. Your final two chances to win a $2,000 entry to it—playable at Xpressbet—come your way this Saturday and Sunday.
Most of the 17 Saturday and Sunday featured tourneys will be contested as Pick & Prays this week. So will all four of the marquee games on Friday.
The HT Tour game du jour on Friday is our $15,000 Guaranteed, No Limit Pick & Pray. An initial outlay of $190 will get you a place in it.
On all three days of the weekend, you can try for a $3,500 seat in the October 14 Keeneland Fall BCBC/NHC Challenge, which will be hosted at both Keeneland and Xpressbet. The entry fee for each Keeneland qualifier is $275, with one of every 15 entrants moving on to the October 14 “final.”
At HorsePlayers, the Friday action is topped by Pick & Pray qualifiers to the NHC and the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge.
The NHC Pick & Pray carries an entry fee of $75, and it will award at least two seats to next March’s extravaganza in Vegas. The winning ratio is 1-per-143.
The cost to play Friday’s Low Ratio Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge Pick & Pray is $500. The winning ratio is 1-per-23, and at least one $10,000 seat will be handed out no matter what.
The 10 featured-tourney races on Friday take place later in the day than usual. They are the 4th through 6th from Penn National; the 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th at Del Mar; and the 3rd, 4th and 6th from Charles Town. Race 4 at Penn National starts things off at 7:28 pm ET.
On Saturday, all eight featured tourneys are “set it and forget it” Pick & Prays.
Saturday’s HT Tour test is our $30,000 Guaranteed game. The price of admission is $350.
The day’s other featured cash tourney is our $10,000 Guaranteed Big Bucks game, which requires an entry fee of $1,150. Total entries are capped at 20, with the winner earning 70 percent of the net pool, the runner up getting 20 percent, and the third-place contestant grabbing the remaining 10 percent. If we happen to reach the maximum entry count of 20, the total purse will top $20,000.
Saturday is the first of two guaranteed weekend qualifiers to The BIG One on October 21-22 at Laurel Park. The winner of this $500 play-in earns a spot in October’s select field of no more than 57 (with each person playing just one entry). Our online qualifier winners also receive hotel accommodations, welcome party, track transfers and full food and open-bar amenities at the track…plus $500 for travel. The entry fee is $500, and the runner up in this qualifier gets a $500 consolation refund.
Also on offer on both Saturday and Sunday are $314 Pick & Pray qualifiers to the Santa Anita Opening Weekend Challenge on September 30-October 1. Winners (1-per-15) earn a $4,000 berth that is playable on-track or at Santa Anita.
As noted earlier, there will be a Saturday qualifier to the Keeneland Fall BCBC/NHC Challenge. Saturday’s is another Pick & Pray with an entry fee of $275.
Saturday is also the second-to-last day in which to play for a $2,000 seat in the Wednesday, September 13 Canterbury NHC/BCBC Handicapping Contest. The winning ratio is 1-per-15. The entry fee for the qualifier is $157 and the winning ratio is 1-per-15.
Seats for the NHC and the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge are up for grabs on Saturday at HorsePlayers.
The NHC game is a $210 Pick & Pray with two spots certain. The winning ratio is 1-per-50.
The winning ratio is also 1-per-65 in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge qualifier. The necessary investment in this one is $179, and at least one $10,000 entry is guaranteed.
The 12 contest races for Saturday are the 8th and 10th from Gulfstream; the 8th through 12th at Kentucky Downs; and the 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th and 10th from Del Mar. (Eight of the 12 races are stakes.) Closing time is slated for 4:18 pm ET.
The weekend’s lone Live-format tourney is one of nine featured events on Sunday.
That Live-format game is Sunday’s $7,000 Guaranteed Big Bucks tourney. Payouts go just to the top three finishers on a 70%-20%-10% basis. A maximum of 20 entries (at $1,150 each) will be accepted—and if we get that many, the purse will exceed $20,000.
Everything else on Sunday is a Pick & Pray. The HT Tour game on tap for Sunday is our $20,000 Guaranteed tourney. Entries are on sale now for $250 each. Operators are standing by.
Sunday is your last chance to earn a $2,000 Canterbury NHC/BCBC Handicapping Contest for $157 via a 1-per-15 qualifier. Winners will have a very fun Wednesday night.
Sunday is the second straight day of Pick & Pray qualifying for The BIG One at Laurel Park and the Santa Anita Opening Weekend Challenge. All the same price points that were in effect on Saturday are in place again on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Sunday is the third consecutive day in which you can win a $3,500 seat in the Keeneland Fall BCBC/NHC Challenge. The entry fee on Sunday holds steady at $275.
There are two NHC qualifiers on Sunday, and one of them is here at HorseTourneys in the form of a “regular” $165 play-in with 2 seats guaranteed. The winning ratio is 1-per-65.
The second NHC qualifier—plus a Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge play-in—are on the Sunday menu at HorsePlayers.
Sunday NHC qualifier #2 is restricted to those who have yet to earn a 2024 NHC seat. The tourney costs $165 to play, the winning ratio is 1-per-65, and one seat is guaranteed. Because it is a restricted affair, no NHC Tour points will be available in this one.
The other Sunday feature at HorsePlayers is a $500 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge Low Ratio Pick & Pray. The parameters are the same as on Friday—$500 entry fee, 1-per-23 winning ratio and one seat guaranteed.
Good luck to those who qualified at HorseTourneys to compete this Saturday in the Delaware Park Handicapping Contest. I will not there this time, unfortunately, due to a previously-scheduled trip to Los Angeles, but I’ll be back blogging here again a week from Thursday. In the meantime, here’s hoping that your weekend is a good and successful one.