There will be lots of “Set-it-and-forget-it” action this weekend with 19 of our 20 featured events (all but the Sunday Big Bucks game) going as Pick & Prays.
It’s also the final weekend of qualifying for the September 30-October 1 Santa Anita Opening Weekend Challenge. A qualifier to that one is one of six Pick & Prays on tap for Friday.
If you wait until next weekend and buy in to the on-track/Xpressbet Santa Anita Opening Weekend Challenge, it’ll set you back four grand. Here, however, you can win a $4,000 seat for $314 in a 1-per-15 Pick & Pray. Friday’s is the first of three such this weekend.
In addition to the Santa Anita Opening Weekend Challenge, you can compete for a spot on each day of the weekend to the October 21-22 The BIG One and the October 14 Keeneland Fall BCBC/NHC Challenge.
One seat to The BIG One is guaranteed in Friday’s $500 Pick & Pray. And in addition to paying a $500 bonus to the winner, we also pay a $500 consolation prize to the runner up. Don’t forget—winners also get free hotel accommodations and copious food and drink all weekend long in Maryland.
The Keeneland qualifiers call for an entry fee of $275, with one of every 15 picking up a $3,500 seat.
For those partial to cash games, Friday’s HT Tour game is our $15,000 Guaranteed, No Limit Pick & Pray. The necessary upfront investment for this one is $190.
You can probably guess what the featured tourneys are at HorsePlayers on Friday—Pick & Pray qualifiers to the NHC and the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge.
The admission charge for the NHC Pick & Pray is $75, and two seats for next March are guaranteed. The winning ratio is 1-per-143.
It’s $500 to play Friday’s Low Ratio Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge Pick & Pray. The winning ratio is 1-per-23, and at least one $10,000 seat will be awarded no matter what.
The 10 contest races on Friday are the 5th through 9th from “Belmont at Aqueduct”; the 6th and 8th at Gulfstream; and the 8th through 10th from Pimlico.
Seven more Pick & Prays—including the richest tourney of the week—come your way on Saturday.
At least $30,000 will be on the line in Saturday’s $30,000 Guaranteed tourney. The price of entry is $350, and the game doubles as an HT Tour event.
Another featured cash game on Saturday is our $10,000 Guaranteed Big Bucks Pick & Pray, which carries an entry fee of $1,150. Total entries are limited to 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.
For the second straight day, we will offer Pick & Pray qualifiers to The BIG One, the Santa Anita Opening Weekend Challenge and the Keeneland Fall BCBC/NHC Challenge. The entry fees are $500, $314 and $275, respectively, and the qualifier to The BIG One guarantees one package winner regardless of head count.
Pick & Pray qualifiers to the NHC and the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge share top billing on Saturday at HorsePlayers.
The NHC battle is a $165 qualifier with two spots guaranteed. The winning ratio is 1-per-65.
Also a 1-per-65 proposition is Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge qualifier. The barrier to entry here is $179, and at least one $10,000 entry is certain.
The 12 contest races for Saturday are the 9th through 14th (including five stakes) from the Pennsylvania Derby Day card at Parx; the 8th through 11th at Gulfstream; and the 4th and 7th from Los Alamitos Race Course. Closing time is slated for 3:32 pm ET.
On Sunday, there are seven featured events.
You already know three of them—qualifiers to The BIG One, the Santa Anita Opening Weekend Challenge and the Keeneland Fall BCBC/NHC Challenge. All three are Pick & Prays…and note that the qualifier for The BIG One guarantees TWO spots to the October 21-22 competition (rather than the one spot guaranteed on Friday and Saturday.
The Sunday opportunity to qualify for the 2024 NHC is here at HorseTourneys on Sunday. It’s a “regular,” $165 Pick & Pray with two seats guaranteed. The winning ratio is 1-per-65.
Sunday’s HT Tour test is our $20,000 Guaranteed Pick & Pray. An expenditure of $250 will get you in.
The lone Live-format game on Sunday is our $7,000 Guaranteed Big Bucks tourney. It’s $1,150 to play, and payouts go strictly to the top three finishers.
The Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge hogs the spotlight on Sunday at HorsePlayers.
The marquee game over there is a $500 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge Low Ratio play-in. The parameters are the same as those in place on Friday—$500 entry fee, 1-per-23 winning ratio and one seat guaranteed.
We hope you find a tourney or two this weekend that tickles your fancy. Good luck!