Qualifiers for the $200,000 Gtd. The BIG One are drawing to a close with the all-cash event taking place on October 21-22 at Laurel Park. You can compete for the cash—(and soak up the many amenities of the contest), but only if you qualify…or buy-in directly for $4,500. Your final weekend chances to qualify for $500 take place on Friday, with the first of three straight two-seats-guaranteed qualifiers.
Meanwhile, the Del Mar Fall Handicapping Challenge is set for next month—November 25, to be precise. You can play it on-track or at TVG.com for an entry fee of $3,000…or you can win a seat to it for $236 on Saturday in our first play-in to the “Saturday-after-Thanksgiving” tournament.
As for Friday, however, we kick the weekend off with four marquee Pick & Prays, including the above-mentioned first of three qualifiers to The BIG One.
The guaranteed play-ins to The BIG One carry a $500 entry fee and the top two finishers earn a full package for October 21-22 in Maryland. In addition to the entry, they get a $500 bonus plus free hotel accommodations, welcome party and buffet/open bar all weekend long at Laurel. Even if you don’t pick a single winner, you will still have a good time at The BIG One.
The other Friday feature at HorseTourneys is the day’s HT Tour event, our $15,000 Guaranteed, No Limit Pick & Pray. You can play in exchange for an upfront investment of $190.
Once again, the featured events at HorsePlayers on Friday are Pick & Pray qualifiers to the NHC and the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge.
The price of admission to the NHC Pick & Pray is $75, and at least two seats for next March are certain to be won. The winning ratio is 1-per-143.
A stake of $500 will get you a place in 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 in the prize pool regardless of participation.
The 10 contest races on Friday are the 5th through 10th from Keeneland; the 7th and 9th at “Belmont at Aqueduct” and races 8 and 10 from Laurel. (Santa Anita is dark on Friday.)
There are six featured tourneys on Saturday at HorseTourneys and HorsePlayers—four Live-format games and two Pick & Prays.
One of the two Pick & Prays is the weekend’s second qualifier to The BIG One. Again, full packages will go to “a big two.” The entry fee is $500.
Saturday’s other Pick & Pray is our $7,000 Guaranteed Big Bucks tourney, which requires an entry fee of $1,150. Total entries are limited to 20, with the winner grabbing 70 percent of the net pool, the runner up getting 20 percent, and the third-place contestant picking up the remaining 10 percent. If we happen to reach the maximum entry count of 20, the total purse will top $20,000.
The richest tourney of the week is Saturday’s $25,000 Guaranteed game. The necessary expenditure for this Live-format, No-Limit affair is $350, and the game also serves as the day’s HT Tour event.
Another Live-format Saturday tilt is that first play-in to the Del Mar Fall Handicapping Challenge. It’s a 1-per-15 proposition with entries setting you back $236 apiece. Winner(s) get a $3,000 entry for November 25th
At HorsePlayers on Saturday, you can win spots in the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge and/or the NHC via two Live-format tourneys.
The BCBC game is a $179 play-in with a winning ratio of 1-per-65. One $10,000 BCBC entry is guaranteed to be in the prize pool no matter what.
The NHC get together is a $210 qualifier with two March 2024 seats guaranteed and a winning ratio of 1-per-50.
The 12 contest races for Saturday are the 6th, 8th, 9th and 10th from Keeneland; the 9th through 11th (all stakes) at Laurel, where it’s Maryland Million Day; and the 6th through 10th at Santa Anita. Closing time is scheduled to be 3:40 pm ET.
Five Live-format features make up the Sunday slate.
The HT Tour battle on Sunday is our $20,000 Guaranteed, No Limit tourney. Two hundred and fifty dollars will get you a seat at the cyber-table.
Another lucrative cash game is Sunday’s $7,000 Guaranteed Big Bucks tourney. It’s $1,150 to join in the action, and payouts go only to the top three finishers.
For the third straight day, we’ll host a qualifier with two guaranteed packages to The BIG One. Winners will be in action the following weekend, competing for their share of $200,000 in “high expectation tournament” at Laurel, where the field will be no more than 57.
Sunday’s NHC qualifying opportunity is offered here at HorseTourneys on Sunday in the form of a $165 “two-seater.” The format is Live, and the winning ratio is 1-per-65.
The featured-tourney spotlight shines solely on the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge this Sunday at HorsePlayers.
The focus of said illumination is a Low Ratio Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge. The entry fee is $500, the winning ratio is 1-per-23, the format is Live, and at least one $10,000 seat is certain to be awarded.
Good luck to our HorseTourneys qualifiers who will be competing in the Keeneland tournament on Saturday—and, if you are not one of them, then good luck to you all the same!