There are only three full shopping days remaining until Christmas—and three full betting days too.
Just like the malls, we’ll be open right to the end as Christmas approaches. On Christmas Eve (Sunday), we have eight featured events—since Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs will be open that day.
Of course, we realize that some of you may be busy purchasing last-minute presents this weekend. So that you can simultaneously do battle in the stores, the supermarkets AND our featured tourneys, all of this weekend’s 21 marquee games will be Pick & Prays—including the four slated for Friday.
Friday’s cash feature is our $15,000 Guaranteed, No Limit Pick & Pray. It’s an HT Tour competition, and you can play in exchange for an upfront stake of $190.
On each day of the weekend, you can compete in a $118 Pick & Pray qualifier to the $250,000 Gtd. Flo-Cal Faceoff. Winners get a $1,500 entry for the big, two-day tourney here on January 20-21, when players will be tasked with making full-card selections at Gulfstream and Santa Anita each day.
The Santa Anita Opening Day Challenge (playable on-track or at Xpressbet) is set for Tuesday, December 26. That means that this weekend is your final opportunity to earn a $1,500 entry for it. You can attempt to do so each day of Christmas weekend via $118, 1-per-15 qualifiers on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. All will be Pick & Prays.
Two things are absolutely certain this coming weekend: Santa Claus will be coming down our chimneys on Sunday night…and HorsePlayers will be offering a $75 NHC qualifier on Friday.
It’s a Pick & Pray with two seats to the March 2024 blowout in Vegas guaranteed. The winning ratio is 1-per-143, and entries are limited to three per person. Remember—you must be a 2023 NHC Tour member, prior to the start of the contest, in order to be eligible for an NHC package in this or any other NHC qualifier. If you’re not a member, you can become one quickly and easily at NTRA.com for a $50 membership fee.
The 10 contest races on Friday are the 7th through 9th from Gulfstream; the 6th through 9th at Tampa Bay Downs; and races 7 through 9 from Laurel.
Nine more Pick & Prays—six here and three at HorsePlayers—are on the Saturday agenda.
The weekend’s richest game is our $25,000 Guaranteed, No Limit tourney. It’s an HT Tour confrontation, with a price tag of $350.
Saturday’s other cash feature is our $7,000 Guaranteed Big Bucks tourney. The entry fee here is $1,150. No more than 20 entries will be accepted for this high-end game, with the winner getting 70 percent of the net pool, the runner up pocketing 20 percent, and the third-place contestant leaving with the remaining 10 percent. If we reach the maximum entry count of 20, the total purse will exceed $20,000.
A qualifier for the Pegasus World Cup Betting Challenge joins the lineup on Saturday. One of every 20 entrants, at $384 per entry, will get a $6,000 Pegasus berth plus a $500 travel stipend for the Jan. 27 contest—which can also be played at Xpressbet. There will also be a Pegasus play-in on Sunday.
Another contest on Jan. 27 is the Houston Racing Festival Handicapping Contest at Sam Houston. Saturday is our first of two weekend HRFHC qualifiers. It costs $79 to enter, and one of every 15 will get $1,000 worth of entry fees (i.e., your live bankroll) for this on-track battle that will award four NHC spots and be limited to 100 entries.
For the second straight day, there will be $118 Pick & Pray qualifiers for both the $250,000 Guaranteed Flo-Cal Faceoff and the Santa Anita Opening Day Challenge.
Three features share the main stage on Saturday at HorsePlayers.
Two of the three are NHC qualifiers. One is an open, $165 Pick & Pray with two spots certain. The winning ratio is 1-per-65.
The other NHC play-in is restricted to those who have yet to nail down a 2024 seat. It carries an entry fee of $210, which means the winning ratio is 1-per-50. One seat is guaranteed in this one, and since it’s a restricted affair, no NHC Tour points distributed.
The Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge game calls for an entry fee of $179. The winning ratio is 1-per-65 and one $10,000 seat will be in the prize pool even if just you and your dog sign up.
The 12 contest races for Saturday are the 6th through 11th from Gulfstream; the 5th and 7th at Tampa Bay Downs; and the 6th through 9th from Laurel. Closing time is set at apporximately 2:36 pm ET.
Four guaranteed tourneys are among the eight featured events on Christmas Eve.
If you’re someone who tries to spot overlaid contests, you might want to keep an eye out on Sunday as closing time nears. Christmas Eve is a busy day for many, and if some of our “regulars” take the day off, that could mean good things—or at least better ratios—for you.
Both of the day’s cash features are guaranteed. One is our $20,000 Gtd. Pick & Pray. The entry fee for this HT Tour event is $250.
We’re also offering a $7,000 Gtd. Big Bucks game on Sunday. The graphic above indicates that this will be run in Live format. However, you can expect this one to change to a Pick & Pray (due to the holiday) once our graphics get updated.
The Christmas Eve NHC qualifier is here at HorseTourneys on Sunday, and it, too, is guaranteed with two seats certain in the prize pool. It’s a $165 Pick & Pray with a winning ratio of 1-per-65.
There are also four non-guaranteed qualifiers on the Sunday menu. For the second straight day, you can shoot for berths in the Pegasus World Cup Betting Championship and/or the Houston Racing Festival Handicapping Contest. And for the third straight day, you can take a swing at qualifying to the $250,000 Gtd,. Flo-Cal Faceoff and the Santa Anita Opening Day Challenge. Time is particularly of the essence with the Santa Anita play-in. Sunday is your very last chance to win a spot in the Dec. 26 tournament.
Just one featured tourney is on the Christmas Eve schedule at HorsePlayers—and, yes, Virginia—it’s a guaranteed game.
One of every 23 entrants, at $500 per entry, will win a $10,000 seat in Sunday’s Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge Low Ratio Pick & Pray. However, your odds will be better than that if fewer than 23 take part—because one entry is guaranteed to be on Santa’s sleigh and headed out the door no matter what.
We wish you good luck in all of your tourney pursuits this weekend—and even more than that, we wish you safe travels and wonderful times with family, friends and loved ones during the days ahead. From all of us at HorseTourneys, Happy Holidays.
