If your post Breeders’ Cup calendar for November looks a little bare, we can help you fill it up. This weekend—Sunday to be precise—we’ll be offering the year’s first qualifiers to both the Aqueduct Challenge on November 8 and the Hawthorne Fall NHC Super Qualifier on November 24-25. Those are just two of 17 featured tourneys slated for this weekend.
By John Gaspar
(John Gaspar was one of 56 contestants at the 2017 renewal of The BIG One at Laurel Park. Shortly after the competition, Gaspar wrote a lengthy recap of his experiences and thought processes during his three days in Maryland. We thought veteran players might enjoy another player’s perspective–and that those unfamiliar with contest play might find it interesting to follow along with John through the great many decisions he was faced with over the two-day contest. What follows is John’s unabridged, 8,000+ word take on The BIG One.)
(By Jim Mulvihill of the NTRA and courtesy of Keeneland)
Tom Maloof, a 59-year-old project management consultant from Middleborough, Mass., cashed big on the first and last races of the card to amass a final bankroll of $13,004 and win Sunday’s BCBC/NHC Challenge, the richest handicapping contest of the meet. In addition to his bankroll winnings, Maloof took home a $21,000 first-place cash prize, plus an all-expenses-paid berth to the $2.9 million (est.) National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) and a paid entry to the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC).
In a run of contest excellence that HorseTourneys president McKay Smith called “unprecedented,” Howard Welsh of Basking Ridge, N.J. followed up last Saturday’s win in our $100,000 guaranteed tournament with back-to-back victories on Saturday and Sunday in our $25,000 and $15,000 guaranteed games, respectively.
Top-40 results from the October 5-7 Orleans Fall Classic. Congratulations to winner Russ Edwards.
(Courtesy of Keeneland)
La Coronel loves Keeneland….John Oxley’s super filly improved her record to 3-3 in graded stakes at Keeneland by winning the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (G1) today.
And Nick Tammaro, noted handicapper from Houston, Texas, loves La Coronel. So much so that he hit a $50 exacta in the QEII and a $50 double keying her with 10th race winner Bee Jersey as he compiled an impressive $7,480 bankroll from the original $250, to win the 2017 Keeneland Fall Challenge.
The latest on-site tournament to be introduced at Gulfstream Park takes place on December 9. It’s the Gulfstream Caribbean Classic, which carries a $2,000 buy-in, of which $1,500 goes to the player’s live bankroll. A full 100% of entry fees will be returned as prizes—in the form of four seats to the Pegasus World Cup Handicapping Championship on January 26-27 and two seats to the NHC (based on 100 entries).
The first-ever qualifier to the Gulfstream Caribbean Classic takes place on Sunday. And it’s just one of several exciting events on tap this weekend at HorseTourneys and HorsePlayers.
He’s been playing the horses since the early 1980s. So where does Howard Welsh’s win—worth $40,000—in last Saturday’s $100,000 Guaranteed contest at HorseTourneys rank among his greatest victories?
Courtesy of Santa Anita Park, here are the daily top 10 leaderboards from each day of last weekend’s three-day Santa Anita Autumn Handicapping Challenge. Congratulations to daily winners Eduardo Carbajal (Friday), Christian Hellmers (Saturday) and Robert Talstra (Sunday).
Howard Welsh of Basking Ridge, N.J. became the second-ever winner of a HorseTourneys $100,000 contest, when he picked five winners and two runners up from 15 races to amass $160.60 and secure Saturday’s $40,000 top prize.
