With Thanksgiving in the books and holiday shopping underway but not quite in a state of frenzy yet, it’s a great time to…play the horses! 

You can do that right here at HorseTourneys and HorsePlayers, and you can select from a menu of 20 featured events. The first four of those—all Pick & Prays—take place on Friday.

Friday begins the final month of play of the 2023 HT Tour (whose standings are currently led by Dale Hatfield). The focus of the Tour on Friday will be the day’s $15,000 Guaranteed, No Limit Pick & Pray. You may compete in exchange for a $190 investment.

Each day of the weekend will include a $118 qualifier to the $250,000 Guaranteed Flo-Cal Faceoff here on January 20-21. Winner(s) of these 1-per-15 play-ins earn a $1,500 entry into the exciting two-day tourney that concentrates totally on the full cards at Gulfstream and Santa Anita each day. 

A play-in to the Santa Anita Opening Day Challenge is also on the Friday agenda. One of every 15 entrants—at $118 per entry—will secure a $1,500 spot in the December 26th contest, and they may play on the 26th either from Xpressbet or on-track at The Great Race Place.

The Friday feature at HorsePlayers is—what else?—a $75 NHC qualifier.

Two seats to the most prestigious handicapping contest in the world are guaranteed here. The winning ratio is 1-per-143, and entries in this Pick & Pray 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 6th and 7th from Aqueduct; the 5th through 9th at Tampa Bay Downs; and races 7 through 9 from Gulfstream. 

There are eight features each on Saturday and Sunday. All but one of them will be run in Live-format. The lone exception is part of Saturday’s octet.

The one that’s not like the others—format-wise—on Saturday is our $7,000 Guaranteed Big Bucks Pick & Pray. It carries an entry fee of $1,150. Total entries for this high-end game are limited to 20, 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.

The richest tourney of the week is Saturday’s $25,000 Guaranteed cash game, a No-Limit test that also serves as the day’s HT Tour event. The price of admission is $350.

There are two NHC qualifiers on Saturday, and one of them will be hosted here at HorseTourneys in the form of a $165 Live-format tilt with two seats assured. The winning ratio is 1-per-65.

Also up for grabs on Saturday is a $6,500 package for the Pegasus World Cup Betting Challenge on January 27th. Saturday’s play-in is a 1-per-20 proposition. The barrier to entry is $384.

We’ll be offering another $118 qualifier on Saturday for the $250,000 Guaranteed Flo-Cal Faceoff—and we’ll also take another shot at filling a qualifier for the Sam Houston on-track contest on January 27th. The Sam Houston play-in costs $79 to play, and one of every 15 entrants will garner a $1,000 berth.

The NHC and Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge share the featured-tourney spotlight on Saturday at HorsePlayers.

The BCBC tourney is a “regular,” $179 battle with a winning ratio of 1-per-65 and one $10,000 seat guaranteed. The format is Live.

Also in Live, play-as-you-go mode at HorsePlayers is the day’s NHC play-in, but note that this $165, 1-per-65 get together is restricted to those who have yet to earn a 2024 seat. As such, no NHC Tour points will be awarded here. One Vegas berth is guaranteed to be awarded regardless of participation.

The 12 contest races for Saturday are the 7th and 10th (all graded stakes) from the Cigar Mile card at Aqueduct; the 7th, 8th, 9th and 11th at Gulfstream; and the 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th (including three turf stakes) from Del Mar. Closing time is scheduled to be 2:45 pm ET.

Another eight featured tourneys are on the Sunday schedule of events.

One of them is the weekend’s third opportunity to win a spot in the $250,000 Gtd. Flo-Cal Faceoff. 

After a one-day break, a play-in to the Santa Anita Opening Weekend Challenge returns to the featured schedule. As was the case on Friday (and as is the case with our Flo-Cal qualifier), the entry fee is $118, the winning ratio is 1-per-15, and the target is a $1,500 seat.

For the second consecutive day, we’ll be offering qualifiers to the January 27 Pegasus World Cup Betting Championship ($384 buy-in) and the same day’s Sam Houston contest ($79). Both will again be held in Live format.

On the cash-game side of the street, there’s our $20,000 Gtd., No Limit tourney. The $250-entry-fee-game is also the day’s HT Tour competition. 

The other Sunday cash feature is our $7,000 Guaranteed Big Bucks tourney. The entry fee is $1,150—and, again, payouts go only to the top three finishers on a 70-/20-/10-percent basis.

There are once again both NHC and Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge qualifiers on Sunday at HorsePlayers.

The NHC game is a $210 qualifier with two seats certain and a winning ratio of 1-per-50. The format is Live.

The format is also Live for Sunday’s $500 Low Ratio BCBC play-in. One $10,000 seat is certain in this 1-per-23 battle of wits.

We wish safe travels to everyone competing at Lone Star on Saturday in their Fall Simulcast Betting Challenge. As for the rest of you, we hope you find something fun and exciting to do right here at HorseTourneys. May your horses (or at least enough of them) follow your script. Good luck!