All in the course of one holiday weekend, we turn the corner from 2023 into 2024. 

Twenty-three featured tourneys will help make the transition a fun one. The first three of those take place on Friday.

There are just three HT Tour events left in 2023, and one of them is Friday’s $15,000 Guaranteed, No Limit Pick & Pray. You can take part in exchange for an entry fee of $190.

On each day of the extended, four-day weekend, you can play in a $118 qualifier for the $250,000 Gtd. Flo-Cal Faceoff here on January 20-21. Winners of Friday’s Pick & Pray get a $1,500 entry for the big event that is now less than a month away.

Eleven guaranteed NHC seats will be up for grabs this weekend—including two on Friday at HorsePlayers.

Those two guaranteed spots will be awarded in a $75 NHC Pick & Pray with a winning ratio of 1-per-143. 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 10th from Gulfstream; the 6th through 8th at Aqueduct; and races 5 through 7 from Santa Anita. 

Five Live-format games and two Pick & Prays make up the featured slate on Saturday.

One of those Pick & Prays is the day’s NHC qualifying opportunity—a $165 NHC play-in here at HorseTourneys. The winning ratio is 1-per-65 and at least two Vegas berths are certain to be won.

Saturday’s other Pick & Pray is our $7,000 Guaranteed Big Bucks tourney. The entry fee in this one is $1,150. No more than 20 entries will be accepted for this high-end showdown, 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 weekend’s richest game is our $25,000 Guaranteed, No Limit tourney. It’s a Live-format get together…and an HT Tour event. The entry fee is $350. 

There will be qualifiers for the Pegasus World Cup Betting Challenge on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  Saturday’s (and Sunday’s) is a Live-format affair. One of every 20 entrants, at $384 per entry, will get a $6,000 Pegasus entry plus a $500 travel stipend for the Jan. 27 contest—which can also be played at Xpressbet.

Also taking place on Jan. 27 is the Houston Racing Festival Handicapping Contest at Sam Houston. Saturday is our first of two Live-format HRFHC qualifiers. (The other is on Sunday.) The barrier to entry is $79, and one of every 15 will get a $1,000 live bankroll for this on-track-only Texas test that will award four NHC spots and be limited to 100 entries.

For the second of four consecutive days, there will be a $118 qualifier for the $250,000 Guaranteed Flo-Cal Faceoff. Saturday’s will be hosted in Live format.

The Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge has the spotlight to itself on Saturday at HorsePlayers.

You can win a $10,000 seat to the BCBC next November by capturing Saturday’s Live-format, $179 qualifier. The winning ratio is 1-per-65 and at least one $10,000 seat will awarded regardless of head count.

The 12 contest races for Saturday are the 7th through 11th from Gulfstream; the 7th through 9th at Aqueduct; races 7 and 9 from Tampa Bay Downs; and the 7th and 8th at Laurel. Closing time is set for 3:03 pm ET.

All seven featured events on New Year’s Eve will be contested in Live format.

The final HT Tour event of the year is Sunday’s $20,000 Gtd., No Limit tourney. An upfront payment of $250 will get you a seat at the table.

Also on tap is a $7,000 Gtd. Big Bucks game on Sunday. The cost to play is $1,150, and entries are again limited to 20, with the top three finishers getting paid.

As you already know from earlier paragraphs, you can compete on Sunday for entries in the Pegasus World Cup Betting Championship, the Houston Racing Festival Handicapping Contest and the $250,000 Gtd. Flo-Cal Faceoff.

Two Live-format features are on the New Year’s Eve agenda at HorsePlayers.

One of every 23 entrants, at $500 per entry, will win a $10,000 seat in Sunday’s Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge Low Ratio qualifier. The winning ratio is 1-per-23, and one grand prize is guaranteed.

Sunday’s NHC qualifier has a price tag of $210—which means a winning ratio of 1-per-50. Two seats are guaranteed here.

On New Year’s Day, we all start out even for 2024. You can try to put yourself on the plus side of the ledger in any of six featured tourneys—all of them Pick & Prays. We will start this day’s preview with a look at HorsePlayers, because that’s where the real headliner exists.

It’s a special $125 NHC Pick & Pray with five (count ‘em, five!) seats guaranteed. The winning ratio works out to 1-per-80—although if fewer than 400 sign up, your ratios will be better since five spots are certain to be heading out the door no matter what.

For those who prefer smaller crowds, there’s another Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge Low Ratio qualifier on Monday. It’s a Pick & Pray with an entry fee of $500. One $10,000 seat is guaranteed to be in the prize pool.

Here at HorseTourneys, there are four marquee games that could get your new year off on a positive note.

There may not be a better hangover cure than winning our New Year’s Day $20,000 Guaranteed, No Limit Pick & Pray. The entry fee is $250, and the game serves as the first HT Tour event of 2024.

We’ll also have a rare Monday edition of our $7,000 Gtd. Big Bucks tourney. It’s an $1,150 Pick & Pray.

There will also be Pick & Pray qualifiers on January 1st for the January 20-21 Flo-Cal Faceoff and the Jan. 27 Pegasus World Cup Betting Championship.

We wish you all a happy, safe and winning holiday weekend ahead—and a very healthy and prosperous 2024. Good luck!