The only thing better than securing an NHC spot is to win money while you’re doing it. That’s what Michael Guadagno did on Sunday.

While much of the nation (especially New York Giants fans) was wasting its time studying pointspreads and injury reports, Guadagno locked in on the ponies. It was a profitable choice.

Tiger in My Tank ($102.20, $42.20) in the 8th at Del Mar was one of four Sunday winners doped out by Guadagno. To that quartet, he added a pair of place collections, and he was able to spike the ball at the end of the day’s NHC Low Ratio qualifier at HorsePlayers.

In case Guadagno wants to have a fancy dinner, attend a show or try his luck at the tables while in Vegas next March, he certainly now has the funds to indulge in such splurges.

The same 4-win, 2-place selections that got Guadagno an NHC seat also brought him a windfall of $10,335 in Sunday’s HT Tour game, our $20,000 guaranteed tourney, which closed with a final purse of $22,968.

It gets even better for Guadagno.

Guadagno led the way—by $53.46!—in Sunday’s Keeneland Fall BCBC/NHC Challenge qualifier. Finishing a distant—but nonetheless effective—second was Kirk Rockwell, who also snatched up a $3,500 entry for October 12. Rockwell’s best idea across 5 firsts and 1 second was Artislas ($17.20, $7.80) in race 9 at Del Mar.

Winning a $2.00 win-and-place tourney by $53.46 like Guadagno did is impressive, indeed. However, it was not the most lopsided featured-tourney of the week. That came in our first such event, Wednesday’s $5,000 guaranteed cash game.

Mark “Santana” Tabakman’s five Wednesday winners paid $8.20, $53.60, $26.60, $23.40 and $20.00. He also had a runner up, which was almost like a 6th winner for him since it paid $15.00 in the place hole. Tabakman finished with a 10-race total of $185.20 and romped home under wraps by $74.60 to earn $2,519 from what was a final prize pool of $5,599.

Thursday’s cash feature was our $6,000 Gtd. Pick & Pray, which wound up paying out a total of $8,848.

David Tunin came away with the $3,981 top prize on the strength of 4 wins and 2 places. His heavy lifter was Daisy Flyer ($19.68, $8.22) in race 7 at Kentucky Downs.

Evan Trommer’s lone Thursday winner came in the day’s final contest race.

It was Investalot ($23.80, $11.60) in the 8th at Del Mar. That hit, added to two prior place collections, brought Trommer the $2,000 berth in Thursday’s qualifier to the final leg of the 2024 HorseTourneys Grand Slam, the $300,000 Gtd. Pick & Pray Classic here on November 23-24.

Karl Broberg is the 10th winningest trainer in North American history according to Equibase with 4,906 victories. On Friday, the now-retired conditioner made two trips to the winner’s circle—at HorseTourneys.

Actually, to be more precise, one of Broberg’s wins came over at HorsePlayers in Friday’s Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge Low Ratio qualifier. He selected three on top, led by cap horse War on the West ($94.00, $54.40) in the contest finale, the 8th at Del Mar, to score a come-from-behind triumph. Raj Satyan reported home second to bag a $5,000 partial BCBC entry.

The same picks worked just as well for Broberg here at HorseTourneys.

This victory was worth a spot in the October 12 Keeneland Fall BCBC/NHC Challenge. (Editor’s note: In an inexplicable miscarriage of justice, HorseTourneys wins are not recognized by Equibase.)

Another prolific winner is Hesham Ragab.

Ragab carried his red hot August right into September by taking Friday’s qualifier to the BCBC Last Chance tourney here on October 31. Ragab put up 2 winners and 3 runners up topped by Top Gun Tommy ($12.20, $6.60) in the 6th at Del Mar.

Dylan McIntosh (3 firsts, 2 seconds) was also a Top Gun Tommy fan.

McIntosh departed with the $2,000 entry in his pocket following Friday’s play-in to the inaugural Pick & Pray Classic.

Sean O’Malley (2 wins, 1 place) had final-contest-race bomb War on the West.

The 46-1 shot rocketed O’Malley to the front in Friday’s HT Tour game, our $15,000 Gtd. Pick & Pray, which ended up with a pot of $20,947. O’Malley’s share of that came to $9,426.

Sean Nolan also nailed War on the West. In fact, that was Nolan’s only winner on Friday.

No matter. That late Del Mar longshot, along with two earlier place collections, earned Nolan the $1,000 spot in this coming Saturday’s Woodbine Mile Challenge. 

Like Sean Nolan, David Brownfield also rode one win and two places to victory on Friday.

Thanks in no small part to War on the West, Brownfield got the low-cost Vegas berth in Friday’s $75 NHC qualifier at HorsePlayers. The other available spot went to Victor Pasquarariello, who took a completely different approach to securing his NHC appearance. Pasquariello amassed 5 firsts and 3 seconds. His highest-yielding selection was Proof He Rides ($14.20, $6.20) in race 7 at Del Mar (the race before the War on the West fireworks).

There was one clear thing in common around here on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Each day, a late Del Mar cap horse played a big role in the outcome of tourneys. As already noted, it was 46-1 War on the West on Friday, and on Sunday, the big price was 50-1 Tiger in My Tank. On Saturday, the Del Mar bomb du jour was Eye on Ry ($57.00, $24.60) in race 7.

Stephen McNatton (3 wins, 1 place) and Rich Gesiakowski (2W, 1P) both scored big with Eye on Ry, and they claimed the two available seats in Saturday’s $165 NHC qualifier.

Chris McDonald (2 firsts, 1 second) also had his eye on Eye on Ry.

McDonald bagged the $2,000 entry in Saturday’s play-in to November’s Pick & Pray Classic.

Eye on Ry helped Jon “Purple” Hays kiss the sky in Saturday’s $179 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge qualifier.

Hays compiled 3 victories and 2 second-place finishes on the way to his $10,000 seat.

For Lawrence Kahlden, the biggest Saturday return came with Grand Sonala ($32.78, $12.88) in race 10 at Kentucky Downs.

Kahlden captured the $12,474 winner’s share in Saturday’s HT Tour battle, our $25,000 guaranteed tourney, which closed its doors with $27,720 in the kitty.

Grand Sonata was also the star for Jose Giron.

Giron (3 firsts, 2 seconds) scored a $41.98 victory in Saturday’s qualifier to the October 31 BCBC Last Chance Tourney.

Nick Seevers (3 wins, 2 places) and Brian Sullivan (3W, 3P) came away with the $3,500 scholarships in Saturday’s Keeneland Fall BCBC/NHC Challenge qualifier.

Seevers hit it big with Eye on Ry. Sullivan’s top pick was Grand Sonata.

Our 2023 Flo-Cal Faceoff champ David Wolff missed out on Eye on Ry in the 7th at Del Mar, but he had the next best thing—the 20-1 runner up.

The $19.80 place collection provided by Zio Jo was Wolff’s highest return of the day among 5 winners and 2 runners up. Wolff won the grand prize of $7,124 in Saturday’s $10,177 Big Bucks Pick & Pray.

As noted at the top, Sunday was Michael Guadagno’s day—but 2018 NHC Champion Chris Littlemore had a pretty fair afternoon in his own right.

Buoyed by Artislas ($17.20, $7.80) in race 9 at Del Mar, Littlemore (5 firsts, 1 second) prevailed in Sunday’s Pick & Pray Classic qualifier. 

The same selections also rewarded Littlemore with a $1,000 Woodbine Mile Challenge entry. 

With the September 14 contest date approaching, there were enough entries for two $1,000 Woodbine seats to be awarded. The second one went to William Price, who was right with Sorrento Sky ($13.60, $6.60) in the 7th at Del Mar plus 3 other winners and 2 runners up. 

G.T. Nixon (4 wins, 0 places) was the one in Sunday’s BCBC Last Chance Tourney qualifier.

Nixon’s top running mate was Artislas (not Agnew).

Artislas helped Robert Childress close out the day with 3 consecutive winners. 

In all, Childress accumulated 5 firsts and 3 seconds, and he emerged with the $10,000 berth in Sunday’s Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge Low Ratio play-in. Thomas Michael Abinanti reported home in second place—good for a $5,000 partial BCBC entry.

Thanks to all who played last week. Featured tourneys resume on Wednesday, and New York racing is BAQ…err, back…starting on Friday. Until then, good luck!