Friday may have been our nation’s 249th birthday, but for 2018 The BIG One champion Joe Pettit, Saturday was truly the day to celebrate.

It would have been a wonderful Saturday for Pettit simply by virtue of his having won the week’s richest tourney, our $25,000 Gtd. Pick & Pray, which closed with a final purse of $34,188. In this HT Tour event, Pettit recorded 6 firsts and 1 second, highlighted by Royal Justice ($48.00, $21.00) on the Indiana Derby undercard in race 10 at Horseshoe Indy. For his prowess here, Pettit was rewarded with $15,384.

It didn’t end there, though.

Pettit uses the same Pick & Pray selections to capture the $6,500 package in Saturday’s guaranteed Del Mar Summer Challenge qualifier.

Pettit also bagged an NHC seat in Saturday’s $165 NHC qualifier here at HorseTourneys.

Also earning his way to Vegas was runner up William Claunch, who had Royal Justice plus 3 other winners and 2 places.

Pettit capped off his big Saturday with a narrow victory in our first qualifier to the October 11 Keeneland Fall BCBC-NHC Challenge.

Also earning an early $3,500 spot in the popular fall contest was second-place finisher (and fellow Royal Justice backer) Rick “I-65” Broth, whose scorecard contained 4 firsts and 1 second.

The final haul for Pettit came to $15,384 in cash and approximately another $15,000 in seats.

It was quite a day for Pettit, but Rick Broth had an outstanding Saturday in his own right.

Using the same picks that got him second place behind Pettit in the Keeneland qualifier, Broth led the way in Saturday’s $179 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge qualifier at HorsePlayers.

Broth actually added to his score slightly in another Saturday competition.

Broth was hottest in Saturday’s Kentucky Downs King of the Turf Challenge qualifier, where, thanks to an extra place collection, he finished with a total of $147.30. He, thus, received a $2,500 entry into the September 6 test, giving him a total of $16,000 worth of entry fees for an outlay of about $650.

As usual, the featured-tourney week commenced on Wednesday. For many of us working stiffs, “hump day” is the hardest day of the week to get through. For G.T. Nixon, it is apparently the easiest.

For the second straight week, Nixon won two featured tourneys on Wednesday. In the day’s Live-format, $5,000 guaranteed cash game, Nixon posted 4 wins and 3 places to earn the winner’s share of $2,519 in a battle that ultimately paid out a total of $5,599. He also finished second with his other entry. (Only his first-race pick differed across the two entries.) That got him another $1,119 and change for a total of $3,639.

Nixon is clearly not a man given to deception or misdirection. His selections in Wednesday’s Live-format cash tourney were identical to the ones he used in the same day’s qualifier to the $400,000 Gtd. Spa & Surf Showdown.

Again, Nixon occupied the top two spots here. His most valuable running mate in both victories was Analog Jones ($36.00, $9.60) in race 7 at Parx.

The same person did not win our two features on Thursday. 

Chip Armbruster (4 firsts, 1 second) got the $2,500 seat in Thursday’s Spa & Surf Showdown qualifier. His biggest hit came in the final contest race with So Darn Pretty ($27.40, $10.60) in the 11th at Saratoga.

Our 2024 HT Tour champion Eric “Skeet” Boyd also thought So Darn Pretty was an attractive selection.

Boyd did more Pick & Pray winning on Sunday.

With 3 wins and 1 place, Boyd (3 firsts, 1 second) won a qualifier to an event for which he seems well suited—the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Pick & Pray tourney, a $300,000 guaranteed test here on Breeders’ Cup weekend. The Texan’s most lucrative winner in this one again came in the final contest race—Hangover Heaven ($23.60, $13.20) in the 10th at Saratoga

The same Sunday picks didn’t get Boyd first place in the day’s Spa & Surf Showdown qualifier…but they got him a $2,500 entry.

Boyd finished third behind Mark Hackworth (4 wins followed by 3 places) and Peter Kizenko (3W, 3P). Like Boyd, Kizenko connected late with first-time starter Hangover Heaven. Hackworth’s best return came courtesy of Dangherecomesshang ($25.40, $14.80) in race 7 at Saratoga.

Friday’s Spa & Surf Showdown play-in was part of a nice Fourth of July for Peter Kovic. 

Highlighted by Gran Yaco ($28.40, $8.80) in the 8th at Monmouth, Kovic’s picks yielded 4 wins and 2 places en route to victory. Runner up Kevin Newell (5W, 1P) also earned a $2,500 Showdown spot. Newell’s heaviest lifter was Northern Flame ($18.60, $6.40) in race 6 at Monmouth.

Kovic used the same picks in Friday’s HT Tour event, our $15,000 Gtd. Pick & Pray.

Kovic amassed the high score of the day ($108.00), and here it brought him a cash prize of $10,324 in a game that closed its doors with $22,942 in the kitty

Another double winner on Independence Day was Rafael Lopez (7 wins, 1 place)

Lopez took home the $10,000 seat at the conclusion of Friday’s Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge Low Ratio qualifier. Northern Flame was the star of his 12-horse stable.

The same set of horses got Lopez second place in Friday’s two-seat Haskell Challenge qualifier.

William McMillan was the one player, who managed to outdo Lopez. McMillan swept the final four races to finish with 8 firsts and 1 second on the day. His best pick came one race before the end with Stamp My Passport ($14.40, $7.00) in the 7th at Los Alamitos.

Gran Yaco was the star among 5 firsts and 1 second for Peter Duca.

Duca got a $2,000 ducat for the Breeders’ Cup Pick & Pray tourney.

In honor of the Fourth of July, the NTRA guaranteed four seats in Friday’s $75 NHC qualifier at HorsePlayers. Like a Fourth of July fireworks display, the results were quite eye-catching.

The leaderboard was tight at the top. The four players who cracked the century mark were the four who garnered NHC berths. They were Kirk Tesar (3 wins, 3 places), Keith Nodskov (5W, 1P), Theresa Salerno (4W, 1P) and Joseph Rumfolo (3W, 4P). Nodskov and Salerno finished in a tie that really didn’t need to be broken since this was a four-seater. All four scored with Gran Yaco.

None of the above, however, explains why the results of this one were eye-catching. For that, you will need to see the scorecard of Theresa Salerno — which, for dramatic effect, I didn’t display until now.

For whatever reason, Salerno neglected to enter selections for any of the four races from Los Alamitos in this 12-race tourney. Nevertheless, she managed to finish in a tie for second—and win an NHC seat—in a 576-entry qualifier. I don’t think I have seen anything like this before. And for you youngsters out there…do not try this at home.

Saturday had a noteworthy NHC qualifier of its own at HorsePlayers.

Dave Portnoy won Saturday’s NHC Low Ratio qualifier by a whopping $89.20 on the strength of 8 winners and 1 runner up. He easily had the day’s best score ($187.60), thanks in part to 23-1 Royal Justice in the 10th at Horseshoe Indy. Portnoy now gets a seat (barstool?) at the March 2026 event—where he can enjoy unfettered access to the contest-wagering kiosks.

Another Royal Justice fan was Louis Melone (4 wins, 2 places).

Melone took home the $1,000 berth at the conclusion of Saturday’s Haskell Challenge qualifier.

Shad Walton was another who smoked out Royal Justice.

Walton recorded 6 firsts and a second on the way to the $7,124 grand prize in Saturday’s $10,177 Big Bucks Pick & Pray.

Terrence Frank was the victor in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Pick & Pray tourney qualifier. 

Royal Justice plus one other winner and two places got the job done for Frank.

Three players earned $2,500 spots in Saturday’s Spa & Surf Showdown qualifier. 

Congratulations to Mark Winland (4 wins, 0 places), Mike Thomas (4W, 3P) and Ryan Petrunyak (5W, 0P). Winland and Thomas scored big with Royal Justice. Petrunyak, meanwhile, got his seat despite missing the Horseshoe Indy 23-1 shot. Petrunyak’s best return came with Twisted Filigree ($20.20, $9.40) in race 8 at Saratoga.

Dave “Gambling Actuary” Nichols had a nice ending to his holiday weekend.

Nichols hit Hangover Heaven at the end and 2 winners and 3 runners up before that to grab the $3,500 berth in Sunday’s qualifier to the Keeneland BCBC-NHC Challenge.

The same picks got him a $1,000 Haskell Challenge entry.

Nichols ran second to fellow seat winner Mike Zara (3 wins, 2 places). Zara zeroed in successfully on both 13-1 Dangherecomesshang in the 7th at Saratoga and Hangover Heaven in the 10th at the Spa.

Scott Cavalieri also came up with Dangherecomesshang and Hangover Heaven.

Cavalieri (3 firsts, 1 second) took Sunday’s HT Tour game, our $20,000 Gtd. Pick & Pray, which was ultimately worth a total of $27,125. The winner’s share for Cavalieri came to $12,206.

Over at HorsePlayers, Joe “Kramer vs.” Kramer and Thomas Michael Abinanti also played both Dangherecomesshang and Hangover Heaven.

Kramer (5 wins, 1 place) and Abinanti punched their tickets to the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge in Sunday’s Low Ratio qualifier to the world’s most prestigious live-bankroll contest.

Thomas Mayberry swept the final five contest races on Sunday.

Mayberry finished with 6 wins and 2 places, which was good for first place in Sunday’s $210 NHC Pick & Pray at HorsePlayers. The other available package went to Jim Atwell, whose 2 firsts and 3 seconds included Dangherecomesshang.

Thanks to all of you for including HorseTourneys in your Fourth-of-July-week plans. More featured tourneys come your way on Wednesday, more recaps on Monday and Del Mar racing joins the mix not too long after that. Until then, good luck!