The daily grind can be a mundane, soul-crushing pursuit…a pie-eating contest for which the prize is more pie. Unless, of course, you’re Eldon Stivers.

For most of the world, the workweek begins on Mondays, but for HorseTourneys featured-event players, the start of the week is Wednesday. Stivers arose that morning, grabbed his lunchpail, and got to work on handicapping the contest races for that day’s $5,000 guaranteed cash game. 

It was a job well done. Stivers recorded 4 wins and 1 place. One of those winners was All Class ($23.60, $9.00) in the 8th at Saratoga, and Stivers took home the up-top money of $2,955 in a game that was ultimately worth a total of $6,566. For the industrious Stivers, it was a day’s work for a day’s pay.

Rather than rest on his laurels or call in sick, Stivers showed up right on time for Thursday’s Spa & Surf Showdown qualifier.

Again, Stivers’s work was exemplary. On this day, he only came up with 2 wins and a place, but one of them was Zakat ($38.00, $16.80) in the 7th at Saratoga. Stivers and runner up Terry Jerge (2W, 0P) each earned $2,500 places in the $400,000 guaranteed competition here on August 23-24.

On Friday, Stivers’s professionalism was on further display.

In Friday’s Spa & Surf Showdown qualifier, Stivers showed that he could be a team player…that he didn’t need to lead the way on every project. At this job site, Stivers placed second behind Craig Popowcer (3 wins, 1 place), but he was every bit as happy as if he finished first. Third-place contestant Vaughn Bair (3W, 2P) also got a Showdown seat. We’re sure that Stivers was happy for him too.

Even when yielding the spotlight to others, however, Stivers manages to have his work stick out. While Popowcer and Bair both took the more conventional route of hitting the day’s biggest-priced winner—Circuit Court ($28.40, $11.20) in the 8th at Saratoga—Stivers chose to get the job done by utilizing My Kat ($23.20, $8.80) in race 3 at Del Mar. That’s craftsmanship, ladies and gentlemen.

Max Schnepf and Rafael Lopez did some pretty good work of their own on Wednesday.

Schnepf (5 wins, 2 places) and Lopez (5W, 1P, including the final three winners) will be among those who Stivers faces in the Spa & Surf Showdown. That was the result of them running one-two in Wednesday’s qualifier to the fourth leg of the 2025 HT Champions Series.

Thursday’s cash-game hero was Jeffrey Ferrazano (3 firsts, 1 second). 

Like Stivers and Terry Jerge, Ferrazano connected with 18-1 Zakat in the 7th at Saratoga. Ferrazano pocketed $4,168 in Thursday’s $6,000 Gtd. Pick & Pray, which closed with a final purse of $9,262.

Zakat also figured prominently in the outcome of Thursday’s $125 NHC qualifier at HorsePlayers.

Robert Wada had Zakat plus 2 other winners and 1 runner up to punch his ticket to Vegas next March.

Friday’s NHC qualifier, carrying a $75 buy-in, attracted 541 signups at HorsePlayers.

First-place finisher Paul Lambros (4 wins, 2 places) nailed the day’s two most lucrative winners—Circuit Court and My Kat. So did runner up Mark Sturza (3W, 3P). Third-place contestant Dylan Donnelly was already double-qualified and, thus, playing solely for NHC Tour points. That left the final available NHC spot to Dan “Spoonful of” Shugar (5W, 1P), who checked in fourth.

In Friday’s HT Tour competition, our $15,000 Gtd. Pick & Pray, Dylan Donnelly was eligible for full prizes. He wound up getting maximum prizes. 

Donnelly had the Circuit Court-My Kat “double”, and he collected the $10,698 grand prize in a game that paid out a total of $23,773.

Ted “Forbidden” Apple (3 wins, 2 places) and Steven Meier (4W, 1P) both appreciated the verdict that they received from Circuit Court.

Apple and Meier picked up $3,500 seats in Friday’s qualifier to the October 11 Keeneland Fall BCBC-NHC Challenge.

Circuit Court was also present on the scorecards of Brian O’Kane (3 wins, 3 places) and first-ever New York, New York Challenge champion Anthony “ATM” Mattera (3W, 1P).

O’Kane and Mattera each grabbed $10,000 seats in a BCBC Low Ratio qualifier at HorsePlayers that attracted enough entrants for two berths to be handed out rather than just the single, guaranteed seat.

Circuit Court was one of two Friday winners for Drew Keaton.

Keaton snagged the $2,000 entry in this week’s lone qualifier to the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Pick & Pray tourney—a $300,000 Guaranteed tilt here on Breeders’ Cup weekend (October 31-November 1).

Emulating Eldon Stivers, Keaton came right back the following day and won again.

This time, it was the $6,106 Big Bucks Pick & Pray in which Keaton prevailed. His scoresheet contained 3 firsts and 4 seconds, with his highest return coming from Daisy Flyer ($16.40, $7.80) in race 9, the Lake George Stakes, at Saratoga.

Mike Elsass (6 firsts, 2 places) also won money thanks, in part, to Daisy Flyer.

Elsass bagged $15,107 for taking our richest tourney of the week, our $25,000 Guaranteed tourney (an HT Tour event), which closed with a final pot of $33,572. Elsass made collections in each of the first five contest heats.

Stephen Franklin was another Daisy Flyer backer.

Franklin (4 wins, 1 place) reeled in the $3,500 entry in Saturday’s qualifier to the Keeneland Fall BCBC-NHC Challenge.

Jim Kasperski (6 wins, 2 places) and Jason Phillips (4W, 1P) came away with the Vegas packages in Saturday’s $210 NHC qualifier at HorsePlayers.

Daisy Flyer was common to their scorecards.

Gregg “Sky” Kingma counted Daisy Flyer among his 6 firsts and 2 seconds on Saturday.

Kingma secured himself the $10,000 seat in Saturday’s $179 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge qualifier at HorsePlayers. Finishing closest to Kingma was Eddie “Hoss” Inman, who received a $5,000 partial BCBC entry for his efforts.

For Stephan Gravina, the big horse on Saturday was Prime Motive ($17.00, $6.00) in the 8th at Monmouth.

Gravina departed with the $2,500 seat in his pocket at the conclusion of Saturday’s Kentucky Downs King of the Turf Challenge qualifier.

Prime Motive was also the “heavy lifter” for Derek Isenberg (5 wins, 2 places) and James Lisowsky (2W, 3P).

Isenberg and Lisowsky were the two players to eclipse the $80.00 plateau—and, thus, win $2,500 berths—in Saturday’s multi-track Spa & Surf Showdown qualifier.

There was also a Saratoga-only, full-card qualifier to the Spa & Surf Showdown on Saturday.

Jim Burrell (4 wins, 2 places) had Hedge the Risk ($7.10, $4.30) in the 12th and final from the Spa, and that moved him from 3rd place with one race left to 1st place with no races left.

Sunday was a good day for past winners of HorseTourneys “majors”.

Our 2023 Spa & Surf Showdown champion Anthony Spinazzola made collections in the first five contest races, including a big hit in the opener with Gerrards Cross ($29.80, $13.80) in race 7, the Colleen Stakes, at Monmouth. Spinazzola finished with 3 wins, 3 places and a score of $83.00—good for a $3,500 seat in Sunday’s Keeneland Fall BCBC-NHC Challenge qualifier.

The 2021 The BIG One champ Ken Seeman and 2024 Flo-Cal Faceoff victor Michael Solakis finished first and second, respectively, in Sunday’s Spa & Surf Showdown qualifier.

There were enough entries signed on for three $2,500 seats to be awarded and that last one went to Stephen Thompson. Seeman (5 wins, 1 place) and Thompson (4W, 2P) both scored with Gerrards Cross. The top return for Solakis (5W, 2P) came with Capitol Idea ($17.60, $7.80) in the 9th at Saratoga.

Obviously, Stephen Thompson did well to get his Spa & Surf Showdown seat. That performance, however, paled in comparison to what he did in Sunday’s free NHC qualifier at HorsePlayers.

Thompson stockpiled 7 winners and 1 runner up here to defeat 1,692 rivals and win this four-seat qualifier. He had Gerrards Cross in both games, but, here, he hit Capitol Idea as well. Also picking up ultra-low-cost Vegas packages in this one were Ron Watson (7W, 4P), Christopher Hancock and Warren Rubinstein (5W, 2P). Surprisingly, Hancock got himself into third place without having picked Gerrards Cross at the outset. However, he overcame that omission by racking up 9 wins and 4 places from the 15 contest races. Truly a signature performance by Hancock!

The 2022 NHC Tour champ Jay Johns won the day’s featured cash game, our $20,000 Guaranteed tourney, which closed with a final prize pool of $27,125.

Johns hit Gerrards Cross plus another five winners and two places after that. His winner’s share amounted to $12,206. Ken Seeman, the previously-mentioned winner of Sunday’s Spa & Surf Showdown qualifier, reported home in second and earned $4,882.

Gerrards Cross gave Dr. Ronald Tang a running start in Sunday’s Kentucky Downs King of the Turf Challenge qualifier.

Tang smoked out 3 winners and 2 runners up in all en route to the $2,500 entry.

The three players to score in the 70s were the three to earn $800 seats in our first qualifier to the Monmouth/Saratoga contest on August 23 at Monmouth/Xpressbet.

Congratulations to Derek Deutsch (5 wins, 0 places), Sean Nolan (3W, 2P) and Gregory Lewis (6W, 1P). Deutsch’s best winner was Capitol Idea. Nolan smoked out Gerrards Cross. Lewis, meanwhile, hit 6 of the final 7 winners. His top winner of the day was a modest one—Ennis Town ($10.00, $5.20) in race 10 at Saratoga.

Ian “Live” Weyer got off to an inauspicious start, whiffing on the first four contest races, but he had 4 wins and 2 places over the finale eight to capture Sunday’s Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge Low Ratio qualifier at HorsePlayers.

Weyer got himself into contention by playing Capitol Idea. In the final contest race—with the leaderboard tight at the top—he jumped from 6th to 1st by hitting Essential Nation ($9.20, $4.60) in the 4th at Del Mar. Kevin Willett exited with a $5,000 partial BCBC entry for coming in second.

More prizes, more fun and, of course, more recaps are on tap in the week ahead. Featured tourneys resume on Wednesday. Eldon Stivers will see you then.