From time to time, players have asked us about possibly running a meet-long Survivor contest. Well now it’s happening.

On Friday, October 3, we will offer a “Super Survivor” tourney coinciding with the opening of the Keeneland Fall meet. Here’s how it works:

The one-time entry fee is $50. You pick just one horse (plus an alternate selection in that same race) from the day’s card, and if that one selection finishes first, second or third, you advance to the next racing day. The contest ends when there is just one “Survivor” remaining. That person takes the entire prize pool. If there are multiple survivors at the end of the Keeneland meeting (October 25), the pot will get shared equally among all such players.

Here are some important details to keep in mind:

Each day’s action will take place in “All-Optional Live” format, meaning you can enter your daily selection right up until that race closes here at HorseTourneys (roughly when half of the field has been loaded). 

While you may consider short fields to be “your friend” in Survivor contests, this may not always be the case. To advance in our Super Survivor contest with a 3rd-place finisher, there must be Show wagering offered on the race. To advance with a 2nd-place finisher, Place wagering must be offered. It is incumbent on you, the player, to be aware of any late-breaking developments (e.g. late scratches) that could unexpectedly eliminate Place or Show wagering.

(According to Kentucky racing rules, a racetrack has the option of canceling Show wagering when there are five or fewer betting interests in a race. A track has the option of canceling Show AND Place wagering when four or fewer betting interests exist.)

Scratches are treated just the same as in all of our other tourneys—a scratched selection moves your pick to chosen alternate selection. If both your main and alternate picks get scratched, you move to the post-time favorite.

We decided to offer this new Super Survivor contest based on popular demand—and just because it seems fun, and because we have the technological capability to do it. If this initial Super Survivor tourney does well, we will continue the concept and possibly expand it with multiple price points. 

For now, though, we’ll start with the $50-buy-in Keeneland game on October 3. If you manage to hang in there for a few days, you might wind up getting quite a lot of action for that $50. 

And if you don’t want to risk a $50 entry fee…well, there are feeders available right now that will enable you to earn a place in the “starting gate” on October 3 for just $12. 

Note that there is a limit of three entries per account in this initial Super Survivor event.

There is no limit to the amount of fun—or frustration—you might experience between October 3 and the end of the contest. “Surviving” each day is not as easy as some of you may think. (Just ask someone who had the Broncos in their NFL Survivor pool last Sunday.) Horse racing may not have “leverage penalties,” but it certainly has bad rides…and dead rails…and disqualifications.

Be that as it may…good luck!