Earning an NHC seat is always heady stuff. Earning an NHC and making money while doing it is an even greater feeling. Curtis Brodzina and Eric “Skeet” Boyd both knew that feeling last week.

Brodzina punched his ticket to Vegas on Sunday, picking 6 winners en route a first-place finish in the $165 qualifier here at HorseTourneys. He and fellow package winner Patrick “Gino” Gianforte (3 firsts, 1 second) both hit the day’s biggest price — Steelin Bases ($28.80, $13.80) — in the final contest race, the 10th at Gulfstream.

Come March, Brodzina will have plenty of pocket money should he wish to enjoy some fancy dinners or engage in some games of chance other than horse races.

Utilizing the same selections, Brodzina also banked $11,320 for capturing Sunday’s HT Tour battle, our $20,000 Gtd. Pick & Pray, which closed with a final purse of $25,156. 

Two days earlier, defending HT Tour and Flo-Cal Faceoff champ Eric Boyd pulled off a comparable twin killing.

There were two giant prices in races 8 and 9 at Tampa on Friday and Boyd (3 wins, 4 places) had ‘em both—Greyzer ($92.60, $32.60) in the 8th and Big Lous Messenger ($40.40, $14.20) in the 9th. Boyd’s gaudy final score of $174.20 got him the top spot in Friday’s $75 NHC qualifier at HorsePlayers. The runner up, Jill Matzat, was already double qualified. So that left the other available Vegas package to third-place finisher Jim Henry (3W, 2P). He also sniffed out both legs of the lucrative Tampa “late double”.

Boyd’s score in the day’s HT Tour event, our $15,000 Gtd. Pick & Pray, was $64.00 less than his tally in the NHC play-in (since he didn’t have Greyzer in the cash game), but he still managed to prevail.

For this victory, Boyd pocketed $7,855 in a game that was ultimately worth a total of $17,456. This result could also help the West Texas native in the 2025 HT Tour standings. He was in third place behind Dave Nichols and Evan Trommer at the start of last week.

Due to the cancellation of racing first at Parx and later—after two races were run—at Mahoning Valley, we lost our Wednesday featured schedule. As a result, our first marquee game last week was Thursday’s $6,000 Gtd. Pick & Pray, which closed with a pot of $7,811.

Mark “Santana” Tabakman (5 firsts, 1 second) recorded a $23.00 triumph in this one. His best winner along the way to a $3,515 payday was Kichi Kitsu ($24.80, $11.40) in race 10 at Mahoning Valley.

Friday’s Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge Low Ratio qualifier went to Grant Underwood, despite him having just two collections (a win and a place).

It helps, of course, when one of your two collections is a cap horse like 45-1 Greyzer!

William Holobowski (6 wins, including the final four, plus 1 place) and Craig “Home Sweet” Hot (3W, 1P) were the two players to crack the century mark and the two to earn $1,500 berths in Friday’s qualifier to the $200,000 Gtd. Flo-Cal Faceoff here on January 31-February 1.

Holobowski nailed both Greyzer and Big Lous Messenger. Hom came up with the latter.

There were also two $1,500 seat winners in Friday’s Santa Anita Opening Day Challenge qualifier (which will now have to wait a couple of days given the rain in Southern California).

Congratulations to Chris Bahr (6 wins, 2 places) and Steven Meier (2W, 1 P). Bahr scored with Big Lous Messenger at the end. Meier hit Greyzer a half hour before that.

Three seats were awarded in Saturday’s Santa Anita Opening Day Challenge play-in.

They went to The People’s CFO, Joe “JK” Koury (3 wins, 1 place), Peter Rinato (1W, 1P) and Tom Lenberg (5W, 2P). Koury and Rinato each connected on the day’s big bomb—Zee Fire ($64.00, $22.20)—in race 8 at what was the home of big prices last week, Tampa Bay Downs. Lenberg’s best return came from Money Trail, who paid $16.60 to place after running 2nd in race 9…at Tampa.

Dave Ramold (4 wins, 2 places) caught fire with Zee Fire.

Ramold bagged the $12,058 top prize in our richest tourney of the week, Saturday’s $25,000 Gtd. Pick & Pray (an HT Tour event), which closed with a final pot of $26,796.

Another Zee Fire fan was Howard Yancovitch.

Yancovitch (6 wins, 1 place) took home the $10,000 seat following play in Saturday’s $179 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge qualifier at HorsePlayers.

The other Saturday featured tourney at HorsePlayers was a $165 NHC qualifier that was restricted to those who had yet to secure a 2026 seat.

After picking 3 winners that included Zee Fair, Wayne Eigelbach is no longer among the ranks of the unqualified for 2026.

The two players to exceed the $80.00 mark were the two who earned $1,500 entries in Saturday’s Flo-Cal Faceoff qualifier.

That skillful pair was Mark Heider (4 wins, 0 places) and Brian Flynn (5W, 1P). Heider was a happy Zee Fair supporter. Flynn’s best pick was Crevalle d’Oro ($22.40, $9.00) in race 9 at Gulfstream, the Suwannee River Stakes.

Michael Odorisio didn’t hit any big prices on Saturday, but he consistently chipped away with 6 wins and a place.

Odorisio grabbed the $1,000 entry in our first qualifier to the February 7 Lone Star Simulcast Betting Challenge. His highest yielding horse was Boss Henry ($9.40, $5.80) in race 7 at Gulfstream.

Sticking with the Texas theme for a bit longer, Phil Hoedebeck (3 wins, 2 places) and Gary Lee Russell (3W, 0P) were the two $1,500 seat winners in Saturday’s Houston Betting Championship qualifier.

Hoedebeck smoked out Zee Fair. Russell managed to skate by thanks in part to Sonja Henie ($12.00, $6.00) in the 9th at Tampa.

Evan Trommer enjoyed a profitable weekend.

Trommer (7 wins, 0 places) and first-place finisher Derek Lapikas (2W, 2P) exited with the available $6,500 packages at the conclusion of Saturday’s Pegasus World Cup Betting Championship qualifier. Lapikas used Zee Fair as his primary springboard to success. The best of Trommer’s seven winners was Crevalle d’Oro.

Trommer’s score wasn’t nearly as good in Saturday’s $4,071 Big Bucks Pick & Pray, but he got where he wanted to be in that one too.

Tampa race 9 runner up Money Trail was Trommer’s biggest source of money among 3 firsts and 2 seconds in this one. His reward was $2,849.

Another reward came Trommer’s way on Sunday.

His 4 wins and 1 place resulted in a first-place performance in our first qualifier to the February 14 Laurel Handicapping Challenge. In what was a tight, defensive-minded struggle, NHC Hall of Famer Dennis Decauwer (3W, 2P) finished second, and he, too, received a $500 entry. Trommer’s most lucrative piek was States United in race 6 at, appropriately enough, Laurel. Decauwer’s heavy lifter was Etendre ($8.80, $5.00) in the 7th at Gulfstream.

Sunday was also the day of our first qualifier to the High Rollers Handicapping Contest, to be hosted at Tampa Bay Downs on February 20-21. 

Matt “The Fly” Tietze (4 wins, 1 place) and Joe “Tex” Scanio (4W, 0P) landed the $1,000 entries in this one. It was Chipotle ($10.80, $4.00) in the 8th at Laurel that did the most to help Tietze and Scanio bowl over their competition.

Joel Wincowski hit the big price of the day in the final contest race—Steelin Bases ($28.80, $13.80) in the 10th at Gulfstream.

College administrator Wincowski earned admission to the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge thanks to a total of 5 winners in Sunday’s Low Ratio qualifier at HorsePlayers.

Barbara Small (4 wins, 2 places) and Frank “Plaster of” Paros (4W, 3P) both had Steelin Bases on their minds. 

Steelin Bases helped give them a nice lead (usually it’s the other way around), and they picked up the $1,500 entries in Sunday’s Santa Anita Opening Day Challenge qualifier.

There were three winners in Sunday’s Flo-Cal Faceoff qualifier.

Congratulations to Rafael Lopez (2 wins, 3 places), William Claunch (1W, 3P) and Raj Satyan (1W, 1P). They were all “Steelin Bases” (and $1,500 seats) at the end.

For Michelle “Sermon on the” Mount, the big Sunday horse was Wine on Sunday ($10.00, $4.60) in the 6th at Gulfstream.

Mount (3 firsts, 4 seconds) ascended to the top in Sunday’s Houston Betting Championship qualifier.

Before we sign off, we want to let you know that 60 entrants remain alive in the Gulfstream Super Survivor tourney, which began last Saturday with a field of 86 entries. This competition (requiring players to make one pick a day that hits the board) will continue until there is just one person left. That individual will earn a winner-take-all prize of $3,784. If there is enough time—and we expect that there will be—we’ll offer another Gulfstream Super Survivor contest on the South Florida track’s Championship Meet once this current Super Survivor battle has been decided. 

There will be plenty more featured tourneys in the week ahead, but the true highlight of the week is Christmas Day, the one day of the year in which we go dark. We hope you and your loved ones enjoy a wonderful holiday week. Safe travels to all who will be hitting the road.