Last week, we paid tribute to 2025 HT Tour champion Dave Nichols. Clearly, Edward Enborg said, “Enough of that!”

On Friday, Enborg racked up 4 firsts and 5 seconds from just 10 contest races to collect $9,996 in our first HT Tour event of the new year, our $15,000 Gtd. Pick & Pray, which ultimately paid out a total of $22,213.

Somebody had to win that FIRST HT Tour game, of course—and it’s a long year. But putting up two HT Tour victories in the year’s very first weekend? Now THAT’S impressive—and that’s exactly what Enborg did.

Tally #2 came in our richest tourney of the week, Saturday’s $25,000 Guaranteed cash game, which closed with a final purse of $33,880. This day, his best return came from Russian Realm ($14.98, $7.68) in the 8th at Aqueduct. In all, he piled up 6 wins and a place. That gave him a two-day total of 10 wins and 6 places from 22 contest races—and a much more important two-day total of $25,242 in money won.

Perhaps it seemed like an afterthought to him, but Enborg also picked up a $500 Laurel Handicapping Challenge entry on Saturday.

Enborg defeated all except Gregory Lewis (6 wins, 2 places), who also hit Russian Realm.

Despite the multi-faceted exploits of Enborg, there’s no need to worry that the game has passed Dave Nichols by in 2026.

Nichols (2 wins, 4 places) won a $6,500 Pegasus World Cup Betting Challenge package for finishing second behind Ellen Patrick-Leavell (4W, 2P) and ahead of fellow Pegasus participant-to-be Daniel Fischer (4W, 0P). 

Nichols and Fischer also accounted for half of the four available $1,500 seats in Saturday’s qualifier to the $200,000 Gtd. Flo-Cal Faceoff here on January 31-February 1.

The other two went to first-place finisher Evan Trommer (6 wins, 1 place) and Rick “I-65” Broth (4W, 2P). Trommer’s best pick was Paynted Warrior ($16.60, $4.60) in the 7th at Tampa. Broth’s day heated up with Hollen Drive ($15.60, $5.20) in race 9 at Gulfstream and came to a boil with Pass the Hat ($10.40, $5.00) in the final contest race, the 11th at the Hallandale, Fla., oval

Speaking of Florida, Nichols will be at a different Sunshine State racetrack on February 20-21.

That’s because the same Hollen Drive-highlighted selections landed Nichols on top of the leaderboard in Saturday’s qualifier to the High Rollers Handicapping Contest at Tampa Bay Downs.

Rain kayoed our featured-tourney schedule on Wednesday, so the first marquee games of last week took place on the first day of the year. It was definitely a Happy New Year for Christopher Olsson.

Olsson scored with Haute Diva ($31.60, $8.80) in the 8th at Gulfstream plus 2 other winners and 3 runners up to lead the way in Thursday’s special $125 NHC qualifier at HorsePlayers. Also punching their tickets to Vegas in this one were triple-digit scorers Kerry Bassore (3 wins, 3 places) and Dennis Gates (3W, 4P). Bassore and Gates also connected with Haute Diva.

Olsson wound up as the Thursday high scorer…

…and since he used the same picks in the day’s Laurel Handicapping Challenge qualifier, he captured that one too.

The first cash-game feature of the New Year went to Frank “54-40 or fight” Polk (4 wins, 1 place).

Polk hit Haute Diva en route to winning $5,585 in Thursday’s $10,000 Guaranteed holiday Pick & Pray, which closed with a final pot of $13,963.

Another Haute Diva fan was Michael Sussman (3 firsts, 1 second).

Sussman exited with the $10,000 seat at the conclusion of Thursday’s Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge Low Ratio qualifier at HorsePlayers. Wes Herek received a $5,000 partial BCBC entry for reporting home in second position.

Four players added their names on New Year’s Day to the roster of participants for the Flo-Cal Faceoff.

Congratulations to Kevin Engelhard (3 wins, 2 places), Raj Satyan (2W, 3P), The People’s CFO Joe “JK” Koury (3W, 1P) and William Claunch (2W, 2P). Engelhard, Koury and Claunch all smoked out Haute Diva. Satyan’s stable star was Fantasy Performer ($20.40, $7.80) in the 9th at Gulfstream.

Michael Pribozie also backed Fantasy Performer. 

Pribozie swept the final four races to finish with 6 wins and 1 place on the day. He led the field in Thursday’s Houston Betting Championship qualifier—which also saw David McPfimeloronti (3W, 4P) secure a $1,500 berth for finishing second (thanks in no small part to Haute Diva). 

Friday’s Houston Betting Championship play-in awarded one seat.

It went to Chad Passante (3 firsts, 4 seconds). Passante came up with the day’s biggest price—Bank Shot ($18.40, $8.60) in race 1 at Santa Anita.

Jean Demarco (6 wins, 2 places), Todd “American” Faro (6W, 1P) and Chris Cupples (4W, 3P) all banked on Bank Shot.

They captured the three available packages in Friday’s $75 NHC qualifier at HorsePlayers.

The bank was also open for Thomas Mayberry.

Mayberry stockpiled 6 firsts and 2 seconds in taking the other Friday feature at HorsePlayers, a $500 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge Low Ratio qualifier.

Mike McIntyre sank Bank Shot plus 3 other winners and 1 runner up.

McIntyre earned a $500 entry in Friday’s qualifier to the February 14 Laurel Handicapping Challenge.

Craig Amundson (5 wins, 3 places) and Steven Lipinski (also 5W, 3P) each came away with $3,500 seats in Friday’s qualifier to the April 11 Keeneland Grade One Gamble.

Amundson’s five winners came consecutively. He and Lipinski both played Bank Shot.

Joe “Tex” Scanio chipped away with 3 wins and 4 places and gradually reeled in the $1,000 berth in Friday’s qualifier to the Lone Star Simulcast Betting Challenge on February 7. 

Scanio’s best return came from Princess Britni ($8.20, $4.60) in race 8 at Tampa.

Larry Pirollo hit Bank Shot plus the final 3 contest-race winners, while John Vail had Bank Shot along with the final two winners.

Pirollo (5 wins, 1 place) and Vail (4W, 2P) will square off again on February 20-21 in the High Rollers Handicapping Contest at Tampa Bay Downs.

Before that, Vail has a date in the Jan, 31-February 1 Flo-Cal Faceoff.

Using the same picks as in the Tampa play-in, Vail led a group of four Friday Flo-Cal seat winners. The other three were Evan Trommer (4 wins, 1 place), Matthew Trommer (4W, 1P) and Kevin Walsh (5W, 0P). The Trommers shared an appreciation of Bank Shot. In order to get up for fourth, Walsh needed to hit the “late double,” which included Katies a Lady ($10.20, $6.60) in the 9th at Tampa.

For Evan Trommer, the Flo-Cal seat was one of two he grabbed over the weekend. We mentioned earlier that he got one on Saturday (as did Rick Broth, Dave Nichols and Daniel Fischer). Trommer also added a Keeneland Grade One Gamble seat to his portfolio on Saturday.

Trommer (5 wins, 2 places) had Paynted Warrior ($16.60, $4.60) fairly early on in the 7th at Tampa, but later he used Pass the Hat ($10.40, $5.00) at the end in the 11th at Gulfstream to jump from 4th-place to 1st.

The five highest win prices on Saturday were (in chronological order) $16.60, $14.98, $15.20, $15.60 and $10.00. That meant that there were many paths to victory…and that no one horse was a “must have.” For Ryan Mueller, the best winner of the day on Saturday was Hollen Drive ($15.60, $5.20) in race 9 at Gulfstream.

Mueller earned passage to Vegas in Saturday’s $500 NHC Low Ratio qualifier at HorsePlayers.

Another Saturday NHC ticket puncher was Tim Holland (6 wins, 2 places).

Holland took Saturday $210 NHC qualifier–a test restricted to those who had yet to nail down a 2026 seat. His most productive pick was Russian Realm ($14.98, $7.68) in race 8 at Aqueduct.

Paynted Warrior was the leading parimutuel warrior for Peter “Sharp Dressed Man” Dresens on Saturday.

Dresens (4 firsts, 3 seconds) earned the low-cost Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge seat in Saturday’s $179 qualifier at HorsePlayers. 

Earlier it was noted that Gregory Lewis edged Edward Enborg in Saturday’s Laurel Handicapping Challenge qualifier. Lewis also finished first in Saturday’s Houston Betting Championship play-in.

Lewis enjoyed 6 wins and 2 places, including Russian Realm. Second-place finisher Craig White also garnered a $1,500 berth. White prospered with Paynted Warrior plus 4 other winners and 2 places.

Final-contest-race winner Pass the Hat ($10.40, $5.00) boosted Jim Trepinski from 3rd to 1st in Saturday’s 7-player, $7,124 Big Bucks Pick & Pray.

Trepinski finished with 3 firsts and 4 seconds and pocketed the up-top money of $4,986.

On the final Sunday of 2025, William “Bubble” Gumm won an NHC seat in a $165 Pick & Pray here at HorseTourneys. On the first Sunday of 2026, it was the same story.

Gumm swept the first three contest heats, including the 6th at Tampa, which was won by Battalion Leader ($27.20, $13.80). He finished with 6 wins and 1 place in all to secure entry #2 for himself in Vegas. Also advancing here to the Vegas finals was another Battalion Leader follower, Ernest “Say” Hey Jr. (4 wins, 3 places).

It became clear on Sunday that Edward Enborg will not win every HT Tour event in 2026.

Daniel Edwards broke the streak, collecting $12,796 in our $20,000 Guaranteed cash game, which closed its doors with $28,437 in the kitty. For Edwards, the best Sunday return among 5 wins and 4 places came on a max $22.00 place payoff with Lady Delilah, who finished 2nd in the 6th at Aqueduct at odds of 28-1.

Sunday’s highest scorer was Bob Gianquitti, who amassed $119.64 on 4 wins and 4 places.

Battalion Leader was Gianquitti’s heaviest lifter en route to victory in Sunday’s Houston Betting Championship qualifier. 

Battalion Leader was also part of Dr. Ronald Tang’s 3-win, 2-place Sunday. 

Tang recorded victories in two very nice Sunday qualifiers—one to the Pegasus World Cup Betting Championship and the other to the Keeneland Grade One Gamble.

The Southern California oncologist also did not go away empty handed in Sunday’s Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge Low Ratio qualifier at HorsePlayers. 

Tang got a $5,000 partial entry for topping all except $10,000 seat earner Dave “The Warrior” Smyth (5 firsts, 1 second). Smyth’s five winners (one of which was Battalion Leader) came over the first six tourney races—including one in each of the first three.

Battalion Leader could also be found on the scorecard of recent Pick & Pray Classic champion Lawrence Kahlden (4 firsts, 3 seconds). 

Kahlden snagged the $1,000 seat in Sunday’s qualifier to the High Rollers Handicapping Contest at Tampa.

The three players to score $70.00 or better were the three to emerge with $1,500 entries in Sunday’s play-in to the $200,000 Gtd. Flo-Cal Faceoff.

Congrats to Paul Fishman (4 wins, 3 places), Jon “Hurricane” Hurd (4W, 2P) and Jeff Bussan (3W, 2P). Battalion Leader was the greatest common denominator to their scoresheets.

Jonathan Holden swept the final four contest races, including a hit with Carlin Connection ($16.26, $5.88) in the 4th at Aqueduct.

Holden finished the day with five winners—and a paid-up, $500 berth in the Laurel Handicapping Challenge.

Time for a quick update on the Gulfstream Super Survivor tourney.

What started out as an 86-entry event is now down to 15 after nine more players were eliminated on Sunday’s Day 10. Those 15 entrants (comprised of 11 individual players since four are still alive with a pair of entries) will continue to battle it out for the winner-take-all prize of $3,784.

The week ahead marks the beginning of one of the more exciting times of the year for many of you—NHC Last Chance First Chance qualifying season! Last year, there were more than 1,000 entries in the NHC Eve event. Will this year’s renewal need to be moved to Allegiant Stadium? On Wednesday, we’ll start to get a feel for the answer. Good luck if you partake!