Handicapping is difficult enough that any good day is worth celebrating. William McMillan didn’t have just one day to feel happy about, though. He was on a near-weeklong heater.

It began on Thursday.

McMillan only picked two winners, but one of them was Orange Thunder ($41.20, $19.80) in the 5th at Del Mar. That allowed him to defeat everyone except Ted “Forbidden” Apple in Thursday’s Monmouth/Xpressbet Whitney Day Challenge. Orange Thunder was the apple of Ted’s eye among five different winners.

After a good night’s sleep, McMillan was back at it on Friday

He came out firing with three winners right away en route to a 4-win, 1-place day that brought him a $2,500 seat in Friday’s qualifier to the $400,000 Gtd. Spa & Surf Showdown here on August 29-30. Runner up William Claunch (4W, 1P as well) also secured a spot in Leg 4 of the 2026 HT Champions Series. He and McMillan both connected on Little Tinker Elle ($17.20, $7.60) in race 2 at Del Mar.

Utilizing the same selections, McMillan also grabbed himself yet another Monmouth/Xpressbet Whitney Day Challenge entry.

McMillan ended up second in what was a four seater. The other happy participants were Little Tinker Elle fans Christopher Olsson (4 wins, 1 place), Dan Weisenburger (4W, 2P) and NHC Hall of Famer Cheryl McIntyre (4W, 0P).

Saturday was quiet for McMillan. Sunday was not.

What’s Your Style ($15.60, $6.60) in the 8th at Gulfstream was McMillan’s biggest score booster among 6 firsts and 2 seconds. McMillan topped the leaderboard in Sunday’s Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge Low Ratio qualifier, which had enough entrants for two $10,000 seats to be awarded. The other one went to Kevin Willett (3 wins, 2 places). He had the biggest price of the day—Island Spirit ($39.20, $13.60) in race 7 at Monmouth.

McMillan bagged his second Spa & Surf Showdown entry of the week in Sunday’s play-in to the two-day event near the end of this month.

Here, he finished second—behind fellow seat winners Jason Alonzo (4 wins, 3 places) and ahead of Jeff Bussan (5W, 1P). Alonzo and Bussan each nailed Island Spirit.

McMillan also did not go away empty-handed in Sunday’s NHC qualifier.

He was already double-qualified and, thus, not eligible to win a berth in this three-seater, but he got NHC Tour points aplenty after reporting home in third position. Punching their tickets to Vegas were “The Admiral” Steve Nemetz (5 wins, 3 places), Mike Steindler (5W, 1P) and William Claunch (5W, 5P) who, as noted earlier, won a Spa & Surf Showdown seat on Friday. Nemetz and Steindler took the more customary path to Sunday success, having picked Island Spirit. Like McMillan, Claunch got the job done despite missing that 18-1 shot. His most productive pick was Gypsy Tears ($14.20, $6.20) in race 5 at Del Mar.

McMillan and Claunch weren’t the only “multi-day” winners last week. Sunday Spa & Surf Showdown seat securer Jeff Bussan got his featured-tourney week started with a victory in Wednesday’s Monmouth/Xpressbet Whitney Day Challenge qualifier.

Bussan racked up 4 firsts and 3 seconds. They were headed by Littleransomsfire ($14.40, $7.20) in the 4th at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

Mike Yurczyk (1 winner, 4 runners up) also smoked out Littleransomsfire.

Yurczyk picked up the one available $2,500 berth in Wednesday’s Spa & Surf Showdown play-in.

The cash-game hero on Wednesday was Kevin Irwin (2 firsts, 2 seconds).

Irwin scoped out the big bomb of the day—One More Question ($42.40, $15.80) in the 6th at Horseshoe Indy. He pocketed the $2,500 grand prize in Wednesday’s $5,000 Guaranteed cash tourney.

G.T. Nixon was the one in Thursday’s cash feature, our $6,000 Gtd. Pick & Pray.

Nixon doped out Bessie Coleman ($24.00, $8.80) in the 7th at Del Mar plus 4 other winners and 1 runner up. He collected $3,763 in a game ultimately worth a total of $8,364.

Bessie Coleman also looked good to Max Schnepf.

The 11-1 shot was one of three Thursday winners for Schnepf, who took Thursday’s qualifier to the Spa & Surf Showdown.

There was also a $120 NHC qualifier at HorsePlayers.

The victor was Tom “Panama” Cannell, who stockpiled 5 winners, highlighted by Orange Thunder ($41.20, $19.80) in race 5 at Del Mar.

Friday was a day when eight of the 10 contest-race winners paid between $10.34 and $18.80 to win. So there were many, many potential pathways to victory. Friday’s most rewarded player was Raymond Gallant Jr.

Gallant scored with the day’s top price—Captivator ($18.80, $8.40) in the 4th at Del Mar. In all, he accumulated 6 wins and 1 place on the way to a $9,904 payday in Friday’s HT Tour event, our $15,000 Gtd. Pick & Pray, which closed with a final purse of $22,010.

Gallant also grabbed the last of four available packages in Friday’s $70 NHC qualifier at HorsePlayers.

The first three went to Gregory Lewis (5 wins, including 4 in a row early on, 1 place), Myles Richards (4W, 3P) and Cara Yarusso (4W, 3P). Lewis and Richards scored nicely with Little Tinker Elle ($17.20, $7.60) in the 2nd at Del Mar. Yarusso shared Gallant’s fondness for Captivator.

The two players to score in the 70s came away with the $10,000 seats in Friday’s Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge Low Ratio qualifier at HorsePlayers.

Congratulations to 2022 Spa & Surf Showdown champion Tim Hughes—who had Captivator among his 3 wins and 1 place—and Patrick “Gino” Gianforte (also 3W, 1P). Gianforte hung on for 2nd despite not getting a selection in for the final contest heat.

Another Captivator supporter was Dr. Ronald Tang.

Captivator was one of three winners diagnosed by Tang in Friday’s Kentucky Downs King of the Turf Handicapping Challenge qualifier.

In Saturday’s Kentucky Downs King of the Turf Handicapping Challenge qualifier, it only took 2 winners for Louis Constan to get himself to the winner’s circle.

One of those was Ahrens ($30.00, $12.60) in race 8 at Del Mar.

Matt Weikel (4 wins, 1 place), Mark Wilgard (3W, 0P) and NHC Hall of Famer Kevin Engelhard (3W, 1P) all played Ahrens.

They each exited with a $500 entry in their pocket after Saturday’s Monmouth/Xpressbet Whitney Day Challenge qualifier.

Ahrens was one of three winners selected by Jason Phillips in Saturday’s “10 plays from 24 available races” All Optional Live tourney, which had a buy-in of $150 and a guaranteed pot of $5,000.

This affair wound up with a takeout to players of 7.4%. Somewhat interestingly, Phillips saved 6 of his 10 “bullets” for the final six contest races. He turned those six plays into two winners, and he collected the $2,500 first prize. 

For Evan Trommer, the best Saturday pick was Millbo Baggins ($14.60, $6.20) in race 6 at Del Mar.

Trommer pocketed the up-top money of $4,986 in Saturday’s $7,124 Big Bucks Pick & Pray—a game in which none of the seven contestants turned a flat-bet profit on their mythical selections.

Saturday’s richest cash game, our $25,000 Gtd. Pick & Pray, was captured by Jim Lisowsky on the strength of 3 firsts and 2 seconds.

Lisowsky used Ro Town ($30.40, $11.20) in the 2nd at Del Mar as his biggest springboard to success. He banked $15,227 in this HT Tour battle, which closed with a final purse of $33,838.

David Lupo (3 wins, 1 place) and Mitchell Hirsh (also 3W, 1P) garnered the low-cost Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge berths in Saturday’s $179 qualifier at HorsePlayers.

Lupo cheered home Ro Town. Hirsh was partial to Ahrens.

There were three $2,500 seat winners in Saturday’s qualifier to the Spa & Surf Showdown.

The skillful trio was comprised on Marc Wlodkowski (3 wins, 2 places), NHC Hall of Fame member Steve Wolfson Sr. (3W, 3P) and Karol Mannarino (3W, 2P). These were the three players, who managed to crack the $90.00 mark…or the $80.00 mark, for that matter. Wolfson had Ahrens. Wlodkowski and Mannarino saw their scores increase the most with Clement L. Hirsch Stakes winner Eunomia ($26.80, $9.20) in race 10 at Del Mar.

Ahrens provided Suresh Bomman with his best Saturday return.

Bomman (6 wins, 2 places) and Mark Heider (3W, 2P) were the only two players to exceed the century mark—and they came away with the Vegas packages—in Saturday’s $155 NHC qualifier at HorsePlayers. Heider appreciated Eunomia’s performance in the Clement L. Hirsch.

Tim Darnell had himself a very nice Sunday.

He recorded 2 winners and 3 places to grab the $2,500 entry in Sunday’s play-in to the Kentucky Downs King of the Turf Handicapping Challenge. Island Spirit ($39.20, $13.60) in the 7th at Monmouth was his heaviest lifter.

The same picks also landed Darnell on top of the leaderboard in Sunday’s Monmouth/Xpressbet Whitney Day Challenge.

Congrats—and good luck on Saturday—to Jeff Higgins (5 wins, 2 places), Nick “48 Hrs.” Noce (4W, 2P) and NHC Hall of Famer Roger Cettina (1W, 3P). They also received $500 Whitney Day Challenge entries for finishing closest to Darnell in this one.

Sunday’s HT Tour event winner was a guy who knows a thing or two about our HT Tour.

That would be Jorge Cruz-Aedo, who won the 2021 edition of the Tour. He counted Island Spirit among the 2 winners and 3 runners up that delivered him a first-place prize of $12,600 in Sunday’s $20,000 Gtd. Pick & Pray, which paid out an even $28,000.

Last but not least, on Sunday we offered our first qualifier to the 2026 Pacific Classic Challenge on August 22.

Three Island Spirit supporters earned their way into this $4,000 buy-in, on-track contest. They were Barbara Small (6 wins, 2 places), 2019 Horse Player World Series champ Loyal Sprague (6W, 1P) and Dane Moore (3W, 2P). Small began her day by sweeping the first five contest races. That’s no small feat!

Taking a look at the week ahead…qualifiers will continue through Friday for those of you still hoping to land a Whitney Day Challenge seat. 

Congratulations to all of this week’s winners, and sincere thanks to all of you for playing…or at least reading.