Glen Gottlieb began woke up on Saturday thinking it would be nice to win a seat to the NHC someday. He did that last weekend…and more.

Thanks to 5 wins and a place that included a nice buzzer beater at the end with Coach Bennett ($21.80, $11.00) in race 15 at Parx, Gottlieb prevailed at HorsePlayers in Saturday’s NHC qualifier that was restricted to those who had yet to garner a 2027 spot.

Utilizing the same selections, Gottlieb ensured himself a nice chunk of change prior to heading off to the big dance for the first time.

He captured the richest tourney of the week, our $25,000 Guaranteed cash game. The HT Tour victory delivered an $11,386 winner’s share to Gottlieb.

NHC Hall of Famer Brett Wiener didn’t have the highest score of the day on Wednesday…not even close…but he did manage to win two of the day’s three featured tourneys.

Wiener put up 3 winners and 2 runners up to take the $3,500 entry in Wednesday’s Keeneland Fall BCBC/NHC Challenge qualifier. His big horse during the day was High Summer ($14.80, $5.60) in race 6 at Thistledown.

Wiener also topped the leaderboard in Wednesday’s qualifier to the $200,000 Gtd. Pick & Pray Classic here on December 5-6.

There were enough entries attracted for two $1,500 entries to be awarded, and the other one went to Michael Caposio (2 firsts, 3 seconds). He also scored with High Summer.

The high-water mark of Wednesday—$101.00—was set by Bobby Shoemaker, who nailed Katarzyna ($51.00, $20.80) in race 5 at Delaware.

Shoemaker (4 firsts, 1 second) collected $2,892 for capturing Wednesday’s $5,000 guaranteed tourney, which was ultimately worth a total of $6,421.

The Thursday cash-game feud was won by Dale Hatfield on the strength of 4 wins and 3 places.

Hatfield hit Runway Showstopper ($18.20, $10.60) in the 6th at Horseshoe Indianapolis on the way to picking up $2,700 in Thursday’s $6,000 Gtd. Pick & Pray, which went off with a takeout to players of 3.8%.

The other marquee game on Thursday went to William Holmes (4 firsts, 1 second).

Holmes got the $1,500 entry in Thursday’s qualifier to the Pick & Pray Classic—which serves as the fifth and final leg in the 2026 HT Champions Series. The most lucrative selection for Holmes was Skyrayleigh ($31.20, $11.80) in race 7 at Delaware.

Friday’s Pick & Pray Classic qualifier had two $1,500 seat recipients—Michael Guadagno (2 wins, 2 places) and Curtis Brodzina (2W, 0P).

Guadagno scored best with Tariba Dream ($35.00, $13.80) in the 10th at Parx. Brodzina’s high point was provided by In Spades ($39.80, $17.60) an hour earlier in race 8 at the Bensalem, Pa., oval.

The Pick & Pray Classic seats were only part of the Friday stories for Guadagno and Brodzina.

Guadagno copied and pasted his Pick & Pray Classic decisions into Friday’s Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge Low Ratio qualifier at HorsePlayers.

Guadagno got the $10,000 seat for reporting home first. Next best was Allan Schaffer, who was awarded a $5,000 partial BCBC berth.

Brodzina, meanwhile took a shot at Friday’s HT Tour event, our $15,000 Gtd. Pick & Pray, but he did not use all the same picks as in the Pick & Pray Classic play-in—and he scored significantly better here.

In this game, which closed with a pot of $17,872, Brodzina not only had In Spades…he hit Tariba Dream too. He also sprinkled in a couple of place collections. It all added up to a victory worth $8,042 for Brodzina.

Last month, Mike Yurczyk won the Spa & Surf Showdown. Last Friday, he won our Keeneland Fall BCBC/NHC Challenge qualifier.

Yurczyk picked just one winner—Tariba Dream—but he augmented that pick with three runners up.

Jim Murphy was also a Tariba Dream fan.

Murphy (2 wins, 1 place) got the $500 seat in Friday’s qualifier to this coming Saturday’s Laurel September Challenge.

There were three Vegas ticket-punchers in Friday’s $70 NHC qualifier at HorsePlayers.

Congratulations to Montie Barnes (4 wins, 0 places), Joshua Taarud (3W, 2P) and Gary Gristick (4W, 1P). Barnes connected on both In Spades and Tariba Dream. Taarud had the former. Gristick came up with the latter.

On Saturday, there was a $500 Low Ratio NHC qualifier at HorsePlayers. The victor was Michael Foster.

Foster tabbed five winners. His biggest win price of the five came from Beau Cheval ($23.68, $8.38) in race 10 at Belmont.

Beau Cheval was also one of five winning conclusions arrived at by Terry Jerge.

Jerge and NHC Hall of Famer Ken Seeman reeled in the two $3,500 entries that were up for grabs in Saturday’s Keeneland Fall BCBC/NHC Challenge qualifier. Seeman’s stable star was Coach Bennett ($21.80, $11.00) in the final contest heat, the 15th at Parx.

Mark Rudy also had Coach Bennett at the end. At the beginning, he fired off three straight winners.

Rudy (5 firsts, 1 second) topped the leaderboard in Saturday’s Laurel September Challenge qualifier.

Tim Darnell (3 wins, 1 place) and Matt “The fly” Tietze (3W, 2P) exited with the $1,500 seats at the conclusion of Saturday’s Pick & Pray Classic play-in.

Darnell nailed both Beau Cheval and Coach Bennett. Tietze did most of his damage early on. His most productive pick was Wild Vine ($20.20, $6.20) in the 11th at Parx.

Saturday’s $179 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge qualifier at HorsePlayers was captured by Togo Travaila (4 wins, 3 places). 

Like Tim Darnell, Travaila smoked out both Beau Cheval and Coach Bennett. Jill Matzat finished second—which was good for a $5,000 partial BCBC spot.

Sunday’s Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge qualifier at HorsePlayers—a $500 Low Ratio affair—also resulted in the winner getting a $10,000 seat and the runner up grabbing a $5,000 partial entry.

Jack Schwartz (5 firsts, 1 second) got the full seat, thanks in part to a spritely performance by Geezer ($30.20, $11.20) in the 6th at Los Alamitos. Ryan Leeper bested the rest.

Peter Rogers also saw the merits of Geezer.

Rogers (6 firsts, 1 second) pocketed the top prize of $9,843 in Sunday’s $20,000 Guaranteed cash game (an HT Tour event), which closed with a final purse of $21,875.

Geezer served as a springboard to success for both Jeff Bussan (4 wins, 1 place) and Jim Cuzzupe (3W, 3P). 

Bussan and Cuzzupe secured the $3,500 entries that were at stake in Sunday’s Keeneland Fall BCBC/NHC qualifier at HorsePlayers. 

Henry Conte (3 wins, 2 places) and Stephanie Davis (6W, 3P) will have action this Saturday after running one-two in Sunday’s Laurel September Challenge play-in.

Conte prospered with Geezer. Davis got her seat from small but frequent cashes. Her top return came courtesy of Dynamic Pricing ($5.80, $3.40) in the 8th at Belmont.

The two players to eclipse the $60.00 mark were the two to emerge with $1,500 scholarships in Sunday’s entrance exam for the Pick & Pray Classic.

Congratulations to 2022 NHC Tour champ Jay Johns (3 wins, 2 places) and Ryne Olsen (6W, 2P). Johns looked fondly on Geezer. Olsen took an approach similar to that of Stephanie Davis. His biggest return came from Lyn’s Legacy ($7.58, $4.36) in the 9th at Belmont.

The four happy winners in Sunday’s free NHC Tour qualifier at HorsePlayers were Jonathan “Hit the” Sack (8 wins, 5 places), Timothy Lyons (6W, 4P), Jayson “Radio City” Rockett (5W, 4P) and Frank Recupido (6W, 2P). 

All four of them got their biggest boost from Imelda is My Light ($30.60, $12.40) in race 3 at Los Alamitos. The is the first time I’ve mentioned Imelda is My Light in the Sunday recaps—because race 3 at Los Alamitos was one of the three races that were part of the special 15-race NHC qualifier schedule, but not the 12-race schedule for the other featured tourneys. 

Santa Anita reopens on Friday, and final Breeders’ Cup preps really get going in earnest all around the country this weekend. So there’s a lot to look forward to in the days ahead. We hope you can take in at least a small part of it here with us. Good luck!