Congratulations to Chris Larmey and Sean O’Malley, who each qualified for the July 8-10 Surfside tourneys via our site and ultimately left Surfside Race Place with nice cash prizes plus an NHC seat.

Chris got things started on the right foot, finishing second in the Friday, July 8 event — good for $1,500 and the aforementioned NHC berth. Then on Sunday, Sean closed things out with a bang, finishing first and taking home $3,000 in addition to an NHC seat.

Perhaps it is worth noting that Chris and Sean were our final two Surfside qualifiers, so it’s never too late to turn HorseTourneys success into brick-and-mortar glory. With that in mind, remember that this weekend will be the last chance to qualify for Del Mar.

Congratulations again, Chris and Sean!

HorseTourneys cash-game players probably wish Sunday were more of a “day of rest” for Ed Peters. Just seven days after winning $3,750 for leading the way in our $7,500 guaranteed game on July 3, Peters cashed for $12,500 by posting the top score in yesterday’s $25,000 guaranteed game. The July 10 competition utilized our popular All-Optional Live format, which allows players to choose their 10 plays from among 20 eligible races. Peters used the strategy well, saving his last bullet for the final race of the contest (race 6 at SA). He deployed that pick on a horse that could have left him vulnerable to would-be leapfroggers. In the end, it didn’t matter…Peters had a large enough lead going in to that race that the 2-1 co-faves were both essentially “running for him” and one of them won, thereby sealing the deal on the second consecutive Sunday win.

On Saturday, July 9, we had a $7,500 game that Bill Ulrich captured after winning the last race. Clearly not the same player on Saturdays, Ed Peters was out of the money in this one!

The field for September’s The Big One grew by two on Sunday after Robert Gilbert and Norris Bristow garnered the top spots in our 2-seat guaranteed tourney. Gilbert and Bristow were like the lone speeds in a paceless race. They opened up a nice lead midway through the contest, while staying within a couple of bucks each other most of the time. Then they tired a bit turning for home, but had enough left to hold off all of the late closers. We’ll be giving away two more coveted seats to The Big One next Sunday.

All weekend long, HorseTourneys was busy sending its smart players to exciting tournaments from Coast to Coast and in between — to place likes Monmouth, Wynn, Gold Coast, Del Mar and Hawthorne. And Sunday marked our first time sending players to Saratoga where the “Battle of Saratoga” this year will be made up of two separate one-day competitions. HorseTourneys players responded to the Saratoga qualifier (and their preceding feeders) in big numbers last week, thereby allowing us to award no fewer than six full, 2-day packages to the August 10-11 events, plus an extra $750 for travel. Congratulations to winners Phil Lam, Dennis Dougherty, Cheryl McIntyre, William Payseno, Charlie Ricks and Randy Bauer. We’d love it if we had another six berths (or even more!) up for grabs this Sunday. Feeders run all week long.

Have a winning week.

There is no more player-friendly tournament site for cash-game players than HorseTourneys. On Sunday, July 10 we’ll be hosting a big $25,000 game, which carries just a 9.3% takeout. The $25,000 pot is guaranteed, so if entries fail to live up to our predictions, it’s our problem, not yours! Last weekend, we hosted a $7,500 tourney that ran with a 4.4% overlay to players.

The $25,000 guaranteed tournament will be contested using the popular “All-Optional” Live format. Players will make their contest plays from among 20 eligible contest races. So no one has to play a race he or she doesn’t care for. Or you can simply use the flexibility to your strategic advantage, if you see such an opportunity. It’s all in your hands. Entries cost $128 with the top finisher receiving $12,500, and we will pay down to 8th place. Or you can try to win a place in one of our $29 feeders, which are available several times each day leading in to Sunday.

Another exciting competition on Sunday is the Battle of Saratoga qualifier — the first time a Saratoga qualifier has been available online. We’re running multiple feeders each day, which have been extremely popular — 39 have already won a place in our Sunday Spa qualifier heading into Thursday’s action. The feeders are just $28, or you can wait until Sunday and buy in for $128. We’ll be awarding a $1,000 seat to each day of the August 10-11 tournaments, plus a robust $750 in travel per every 25 Sunday entries. (We know that hotels can get a little pricey up in Saratoga Springs during the race meeting!) We’d like nothing more than to see HorseTourneys players win both days of the Battle, which will award NHC and BCBC seats along with its customarily generous cash prizes.

And this week marks our initial feeders (just $26) for our special Wynn Blowout tourney on July 24. In the Wynn Blowout, you can win an entry-only seat to the $200,000 Wynn Handicapping Challenge in Las Vegas. We’ll be giving away one seat for every 10 entries on July 24, so there will be a high strike rate for those who participate. Direct entries for the Blowout cost $230 but, again, you can qualify for as little as $26 by playing one of many Wynn Blowout feeders. The Wynn Handicapping Challenge is always on any serious contest player’s short list of highly desirable competitions on the calendar.