When anyone saw Jim Settle’s name among their list of opponents on Saturday, it means they pretty much had to settle for second place.

David Wolff and Lucas Van Zandt took the first two legs of the 2023 Tourney Triple. The road to the third and final leg in the series—the $400,000 Guaranteed Spa & Surf Showdown here August 5-6—kicks off this weekend with qualifiers on Saturday and Sunday to the summertime event that test players’ mettle at Saratoga and Del Mar.

We all enjoy tournament play, but some of us seem to get an extra big charge out of the competition and camaraderie. One of those people is Lucas Van Zandt.

If there were such a thing as live, futures wagering on who the winner of the 2023 Players Championship would be, you might have gotten 2,000-1 on Lucas Van Zandt as Friday’s Day 1 neared its completion. 

Who will join the ranks of Riley Drexler and Dan Wilde and become the third-ever winner of the Players Championship? We’ll find out on Saturday night.

Thomas Guthrie had the highest score on Sunday—but not drastically so. It was only by a margin of 20 cents. Guthrie still gets the top billing in this recap, however, for what he accomplished.

If you are hoping to compete in the middle leg of the 2023 Tourney Triple—the $350,000 Guaranteed Players Championship—but would prefer not to pay the full freight of $2,000 for the privilege of doing so, then you’ll want to gear up for this weekend, when we offer the last remaining Friday, Saturday and Sunday qualifiers to the prestigious HorseTourneys “major” taking place here on April 7-8.

Point #1: You know that feeling when you play two entries in a tourney, use different horses on each entry, and wind up doing a really good job of almost perfectly splitting your good picks between the two entries? Gregory Lewis knows that feeling.

Saturday is Dubai World Cup Day and, once again, HorseTourneys will have a full menu of games on the rich race card from the Middle East. 

The ink is barely dry on the oversized check that Paul Calia earned for winning last weekend’s NHC…and already it’s time to focus on the 2024 renewal of the world’s most prestigious handicapping contest.