Exotics specialists will again have their day…or weekend…here at HorseTourneys on  December 3-4. Those are the dates of the second annual Exacta Extravaganza. A $50,000 Guaranteed event, the “EE” requires contestants to make a preset number of three-horse exacta box picks from among 25 or 30 available contest races each day. Likely contest tracks those days include Aqueduct, Gulfstream and Del Mar. Our first qualifier to the Extravaganza is offered this Saturday.

Even though most of last week’s featured tourneys were Pick & Prays, we didn’t see very much domination by any one player. Part of that was because there really weren’t any “Have it or die” bombs”…and also…the competition was just really tough.

That’s not to say that there weren’t some individual stars during the week.

If you’re an action junkie, this is your weekend at HorseTourneys and HorsePlayers. This Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we offer a record (we think!) 31 featured events.

Long ago, Tim Hughes had the weekend of August 6-7 circled on his calendar. He had plans for those days—big plans. It’s just that none of those plans had anything to do with horse racing.

Combining a 26th-place performance on Saturday and a 5th-best Sunday score added up to a windfall of $222,252 for Tim Hughes of Point Pleasant, New Jersey, in the 4th annual Spa & Surf Showdown here at HorseTourneys.

No one has ever won the NHC twice, but if David Harrison fails to repeat in 2023, it won’t be for a lack of ammunition.

Surf’s up at Del Mar—which makes for a great one-two punch with Saratoga as we create tourneys and race schedules that we hope will tickle your summertime fancy.

Maybe it was the opening of Saratoga on Thursday—or maybe the Fed did something (or didn’t do something) when we weren’t paying attention—but inflation reared its ugly head here this week. From Thursday on, our sky-high prices made those at the supermarkets and gas stations look cheap. 

Whether you’re on-site or watching from home, the first weekend of Saratoga tends to put an extra spring in one’s step for people like us. For whatever reason, it’s an extra-fun time to bet—and to play contests—and we at HorseTourneys are ready to try and make an exciting weekend even more compelling with a slew of worthwhile events. The weekend features—most of them Pick & Prays this week—get rolling on Friday.

Win two big bombs win during a given tourney, and you have one of them, you’re in position to do some damage. When you have them both, the world is pretty much your oyster. That pretty much sums up Ciaran Thornton’s Saturday.