It’s time to sharpen your pencil for another free NHC qualifier with five guaranteed spots in the March 2023 event. It takes place at HorsePlayers on Sunday. (Remember that you must be a 2022 NHC Tour member in order to play and win.)

Someone new to horse racing might look at the result of the Kentucky Derby and conclude that big longshots are the way to prosper in this game. Sometimes that’s true, but it certainly wasn’t the case here last week. At least not very often.

The Kentucky Derby is Saturday. As most of you know, we are unable to offer tourneys on Churchill Downs races—but we can, indeed, host qualifiers to Saturday’s Kentucky Derby Challenge, a $3,000-entry-fee contest that can be played at Gulfstream Park, Santa Anita or Xpressbet.

While many handicappers eagerly anticipate the first Saturday in May, Dane Moore of Pinole, Calif., is clearly partial to the first Sunday in May. At least that’s what the evidence indicated this past weekend.

Saturday is the last day of April. That means it’s time for another $50,000 Guaranteed Month-End Blowout. The entry fee is the same as that of a usual Saturday featured cash tourney—$350—but we elevate the purse guarantee by $20,000 as a special bonus to recognize and reward our loyal cash-game participants.

There were a lot of Pick & Prays last week, but a surprisingly small number of multiple winners in featured-tourney action—by our count, only a pair…and one of those came over two separate days. So things were highly competitive during something of a “share-the-wealth” week that began on Wednesday.

After making their 2022 debut last Sunday, Spa & Surf Showdown qualifiers get the “One-a-Day” treatment this weekend. So if you’ve got your eye on the $400,000 Guaranteed final leg of the Tourney Triple, not a (weekend) day will go by when you can’t take a shot at landing a $2,500 seat for just $147.

Several players who have left their mark on the NHC in recent years left their mark on our featured tourneys last week…starting right off the bat on Wednesday.

The dates have been booked and the first qualifiers now set—for both the $400,000 Guaranteed Spa & Surf Showdown and The BIG One.

High-stress, big-money tournaments are not normally Riley Drexler’s milieu.

“Seeing so many impressive names on the leaderboard…” the Chicago resident said, his voice trailing off. “To say I was nervous would be an understatement.”