There are a lot of racing observers who sort of morph into workout analysts or students of horseflesh during major weeks like this one. A great many of them do not really “know what they’re looking at.” John Nichols is not one of those people.
If you’re still hoping to win your way in to the November 2-3 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge, you’ll have ample opportunity—at a variety of price points—this weekend at HorsePlayers. There will be five separate BCBC qualifiers, each guaranteeing at least one $10,000 entry—and those are just five of 22 featured tourneys during Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
There were a few Pick & Prays sprinkled in amongst the 17 featured tourneys last weekend, but most were live-format tourneys. And that led to “spread the wealth” results that saw 17 different people place first in those featured events. The action got started on Friday.
With entries at the recent Orleans Fall Classic up over 50% compared to 2017 levels (331 vs. 220), we anticipate another uptick in interest for next March’s Horse Player World Series. What’s better than winning a $1,500 HPWS entry on HorseTourneys? Winning a package to the HPWS that includes a four-night hotel stay plus $500 for travel. You can do that every week at HorseTourneys starting this Saturday. And you can still play entry-only HPWS qualifiers on Sundays. Those are but two of 21 featured tourneys this weekend.
(Courtesy of Keeneland)
Tommy Massis of Toronto is truly the King of Keeneland Contests. On Sunday, he rode a $1,000 win bet on 19-1 shot Bella Noire in Keeneland’s 4th race to a win in the BCBC-NHC Challenge. Tommy’s winning total of $20,800 bested 2nd place finisher Blake Jessee of Carmel, IN by nearly $8,000.
Kevin “Duke” Matties, a 46-year-old professional gambler from Laguna Beach, Calif., took the lead during the first day of competition and didn’t look back, holding on for a near wire-to-wire victory in the 2018 Orleans Fall Classic, held October 11-13 at The Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
Sometimes, when a player has a really good day, you find yourself thankful that he or she didn’t play every single tourney. There were certainly some who may have felt thankful in that regard on Sunday…but not so much on Friday.
Time’s getting short to win a spot to the NHC. And time’s getting really short to win a $10,000 seat to the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge. We’ll help you in that race against time with NHC and BCBC qualifiers every day this weekend, plus three new entries in the weekend lineup to further help you in your NHC quest. It all gets started on Friday.
One person you know will be firing away with impunity on Breeders’ Cup weekend is top-notch contest player Ken Jordan. That would likely have been the case regardless, but after the events of this weekend, it is a certainty.
There are plenty more Breeders’ Cup preps this weekend at Belmont, Santa Anita and, now, Keeneland, where the Fall Meet opens this Friday. That means some terrific races to serve as the foundations for this weekend’s featured tourneys, which include a last chance, entry-only qualifier for next week’s Orleans Fall Classic, a final opportunity to get into the Keeneland NHC/BCBC Challenge, and first opportunities to earn your way in to the NTRA Super Qualifiers to be held at Fair Grounds (December 22) and Santa Anita (January 5).
HorseTourneys.com Blog 