Perhaps you noted last week that the NTRA has developed a new system by which NHC Tour members will now receive a rating of somewhere between 2 and 10, based on their play in the NHC and NHC qualifying events during the current year and over the past four years.
Fountain of Youth Day was a big one for many. Irad Ortiz Jr. rode five winners, including the day’s biggest, Promises Fulfilled. Dale Romans not only trained Promises Fulfilled—thereby insuring a Derby start as long as the horse stays healthy—he scratched the more highly fancied Free Drop Billy from the Gulfstream headliner to run him instead in this Saturday’s Gotham. It’s questionable, however, whether Ortiz and Romans were happier at the end of the day than HorseTourneys player Mark Thomason.
Last week we bemoaned the lack of Kentucky Derby preps. This Saturday we have a good one—the Fountain of Youth from Gulfstream featuring the 2018 debut of last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Good Magic. The Gulfstream card on Saturday is loaded with stakes. To pump up the day further, we are offering an up-to-$75,000 Pick & Pray with $50,000 Guaranteed. More on that in a bit.
According to the Horse Player World Series page on the website of The Orleans Hotel and Casino (www.orleanscasino.com), eligible contest tracks for the March 8-10 Horse Player World Series have been announced.
As with trainers in Grade I races, this weekend’s featured tourneys saw many of the same names pop up on the leaderboard over and over again—and not just always on the same day.
If you’re really into the Kentucky Derby prep races, this isn’t your weekend. It seems as though they were all held last weekend…or next weekend. On one level, it’s disappointing. From the standpoint of contest play, however, it’s pretty meaningless. By now, we hope you’re done watching replays to determine how many karats the Oaklawn gold rail was on Monday…or to answer the time-honored question, “Are Bravazo and Snapper Sinclair stars or are Noble Indy and Instilled Regard bums?” Instead, you can just throw yourself into this weekend’s tourneys, having the comforting knowledge that the Fountain of Youth (and our up-to-$75,000 contest) will be back the following weekend.
Contest players really do a great job of jumping right back into the saddle after a big event like the NHC. We hosted 20 featured tourneys over the now-immediately-after-the-NHC President’s Day weekend and virtually all of them drew large—and pretty salty—fields. Many of those “week-after” tourneys even took on something of an NHC “feel.”
With another NHC in the books—and one that left HorseTourneys regular Chris Littlemore $800,000 richer—we turn our sights forward this weekend to the upcoming Horse Player World Series…and even the 2019 NHC.
Whether you’re in Vegas or Visalia…Treasure Island or Long Island…we’re ready for you at HorseTourneys this weekend with a slew (11 to be exact) of featured tourneys, including three key qualifiers making their 2018 debuts on Sunday.
HorseTourneys will be well represented at this weekend’s NHC. McKay Smith and Harry Furlong will be there. So will Bob Nastanovich who, we are delighted to report, will be providing updates and interviews starting Friday via the HorseTourneys Twitter feed (@HorseTourneys).
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