Sometimes the HorseTourneys gods prove to be right and just. And sometimes our players are just so good that they are able to take fate into their own hands. We saw examples of both last week.

After a fairly lengthy hiatus, we will once again be operating several of our more popular featured tourneys on Saturday and Sunday in All Optional Live format. For those unfamiliar with that game-play mode, it means you make 10 plays from among 25 eligible contest races. The other 15 you can just simply ignore. Or perhaps ignore—but root wildly for chalk to come in!

Victory has been no stranger to Robert Schintzius Sr. The Western New York resident earned a $3,000 Canterbury entry two weeks ago, picked up a $2,500 Spa & Surf Showdown seat last week, and this past week he decided to focus himself on events offering more immediate gratification.

When the weekend was over, Schintzius had to feel…gratified.

You know summertime is fast approaching if we’re talking about the Del Mar Summer Challenge.

For the most part, last week’s featured tourneys were exciting free-for-alls with several horses in the 10-1 range connecting, and almost no cap horses doing so. The one exception came on the first day of the featured-tourney week, Wednesday.

When is the last time you bet a horse that clipped heels during the race and still managed to win? When is the last time you played a horse that clipped heels and went on, nonetheless, to win by 5 lengths? When’s the last time you picked a horse that did all that…at odds of 66-1?

Even when there’s not a Triple Crown on the line, Belmont Stakes weekend has—over the last few years—turned into one of the very best betting weekends this side of the Breeders’ Cup. To try and keep pace, we’re ramping up this Saturday’s offerings to include both a $45,000 Guaranteed live-format game and a $15,000 Guaranteed Pick & Pray.

It was quite a beginning to Memorial Day weekend for Terry Jerge.

Memorial Day adds an extra day—and several important events—to the weekend featured-tourney lineup. There are 33 marquee games spread across the four days, including a $35,000 Guaranteed Pick & Pray on Monday. 

Despite the fact that the bulk of the weekend featured tourneys were conducted in Live format (which some people think is a bit more chaotic), there were plenty of multiple winners on display. 

The week’s trend line showed itself right from the outset.

In addition to being one of the most fun tracks you could ever visit, Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn., has always been a big supporter of contest play. (No wonder so many top tournament players hail from the North Star State.) So we are delighted to now be able to welcome back the suburban Minneapolis oval to the roster of HorseTourneys contest tracks.