According to The Harris Poll, Christmas is America’s favorite holiday, followed by Thanksgiving. But clearly horseplayers were under-represented in that survey. Otherwise Thanksgiving would have won by open lengths—because it combines all the fun of food and family with the very important fact that the tracks are fully open for business.
Tuesday seems like an odd day of the week to preview the upcoming weekend of featured tourneys. But it’s Thanksgiving week and, as far as we’re concerned, that means a five-day weekend. Needless to say, we’ll be ready for you with a little something special each day.
Whether it’s a handicapping contest or a horse race, itself, close finishes are thrilling to win, frustrating to lose, and perhaps somewhat encouraging insofar as more people feel that they were at least in strong contention. Well there were plenty of such finishes this weekend at HorseTourneys and HorsePlayers.
Del Mar, California has been a popular stop of late on contest players’ itineraries—what with the Del Mar Fall Classic taking place last weekend and the BCBC the week before that. But there’s yet another reason to venture out to Lindbergh Field…or Jimmy Durante Boulevard if you’re within driving distance. It’s the Surfside Tournaments on December 29-31. Each of the three days offers two NHC seats and $5,500 in cash. And you can win your entry fees to all three days of Surfside right here at HorseTourneys starting on Sunday.
HorseTourneys is proud to announce Saturday, December 2 as the date of what will be our third $100,000 tournament of the year. (Really our third ever–since we just started offering them this year!)
(Courtesy of Del Mar Thoroughbred Club)
Christian Hellmers of Rancho Santa Fe, CA, built a big lead with both entries on day one and coasted home to victory in the Del Mar Handicapping Challenge finishing first and second. Players began the contest with a $3,000 live money bankroll in the two-day Challenge. Hellmers scored big on Day One in the Bob Hope Stakes, race five, hitting a $100 trifecta paying $20,000+ on both entries. Mark Streiff from Mission Viejo, CA, finished third.
It’s not easy to pick six winners out of 12 races. It’s even more difficult when those six winners score at odds of 6-1, 10-1, 12-1, 4-5, 6-1 and 9-1. But that’s exactly what Bill Shurman did in Saturday’s $25,000 Guaranteed game.
The Breeders’ Cup may be over, but contest play at HorseTourneys and HorsePlayers remains in high gear. In fact, qualifying for the NHC is just now shifting into overdrive.
I played in this year’s Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge. It was the first BCBC I ever attended, let alone participated in. The participation part didn’t go well at all. I lost every bet I made. But bad handicapping notwithstanding, I found the event enjoyable. The 3rd-floor Horsemen’s Lounge where I was seated seemed like a terrific spot, combining an outdoor setting with a pretty prime view of the paddock. I definitely felt like I was at Del Mar as opposed to some random simulcast facility. Very nice.
Nisan Gabbay, a 40-year-old software developer and owner of a tech startup company, turned two gutsy wagers in the day’s final two races into victory at the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge at Del Mar.
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