Typically we alternate from week to week between Pick & Pray and Live formats being the predominant mode on Saturdays and Sundays. Every now and then, we mix in the “All Optional Live” format, and this is one of those weekends.

With daily qualifiers to the NHC First Chance/Last Chance contest yielding 27 winners of $500 berths last week, there were plenty of goodies to go around. Brett Wiener and Dr. Ron Tang were among the 27…though they didn’t limit themselves to First Chance/Last Chance seats…and they didn’t stop at one day of largesse.

On March 4, Gulfstream Park, Santa Anita Park and Xpressbet will collectively play host to the 1/ST Ultimate Betting Challenge, offering cash and spots to the NHC and Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge. Entries will set you back $3,500 each if you buy in to the contest, but starting on Friday, you can earn one for $207 if you succeed in one of our 1-per-20 Pick & Prays this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Multi-day success is always trumpeted in this space, and this week the trumpets are out for Michael Somich.

Last weekend we offered an impromptu qualifier on Sunday to the Monmouth Pick Your Prize tournament. This weekend, we shift things into high gear, hosting a Monmouth play-in on Friday, Saturday and Super Bowl Sunday. 

This coming Sunday is Super Sunday for most. This past Sunday was Super Sunday for Evan Trommer.

Even though a cold snap is hitting much of the country (knocking out Friday and Saturday Aqueduct racing in the process), you know spring can’t be far off once we start talking about the Keeneland Grade One Gamble—and that’s what we’re doing now.

Dane Moore’s handicapping last week won’t necessarily get him enshrined in any Halls of Fame—it was just really strong, really steady and, in the end, quite profitable.

Even though the memories of David Wolff’s victory last weekend in the fourth annual Flo-Cal Faceoff are still fresh, it’s already time to turn the page and focus on Leg 2 of the 2023 Tourney Triple—the $350,000 Guaranteed Players here on April 7-8.

Growing up in New Jersey’s Bergen County, David Wolff was not one of those people who first went to the races by tagging along with his father or an uncle. It was more like the other way around.