There are some things about The BIG One that, each year, I find myself appreciating (or chucking over) only after a couple of days have passed. Here, in no particular order, are a few:
Looking Back at The BIG One
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Joe Pettit Holds On, Wins the 2018 The BIG One
Joe Pettit, second after Day 1, took the lead early on Day 2 and did not relinquish it from there to win the $325,000 The BIG One at Laurel Park.
Karl Barth Leads After Day One of The BIG One
It was a tale of two tournaments for Karl Barth and his high-school classmate Brent Johnson.
New “Tiny Ratio” BCBC Qualifier and $75 NHC Qualifier Headline 14 Featured Tourneys During “The BIG One” Weekend
The HorseTourneys team, including this reporter, is already ensconced at Laurel Park in preparation for this Saturday and Sunday’s The BIG One, where we will be joined by 56 (at latest count) of the nation’s best tournament players. You can get updates and progress reports on the competition throughout each day via Twitter at @horsetourneys . For those of you who won’t be at The BIG One—and even those of you who will—we have put together a nice assortment of weekend tourneys that will award at least $34,500 in cash, four NHC seats and three BCBC entries.
The BIG One Field Now Set After Hellmers Nabs Surprising Berth; Johnson Takes the Cash and the BCBC seat on Saturday; Gilbert Scores NHC seats on Consecutive Days (Weekend Recap September 14-16)
The field of 52 is now set for this Saturday and Sunday’s The BIG One at Laurel Park. And as one tournament observer commented, late yesterday, “The field may have just gotten a whole lot tougher.”
Last Chance to Qualify for The BIG One Plus a Guaranteed Four NHC Seats and Three BCBC Entries Headline Featured Weekend Lineup
If you’ve never been to The BIG One, it’s like those commercials for the old Claridge Casino in Atlantic City—“Smaller is Friendlier.” Sunday is your last chance to grab online seats for the Sept. 22-23 event at Laurel where 10 NHC seats, 10 BCBC entries, 10 Horse Player World Series entries and roughly $10,000-$15,000 in bonus cash will await a field of no more than 57. If you don’t qualify in Sunday’s two-all-inclusive-packages-guaranteed tourney, you can still purchase one of five available buy-in entries for $5,750. But qualifying for a tenth of that amount is way more fun. That “Last Chance” qualifier for The BIG One is just one of 15 featured tourneys on tap for this weekend.
Trying to Handicap the Weather Without Handicapping Our Players
Last weekend was a dicey one for which to pick contest races—particularly on Sunday. We strive to post our races at least 48 hours in advance in order to not just give players ample time to handicap, but to allow them to review the race offerings and decide if they even want to play at all.
Ret Grady Scores Two More Big Money Victories; Gary Machiz, Kenny McMahan and the Richards Family Stay Hot (Weekend Recap September 7-9)
Triple-digit scores were hard to come by this weekend—a function of formful racing and, especially on Sunday, weather. But impressive tourney winners were in their usual strong supply at HorseTourneys and HorsePlayers this past weekend. One of the most notable of the weekend came right off the bat on Friday.
Last Chance for Woodbine and First-Ever BCBC Super Low Ratio Qualifier Top an Array of 17 Featured Weekend Tourneys
It’s always a little disappointing once Saratoga and Del Mar finish their meets though, for some, the disappointment is more about the passing of summer than an impending downturn in their wagering fortunes. Indeed, if you are among the many horseplayers who found Saratoga and Del Mar really hard—even extra hard—this year, perhaps you can take solace in the fact that Belmont is now back, Kentucky Downs is still with us, and Laurel is about to embark on what many consider the best part of its racing schedule. So there’s that to look forward to, as well as a full slate of featured tourneys this weekend—17 to be precise—that will keep you engaged, entertained and, if you’re skillful, nicely rewarded.
Another Big Cash Win for Darryl Lacy; Michael Bailey Scores a Three Bagger; Tony Calabrese Takes Two; Ed Peters to Defend his Title at The BIG One (Weekend Recap August 31-September 3)
“The rich get richer”—used in casual conversation—is typically a dismissive saying used to decry the good fortune of others while the rest of us do our best to scrape by. At HorseTourneys, we prefer to use that term in a more celebratory way, especially when it describes a player on one of those hot streaks we all long for. Darryl Lacy is just such a player.
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