Horse Player World Series top big weekend

It’s a big weekend in the tournament world with the three-day Horse Player World Series concluding Saturday night in Las Vegas and a bunch of action online throughout the weekend at DRF Tournaments.

Saturday’s featured contests include a $126 buy-in one-day qualifier for Monmouth’s Pick Your Prize event on Saturday, June 3, and a $162 buy-in contest for Keeneland’s Grade One Gamble on Sunday, April 23. One in 23 entries will advance to Monmouth ($2,000 entry plus $500 travel) and one in 25 for Keeneland ($3,000 entry plus $500 in travel). These are player-friendly ratios that compare favorably to other online events.

Also on Saturday, there’s a round-one Triple Play qualifier where players can win their way into the three major live-bankroll events of the spring: the Keeneland and Monmouth contests as well as Santa Anita’s Preakness tournament. The Triple Play qualifier offers a $110 buy-in that could lead you to a $10,500 prize with favorable ratios for players at each stage. Or, if you prefer, you can feed into round one by putting up as little as $25. The Triple Play finals take place April 16 (Easter Sunday) and players can purchase in directly for $1,000.

Sunday’s lineup has a $108 qualifier for the Wynn Challenge, which takes place Aug. 4-5. The Wynn is an old-school mythical-money contest that does not have a leaderboard throughout the day and has a “double bet” each day. It’s a two-track tourney: Del Mar and Saratoga. One in 27 entries will earn their $2,000 win entries plus $500 in travel.

Also on Sunday, DRF will host qualifiers to two major live-bank contests in Southern California. The Santa Anita Preakness qualifier has a $225 buy-in to win a $5,000 grand prize (seat plus $500 in travel).

Last but not at all least is the biggest prize of the weekend: grand-prize packages for the Del Mar Handicapping Challenge. Packages include $7,000 Del Mar buy-ins plus $500 in travel. To qualify, players must put up $400 and one in 19 will advance.

For a full list of all the goings-on at DRF Tournaments, including information on how to sign up for low buy-in feeders and credit builders, check out tournaments.drf.com.

New name for NHC

The NTRA announced a name change to its centerpiece event this week. The National Handicapping Championship will now be known as the National Horseplayers Championship. The name change coincided with the launch of a new tournament platform. For more information, go to www.ntra.com.