Players turn focus to Del Mar, Saratoga

It’s an exciting time to be a racing fan. We’re just days removed from witnessing Justify, the 13th Triple Crown winner, make an indelible mark on the sport. And now the famed summer oases, Del Mar and Saratoga, are within view. Many contest players will be circling dates on the calendar with the hope of attending part or all of those boutique meetings.

The Del Mar Challenge has established an important place on the calendar for contest players over the last several years. The 2018 event is a two-day, live-bankroll contest that takes place Saturday and Sunday, July 28-29. It costs $8,000 to play, and a prize pool of $300,000 is expected based on 150 entries.

This year the Saratoga Handicapping Challenge is experiencing a renaissance. Years ago, it was an important mythical-money tournament. A couple years back, Saratoga switched from a two-day mythical contest to two separate live-bank events, but it remained in the middle of the week and interest waned compared to the importance it once had.

In 2018, the Saratoga contest moves to the weekend for the first time. There will still be two separate contests.

The Saratoga Challenge, a $1,000 buy-in, is Friday, Aug 10. The first-place finisher is guaranteed $15,000 plus a seat to next year’s $10,000 Belmont Stakes Challenge. That amount is expected to grow based on participation, which should be very strong.

The Fourstardave Challenge takes center stage on Saturday, Aug. 11. That event costs $2,000 to play and the winner is guaranteed at least $25,000, plus a Belmont seat for 2019. Again, the more players that show up to play the greater the prize amounts.

The week before the contests is a great time to be in Saratoga. The Fasig-Tipton sales start that Monday and all contest players are invited to a special premiere screening of the World Horseplayers’ Tour TV show on Wednesday, Aug. 8, also at the Fasig-Tipton Pavilion.

Players looking into winning their way to Del Mar and Saratoga need look no farther than DRF Tournaments.

The next qualifier for Saratoga is Saturday, June 23. It costs $410 and one in 10 entries will win packages worth $3,500. That includes buy-ins for both days plus $500 in travel.

Del Mar’s next qualifier takes place Saturday, July 7. That one requires players to put up $495, with one in 20 winning their $8,000 Del Mar entries plus a $500 travel voucher.

There are many opportunities to feed into both of these upcoming qualifiers every operating day. Feeders start as low as $22 for Saratoga and $26 for Del Mar. Along the way you may find added qualifiers that allow players to win into the individual Saratoga contests on Friday or Saturday.

For those who like to plan ahead, this Saturday’s featured game is a qualifier for the Keeneland Challenge, which takes place on Sunday, Oct. 14. Entries cost $410, with one in 10 winning packages worth $3,500, which includes a travel stipend and a full ride to Keeneland.

For more information, including a list of all the games happening on DRFT, go to tournaments.drf.com