TOURNEY TALK

The BIG One is probably the largest tournament that has never really been on my radar.  In the two years I’ve been participating in tournaments, I think have only played in one online qualifier for it.  I was always aware of The BIG One, but just never gave it much thought. Don’t really have a…

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of frustration, it was the age of redemption, it was the season of Kentucky Downs, it was the season of Belmont. Those of you who follow me on Racing Twitter or here at LoneSpeed probably read about the horrifying…

This website has been up and running for about 10 days now.  I still don’t know where I plan to take it.  It’s part personal blog, part handicapping resource, and hopefully someday part community meeting place.  I’ve been playing the horses for over 20 years, and like you I love this game.  And as I…

Saturday’s featured “Big Bucks” event on Horsetourneys came down to the last race, and then still couldn’t be decided.  That’s because the contest finale was the 13th at Saratoga, which had to go to the video tape for a stewards review after #4-A I Initiative crossed the wire second but appeared at first glance to…

As a rule, I am mostly against trying to qualify for a tournament that you are able to buy your way into.  My logic is that unless you consistently find yourself at or near the top 10% of the leaderboard, the takeout of qualifiers makes them not the best financial option.  However, if you think…

Have you seen the news?  There was an announcement from the NTRA today that three new NHC Super Qualifiers have been added to the tournament schedule.  Each event has a $1,500 entry fee, with $1,000 standing as the player’s bankroll, $200 to the cash prize pool, and $300 going to cover the cost of the…

Forget about the recap of the Saratoga contests.  I busted out of both and I’m over it.  But something amazing happened today in the Fourstardave Challenge and we’re going to talk about it now. As I mentioned yesterday, I had a strong opinion on a horse today that I felt could make or break the…

Ugh.  Today was not my day.  Just like every other tournament player out there, I had some good opinions that didn’t quite pan out as I had hoped.  The “highlight” for me was in the early double, where I connected with 8-1 Taruca in the opener but needed 12-1 ML Red Curls in the second…

The 2018 Del Mar Handicapping Challenge is this weekend, and I’m out here competing for over $250,000 in cash and prizes. It’s a format that I really like. For starters, the entry fee is $8,000, but since $6,000 is returned to you for the purposes of live money wagering, it’s really only a $2,000 entry…

Ask me if I feel guilty about winning my way into October’s Keeneland Challenge yesterday on DRF.  Go ahead.  Ask me.  The answer is….sort of.  For starters, I won the seat via the tie-breaker, as the man with whom I tied picked one fewer winner than I did in amassing the exact same score as…