Breeders’ Cup Day brims with action on DRF Tournaments

Breeders’ Cup Day is a big day on DRF Tournaments, with three featured events, giving horseplayers myriad options while the big races are taking place out at Del Mar.

The centerpiece is a Grade 1 qualifier for the World Championship of Handicapping, the $1 million, no-takeout contest taking place online in early 2018. The WCH has proved to be an appealing target for contest players. In addition to the seven-figure expected purse and the unheard-of beneficial financial terms, the WCH will attempt to address some of the issues that sometimes make tournament players complain about mythical-money events.

Instead of just being a twoday, 30-race tournament where everyone competes the whole time, WCH rules will require players to be on the right side of two cut lines. At the end of the first day, of the 200 entries, 100 will advance to Sunday. Halfway through Sunday, the 100 will get chopped to 50 and those remaining entries will go on to play for their share of $1 million. This places an emphasis on strategy and getting points to advance and reduces the chances that a player can be successful just “stabbing” at longshots. Instead, competitors will be rewarded for playing horses they actually like.

Contestants in the final will have the opportunity to buy in directly for $5,000, but many are choosing to qualify their way in instead. Saturday’s Grade 1 event costs $580 to play and 1 in 10 entries will win their $5,000 entry fee. Players looking to get in at a lower price point have the option of Round 1 events, where they can win that $580. These occur every operating day on DRFT and cost $95. They have an even better prize-to-entry ratio than the Grade 1’s, with 1 in 7 advancing. And players can get involved in these for as little as $11, feeding their way into the Round 1’s.

Saturdays other two featured events give players the chance to win into upcoming livebankroll contests at two very different price points. First up is the qualifier for the Del Mar Fall Challenge, a high-roller event where the terms are the same as the WCH Grade 1: $580 to play, 1 in 10 win their $5,000 entries to the Del Mar contest next weekend, Nov. 11-12. Also like the WCH Grade 1, the Del Mar qualifier uses the live format, where the picks can be changed until the post time of each contest race.

Lower bankroll players might want to consider the oneday qualifier for the Aqueduct Challenge. It costs just $60 and 1 in 10 win their $500 entry fee to the Aqueduct contest on Nov. 18. This contest uses the all-in format where all contest picks must be in before the scheduled post time of the first contest event.

For more information, including a full list of all the games happening for the Breeders’ Cup at DRFT, go to tournaments.drf.com.