Breeders' Cup announces the launch of the HorsePlayers Happy Hour Tour (“HorsePlayers Tour”) hosted by In the Money Media (ITMM), which will begin Thursday, April 8, at 3:00 p.m. ET. The HorsePlayers Tour will coincide with the popular HorsePlayers Happy Hour livestream featuring ITMM's Matt Bernier, Peter Fornatale and Jonathon Kinchen. Each week fans at home can play along with the ITMM team for a chance to earn tour points and qualify for the season-ending playoffs. One $10,000 Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC) seat will be awarded to the player that finishes first on the regular season leaderboard and another will be awarded to the winner of the playoffs.
The HorsePlayers Tour kicks off on April 8 with a $20 feeder contest on HorsePlayers.com, where sign-ups are currently live. In addition to the tour benefits, the designated contests will also award one seat per 65 entries into that weekend's $179 BCBC qualifier on HorsePlayers.com. For more information and complete rules, visit BreedersCup.com/Happy-Hour-Tour.
Breeders' Cup will donate all proceeds from the HorsePlayers Tour online contests to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance and the Thoroughbred Retirement Fund. In 2020, Breeders' Cup raised over $6,500 for its charity partners through the HorsePlayers Happy Hour program.
“HorsePlayers are the heartbeat of our sport and this exciting new format is a great way to keep them engaged all season long and reward them for playing in our online contests,” said Justin McDonald, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Breeders' Cup. “Being able to follow along and interact with the In the Money Media team during our weekly livestreams is a unique and fun component of the tour that new and avid fans will really enjoy.”
Each week players participating in the designated HorsePlayers Tour feeder contest will have a chance to earn tour points and qualify for the year-end playoffs. Points will be awarded to the top ten finishers each week, starting with 100 points to the winner and descending in increments of 10 points to each respective place below that, with 10 points awarded to the 10th-place finisher. The top eight scores for each player during the regular season will be used to calculate the final leaderboard scores. The person with the highest overall score will be declared the regular season winner and earn a $10,000 BCBC seat.
Once the regular season concludes, there will be an 80-player playoff that will consist of the top two finishers from each of the weekly HorsePlayers Tour contests, as well as the remaining top finishers on the regular season leaderboard who have not already qualified. Playoffs will start the week of Sept. 20 with 80 total players and be narrowed down to 40 players the week of Sept. 27, 20 players the week of Oct. 4, and 10 players the week of Oct. 18 for the Final Table. This schedule is subject to change. The Final Table participants will compete during a special livestream format that will be broadcast as the final show of the season, with the winner earning a $10,000 BCBC seat. Players can have up to three entries at the start of the playoffs, but only one entry can advance to the Final Table.
For schedule updates, more information and complete rules, visit BreedersCup.com/Happy-Hour-Tour.
To participate, players must have a valid Horseplayers.com account. To sign up for a free HorsePlayers account, visit HorsePlayers.com now. HorsePlayers Happy Hour hosted by ITMM's Matt Bernier, Peter Fornatale and Jonathon Kinchen is livestreamed weekly on Breeders' Cup's Facebook and Twitter pages.
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