Champions Series

January 31 - February 1 // April 3-4 // June 5-6 // August 22-23 // December

Current Champions Series Standings: here.

The HorseTourneys Champions Series is a special year-long HorseTourneys.com handicapping series consisting of five of the year's biggest events - the Flo-Cal Faceoff, the Players Championship, the New York New York Challenge, the Spa & Surf Showdown, and the Pick & Pray® Classic.

Prizes will be awarded to the points leaders at the end of the series.

Leg 1 - January 31 - February 1, Flo-Cal Faceoff, $200,000 GTD

The Flo-Cal Faceoff is a two-day tourney in which contestants make a mythical $2.00 win and place selection on every race of the Gulfstream and Santa Anita cards on both Saturday and Sunday.

In February, Tory Cameron sweept the event's final three races to win $123,947 from a $325,499 cash pool.

Leg 2 - April 3-4, Players Championship, $250,000 GTD

The Players Championship is a two-day, Saturday-Sunday competition requiring entrants to make 15 mythical $2.00 win and place picks each day from among 30 designated races at selected racetracks across the country, including (subject to change) Aqueduct, Gulfstream, Keeneland and Santa Anita.

In 2025, Brian Graziano won $131,250 from a total cash pool of $350,000.

Leg 3 - June 5-6, New York New York Challenge

The New York New York Challenge is comprised of the full cards from Saratoga Race Course on Friday and Saturday during the Belmont Stakes weekend. Last year’s Belmont Stakes Eve and Belmont Stakes Day programs at Saratoga consisted of a total of 26 races—13 of them graded stakes. Like the Pick & Pray® Classic, the New York, New York Challenge will be will be contested in HorseTourneys’ popular Pick & Pray® format, which requires players to enter all of their selections each day prior to that day’s first contest race.

In the first-ever running of the event in 2025, Anthony Mattera earned $115,230 from the $300,002 event.

Leg 4 - August 22-23, Spa & Surf Showdown

The Spa & Surf Showdown is perhaps the most anticipated HorseTourneys event on the calendar. This year's event is set for August 2026 and will again call on players to make win and place selections on each race of the Saratoga and Del Mar programs on those two days.

In last year's renewal, John Nichols took home $196,230 from the $510,720 cash pool.

Leg 5 - December, Pick & Pray® Classic

Unlike the Live-format Flo-Cal Faceoff and Spa & Surf Showdown and the All Optional Live-format Players Championship, the Pick & Pray® Classic will be contested entirely in HorseTourneys’ popular Pick & Pray® format, which requires players to enter all of their selections each day prior to the day’s first contest race.

Lawrence Kahlden put a bow on the end of his 2025 at the Pick & Pray® Classic, winning the $250,000 event to take home $96,250.

QUALIFYING

Qualifying contests for the next Champions Series event is underway at HorseTourneys.com. Head to the site to check the upcoming schedule of qualifiers.

SCORING

Players will receive Champions Series points at the conclusion of each leg of the series. The points formula will award 100 points for a first-place finish, 99 points for second, 98 points for third, down to 1 point for a 100th-place finish.

These points will be tallied together after the conclusion of the 2025 Pick & Pray® Classic and final positions will be sorted based on players’ aggregate points totals.

Full Champions Series Points can be found here.

PRIZES

1st place: The overall points leader at the end of the HorseTourneys Champions Series will receive a complimentary entry to all five (5) HorseTourneys Champions Series events in 2027.

2nd place: The runner up will receive entries to three (3) HorseTourneys Champions Series events of his or her choosing in 2027.

3rd place: The third-place finisher will receive an entry to one (1) HorseTourneys Champions Series event of his or her choice in 2027.

QUESTIONS