Breaking the Bank: Tricky Piece to Pick 6 Puzzle

Breaking the Bank - featuring data courtesy of Equibase - highlights the biggest scores of the past week in racing. (Santa Anita photo by Eclipse Sportswire)
Those folks who were looking for ways to spend a happy day at Santa Anita Park on April 19 had a chance to find one though an appropriately named horse.
When Get Happy Mister won the seventh race that day at 12.60-to-1 odds, he ignited quite a few smiles among his backers. He also served as the key that unlocked a robust $143,915 Pick 6 payoff, which made some people deliriously happy.
The swamis that liked Get Happy Mister, who was making his turf debut off an eight-month layoff, had the tricky piece to a Pick 6 puzzle, which was relatively fathomable beyond that double-digit longshot.
Of the other five winners, three were favorites and none of them paid more than $10.60.
The bank-breaking sequence was capped by Desiresoftheheart, who won the ninth race finale as a 2.20-to-1 favorite in her career debut for trainer Don Warren.
Considering how the biggest $1 Pick 3 payoff in the six-race series was $543.30, the six-figure return for a Pick 6 half-filled with chalk was highly generous indeed.
Click here for the Equibase charts for April 19 at Santa Anita
At Golden Gate Fields, a carryover of $26,540 fueled a Golden Jackpot Pick 6 return of $40,964.10 for a 20-cent wager on April 17.
Surprisingly, the lone winning ticket was capped by a victorious 2.20-to-1 favorite in the last race, Mucho Macho Dan. Curly Boy, a 12-to-1 shot who won the opening leg of the sequence, was the most challenging leg in the wager.
Elsewhere, while Shared Belief served up a reminder that there are no sure things in a horse race, his failure to finish in the Charles Town Classic Stakes on April 18 created some gargantuan payoffs for those folks willing to buck the bridge jumpers who overwhelmed the show pool. Aside from the runner-up, Imperative, who paid a week’s best $71.20 to show, the victorious Moreno, a 7-to-1 shot in the win pool, paid $23.20 to show and third-place finisher Page McKenney returned $45.60 for a $2 show bet.
The April 18 card at Tampa Bay Downs got off to a glorious start for anyone who connected on the $1 superfecta in the first race. Topped by a 45.20-to-1 longshot, who was followed by a 41.50-to-1 shot, 17.10-to-1 shot and the 11-to-10 favorite, the payoff was $19,309.90, which gave someone a rather considerable bankroll to play the rest of the card.
The race also produced some substantial payoffs in the form of an $880.20 exacta for $2 and a $1,920,50 triple for $1.
The ninth race at Lone Star Park on April 19 produced a daily double of sorts, taking down both the “how did you come up with that one?” and “head for the exits happy” awards thanks to Bobbie Dan.
With just one win in 36 career starts and coming off a weak sixth-place finish, Bobbie Dan woke up at 85.20-to-1 odds and returned $172.40 for a $2 win bet in the final race of the day.
Moonlight Mystery was second at 59.90-to-1, and it came as no surprise that an array of huge exotic payoffs lit up the toteboard. The $2 exacta returned $3,790.60, the $2 trifecta paid $4,940.40 $2 and a 10-cent superfecta returned $7,278.46.
Needless to say, those prices only added to the joy in a happy week for handicappers.
Top Payouts for the Week Ended April 19

Wager
 Wager Amount 
 Payoff 
Track
Date
Race#

Win
 $2.00
 $172.40
LS
4/19/15
9

Place
 $2.00
 $53.20
LS
4/19/15
9

Show
 $2.00
 $71.20
CT
4/18/15
12

Exacta
 $1.00
 $264.50
EVD
4/18/15
5

Exacta
 $2.00
 $3,790.60
LS
4/19/15
9

Quinella
 $1.00
 $66.50
TUP
4/13/15
5

Quinella
 $2.00
 $217.60
WRD
4/13/15
8

Trifecta
 $0.20
 $126.64
HAW
4/18/15
8

Trifecta
 $0.50
 $1,174.20
EVD
4/18/15
5

Trifecta
 $1.00
 $4,295.40
GP
4/16/15
6

Trifecta
 $2.00
 $18,280.00
SUD
4/18/15
8

Superfecta
 $0.10
 $7,278.46
LS
4/19/15
9

Superfecta
 $0.20
 $1,709.96
HAW
4/18/15
8

Superfecta
 $0.50
 $6,343.95
MNR
4/15/15
1

Superfecta
 $1.00
 $19,309.90
TAM
4/18/15
1

Superfecta
 $2.00
 $19,486.20
CT
4/18/15
12

Daily Double
 $1.00
 $477.70
TUP
4/15/15
8

Daily Double
 $2.00
 $869.00
GP
4/16/15
2

Pick 3
 $0.20
 $144.02
HAW
4/18/15
8

Pick 3
 $0.50
 $580.70
MVR
4/14/15
4

Pick 3
 $1.00
 $2,988.30
TAM
4/18/15
3

Pick 3
 $2.00
 $8,375.80
CT
4/16/15
4

Pick 4
 $0.20
 $614.18
HAW
4/18/15
10

Pick 4
 $0.50
 $4,928.70
TUP
4/15/15
8

Pick 4
 $1.00
 $14,575.90
TAM
4/15/15
5

Pick 4
 $2.00
 $44,003.40
CT
4/16/15
4

Pick 5
 $0.20
 $176.20
WO
4/19/15
6

Pick 5
 $0.50
 $21,164.80
KEE
4/16/15
9

Pick 5
 $1.00
 $10,443.80
MNR
4/14/15
9

Pick 5
 $2.00
 $12,526.20
HAW
4/18/15
5

Pick 5 Jackpot
 $0.50
 $4,000.00
FON
4/17/15
9

Pick 6
 $1.00
 $614.80
TUP
4/19/15
8

Pick 6
 $2.00
 $143,915.00
SA
4/19/15
9

Pick 6 Jackpot
 $0.10
 $6,337.96
PIM
4/18/15
10

Pick 6 Jackpot
 $0.20
 $40,964.10
GG
4/17/15
7

Super High Five
 $0.50
 $811.80
MNR
4/18/15
9

Super High Five
 $1.00
 $31,838.60
SA
4/18/15
9

Super High Five
 $2.00
 $1,961.40
MNR
4/14/15
9

Click here for a complete list of racetracks with abbreviations.

© 2015 Equibase Company LLC, all rights reserved. Data provided or compiled by Equibase Company LLC generally is accurate, but occasionally errors and omissions occur as a result of incorrect data received by others, mistakes in processing and other causes. Equibase Company LLC disclaims responsibility for the consequences, if any, of such errors, but would appreciate their being called to their attention.

Commonly Used Gambling Terms

Account wagering – Betting by internet or phone, in which a bettor must open an account and deposit money with which to bet.
Across the board – A bet on a horse to win, place and show. If the horse wins, the player collects three ways; if second, two ways; and if third, one way, losing the win and place bets. Actually, three bets.
Bounce – An especially poor performance on the heels of an especially good one.
Box – A betting term denoting a combination bet whereby all possible numeric combinations are covered for certain horses.
Bridge jumper – A person who wagers large amounts of money, usually on short- priced horses to show, hoping to realize a small but almost certain profit. The term comes from the structure those bettors may seek if they lose the bet.
Chalk – Betting favorite in a race.
Chalk player – Gambler who wagers on favorites.
Daily Double (or Double) – Type of bet calling for the selection of winners of two consecutive races.
Exacta – A wager in which the first two finishers in a race, in exact order of finish, must be picked.
Exacta box – A wager in which all possible combinations using a given number of horses are selected.
Exotic (bet) – Any bet other than win, place, or show that requires multiple combinations. Examples of exotic wagers are trifecta, Pick 6, Pick 4.
Handle – Amount of money wagered in the pari-mutuel system on a race, full day of races, or entire racing season at a track.
In the money – A horse that finishes first, second or third.
Key horse – A single horse used in multiple combinations in an exotic bet.
Morning line – The starting odds set by the track handicapper.
On the board – Finishing among the first three.
On the nose – Betting a horse to win only.
Overlay – A horse whose odds are greater than its potential to win.
Pari-mutuel – System of wagering where all the money is returned to the bettors after deduction of track and state percentages.
Parlay – A multi-race bet in which all winnings are subsequently wagered on a succeeding race.
Part wheel – Using a key horse or horses in different, but not all possible, exotic wagering combinations.
Pick (6 or other number) – A type of multi-race bet in which the winners of all the included races must be selected. Pick 3, Pick 4, Pick 5, Pick 6 are commonly used by tracks in the United States.
Place bet – A bet on a horse to finish first or second.
Quinella - Bet in which the first two finishers must be picked in either order.
Show bet – A bet on a horse to finish in the money; third or better.
Speed Figure – A metric that rates a horse’s performance in a race, which is determined by a combination of the horse’s performance and the level of competition he/she competed against.
Trifecta – A bet in which the first three finishers must be selected in exact order.
Trifecta box – A trifecta wager in which all possible combinations using a given number of horses are bet upon.
Underlay – Horse whose odds are more promising than his potential to win.
Win – A bet on a horse to finish first.
Wheel – Betting all possible combinations in an exotic wager using at least one horse as the key.