Breaking the Bank: Feeling Super

Breaking the Bank - featuring data courtesy of Equibase - highlights the biggest scores of the past week in racing. (Belmont photo by Susie Raisher/NYRA)
There are times when a single race can serve as the key to unlocking a vault full of gold.
Who needs a Pick 6 when correctly tabbing the first four finishers in a race can generate an extremely lucrative payoff? Right?
The handicappers who cashed on the eighth race superfecta on May 23 at Santa Anita Park would surely agree as they turned a $1 wager into a cool $61,941.10 (or $6,194.11 for a 10-cent minimum bet).
Of course, as you might expect, it wasn’t easy.
For starters, you needed to believe that Neveradoubt, who was coming off a seventh-place finish in an allowance race, would win a stakes race at 41.70-to-1 odds.
After that, you had to see some merit in Temple Keys, who was sent off at 29-to-1 odds after finishing sixth and ninth in his last two races.
There was some sanity with 5-2 third-choice Grazen Sky finishing third, but then another longshot, Cardiac, at 38.60-to-1 odds crossed the finish line fourth.
Together they comprised the 8-7-5-1 combination that broke the bank at odds of more than 61,000-1.
Talk about feeling “super!”
Of course, if you prefer to focus on horses that cross the finish first, the Pick 6 at Belmont Park on May 20 also generated a windfall of cash.
With three favorites – including one at a miniscule 2-to-5 odds – mixing with a 3.95-to-1 shot and 11.40-to-1 and 14.50-to-1 longshots, the sequence returned a hefty $59,714 for a $2 wager.
Meanwhile, this week’s “how did you come up with that one?” award winner had a rather lucrative trickle down.
When Penn National shipper Trumpet Kaz closed with a rush to win the 12th and final race of the day at Monmouth Park on May 23, she not only lit up the toteboard with a week’s-best $130.80 payoff for a $2 win bet, she also capped a series of gargantuan horizontal wagers.
The Pick 5 led the way with a $46,854.80 return for 50 cents, followed by the Pick 4 that was worth $48,095.20 for $1. The Pick 3 paid a mere $1,292.50 for $1.
The superfecta? That paid $6,191.70 for $1 with the favorite second and the second betting choice finishing fourth – a pretty handsome payoff for focusing on one race rather than several.
Top Payouts for the Week Ended May 24

Wager
 Wager Amount 
 Payoff 
Track
Date
Race#

Win
 $2.00
 $130.80
MTH
5/23/15
12

Place
 $2.00
 $82.60
PIM
5/23/15
7

Show
 $2.00
 $32.60
PIM
5/23/15
7

Exacta
 $1.00
 $1,307.60
HP
5/23/15
5

Exacta
 $2.00
 $1,253.40
PIM
5/21/15
9

Quinella
 $2.00
 $548.00
BOI
5/23/15
3

Trifecta
 $0.50
 $4,940.00
IND
5/23/15
1

Trifecta
 $1.00
 $30,380.70
MNR
5/24/15
2

Trifecta
 $2.00
 $13,175.00
PIM
5/21/15
9

Superfecta
 $0.10
 $10,141.17
EVD
5/23/15
7

Superfecta
 $1.00
 $61,941.10
SA
5/23/15
8

Superfecta
 $2.00
 $21,604.80
PID
5/18/15
4

Daily Double
 $1.00
 $483.90
EVD
5/23/15
7

Daily Double
 $2.00
 $1,310.60
IND
5/23/15
2

Pick 3
 $0.50
 $2,642.55
IND
5/23/15
3

Pick 3
 $1.00
 $4,383.10
AP
5/24/15
6

Pick 3
 $2.00
 $3,695.00
BEL
5/23/15
5

Pick 4
 $0.50
 $7,567.20
MNR
5/23/15
9

Pick 4
 $1.00
 $48,095.20
MTH
5/23/15
12

Pick 4
 $2.00
 $8,410.60
PRM
5/23/15
9

Pick 5
 $0.20
 $7,984.15
WO
5/24/15
6

Pick 5
 $0.50
 $46,854.80
MTH
5/23/15
12

Pick 5
 $1.00
 $3,851.90
DEL
5/18/15
7

Pick 5
 $2.00
 $43,902.00
BEL
5/23/15
5

Pick 5 Jackpot
 $0.50
 $4,944.35
LAD
5/23/15
8

Pick 6
 $1.00
 $3,761.50
IND
5/23/15
8

Pick 6
 $2.00
 $59,714.00
BEL
5/20/15
9

Pick 6 Jackpot
 $0.10
 $7,729.08
PIM
5/23/15
10

Pick 6 Jackpot
 $0.20
 $36,652.54
GP
5/22/15
9

Super High Five
 $0.10
 $261.66
LS
5/24/15
9

Super High Five
 $0.50
 $1,813.05
MNR
5/23/15
9

Super High Five
 $1.00
 $32,695.40
SA
5/24/15
9

Super High Five
 $2.00
 $1,734.20
MNR
5/24/15
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.