Breaking the Bank: Belmont Bonanza

Breaking the Bank - featuring data courtesy of Equibase - highlights the biggest scores of the past week in racing. (Crowd photo by Eclipse Sportswire)
If you connect on one 20-to-1 shot in a multi-race sequence bet, you’re staring at the prospect of a rather handsome payoff.
Hit two of them and welcome to this week’s edition of Breaking the Bank.
The bonanza took place at Belmont Park, where the Pick 5 on June 10 returned the princely sum of $342,928 for a $2 wager.
While no one was fortunate enough to punch a $2 ticket on the winning combo, the return of $85,732 for a few fortunate folks with 50-cent wagers was nothing to quibble about.
The keys to that huge payday were a couple of longshots who inflated the ticket to epic proportions.
The first was Roman Revival, a first-time starter from trainer John Toscano, who took the first race of the day – and the sequence – and returned $43.60.
As juicy as that payoff was, it amounted to only about half of the price that Puparee paid in the fourth race. In making her first start since January, the 4-year-old filly notched a three-length victory for trainer Dominick Schettino and paid an astronomical $88.50.
Between those two bombs were a pair of favorites, Indiana Stones ($7.60) and Kathy’s Reward ($3.90), and the icing on the cake was Shore Runner, who took the fifth race as the 3.20-to-1 second choice.
Alone, those three would have accounted for a somewhat meager Pick 3, but thanks to those two victorious horses at 20-to-1 or more, picking five unlocked the key to a higher tax bracket.
Belmont certainly proved to be a popular haunt for longshots last week as the Pick 6 on June 14 netted a rather neat $133,980 for a $2 wager.
Favored Stardom ($4.80) took the ninth and final race to make one astute handicapper feel like a superstar for constructing a ticket that also included Rare Eagle ($30.20), Macagone ($4.10), Jennys Creek ($7.60), Literata ($37) and Celestine ($4.40 – the second of the three favorites in the sequence).
That same day, the week’s “how did you come up with that one?” award was bestowed at Woodbine in a highly unlikely setting. Academic, who was coming off a maiden win, showed her smarts by winning the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks by 1 3/4 lengths, paying $135.30 to those scholarly enough to back her.
She also capped a $4,051.10 Pick 3 for $1, illustrating how even one 20-1 shot can make someone’s day pretty special.
Top Payouts for the Week Ended June 14

Wager
 Wager Amount 
 Payoff 
Track
Date
Race#

Win
 $2.00
 $135.30
WO
6/14/15
10

Place
 $2.00
 $61.80
CBY
6/11/15
7

Show
 $2.00
 $27.00
BEL
6/13/15
10

Exacta
 $1.00
 $953.70
EVD
6/13/15
9

Exacta
 $2.00
 $937.40
AP
6/13/15
7

Quinella
 $2.00
 $197.80
PRM
6/13/15
2

Trifecta
 $0.50
 $4,161.45
EVD
6/13/15
5

Trifecta
 $1.00
 $34,833.00
GG
6/13/15
8

Trifecta
 $2.00
 $6,585.00
BEL
6/10/15
9

Superfecta
 $0.10
 $7,054.25
GG
6/13/15
8

Superfecta
 $0.50
 $5,731.90
MNR
6/10/15
9

Superfecta
 $1.00
 $187,244.40
DEL
6/8/15
3

Superfecta
 $2.00
 $33,892.00
PID
6/9/15
1

Daily Double
 $1.00
 $331.40
CD
6/13/15
7

Daily Double
 $2.00
 $1,193.60
SA
6/14/15
8

Pick 3
 $0.50
 $1,677.15
IND
6/10/15
9

Pick 3
 $1.00
 $7,189.70
PRX
6/8/15
6

Pick 3
 $2.00
 $2,526.20
PRM
6/13/15
4

Pick 4
 $0.50
 $15,263.00
PRX
6/8/15
8

Pick 4
 $1.00
 $21,002.15
WO
6/14/15
11

Pick 4
 $2.00
 $6,601.00
CT
6/13/15
8

Pick 5
 $0.20
 $5,619.20
WO
6/14/15
6

Pick 5
 $0.50
 $23,583.25
CD
6/13/15
9

Pick 5
 $1.00
 $13,946.10
DEL
6/8/15
7

Pick 5
 $2.00
 $342,928.00
BEL
6/10/15
5

Pick 5 Jackpot
 $0.50
 $282.55
LAD
6/13/15
8

Pick 6
 $1.00
 $8,270.80
AP
6/14/15
8

Pick 6
 $2.00
 $133,980.00
BEL
6/14/15
9

Pick 6 Jackpot
 $0.20
 $43,892.98
GG
6/14/15
10

Super High Five
 $0.10
 $300.14
LS
6/12/15
9

Super High Five
 $0.50
 $4,898.10
MNR
6/8/15
9

Super High Five
 $1.00
 $21,320.80
SA
6/12/15
8

Super High Five
 $2.00
 $3,470.00
MNR
6/14/15
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.