Breaking the Bank: Weekend Fireworks
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Breaking the Bank - featuring data courtesy of Equibase - highlights the biggest scores of the past week in racing. (Photo by Eclipse Sportswire)
The Fourth of July may not be a holiday in Canada, but there were some huge fireworks at Woodbine Racetrack this weekend.
The track’s betting windows lit up like a pyrotechnics show on July 5 when the Pick Four on the final races of the day returned $92,899.95 for a $1 wager – enough to break the bank in any country.
The keys to unlocking the huge payday came from riding on the backs of three horses that paid $21 or more. The topper came in the third of the four races when Crushin Hard ended a streak of seven straight races with nothing better than a fourth-place finish by capturing the 12th race at astronomical 51-1 odds.
That $105.70 payoff for a $2 win ticket rocketed the Pick Four payoff into the stratosphere, but it also received a boost from two other longshots in the four-race sequence. Go Blue Or Go Home won the opening leg, paying $36.60 for taking the Grade 2 Highlander Stakes, ending an 11-race losing streak that dated back to July 2013. After Shaman Ghost prevailed in the next race at 3-1 odds, the final race went to Boggie, who had finished second by a nose two starts back at 7-2 but paid $21 for taking the final race of the day.
Back in the U.S. of A., the Pick Five at Monmouth Park on July 3 paid for a truckload of sparklers as it returned $48,142.85 for a mere 50-cent wager.
As one would expect, there were no favorites in the sequence, though there were no outrageous longshots, either. The largest price among the five winners was $25.80 and after that came a $20 mutuel. The winning ticket was rounded out by payoffs of $13.80, $9.40 and $7 to light the fuse for a huge payoff.
At Belmont Park on July 5, the excitement of the previous day’s Stars and Stripes Festival gave away to the thrill of a $66,451 payoff for $2 on the Pick Five.
There was a winning favorite among the bunch, Possillicious, who returned $7.10 for winning the third race off the Bruce Levine claim. The opening two legs also featured logical winners that returned $7.40 and $6.
Amber Morning triumphed in the fourth race at an $18.40 mutuel to inject some value into the winning ticket and social security numbers were needed when Harbor King, who had lost his last seven races by a combined total of more than 112 lengths, sailed into the winner’s circle and paid $64.50 to cap the sequence.
The week’s “How did you come up with that one” award was presented at Canterbury in its fourth race on July 2 to a horse who illustrated how the grass can indeed be greener.
Congregation spent the bulk of her three dirt races at the back of the pack, finishing a distant ninth, 11th and seventh for trainer Vic Hanson, who sported an 0-for-33 record in 2015 before the July 2 race.
When Hanson gave Congregation a whirl in a turf race, most handicappers scoffed and sent her off at 79-1 odds. But the daughter of Hold Me Back enjoyed the proverbial last laugh and did a 180 while changing surfaces, closing with a flourish to win by a half-length and pay $161 for every $2 win ticket.
$161?
Ka-boom, folks, ka-boom.
Top Payouts for the Week Ended July 5
Wager
Wager Amount
Payoff
Track
Date
Race#
Win
$ 2.00
$ 161.00
CBY
7/2/2015
4
Place
$ 2.00
$ 57.00
LAD
7/1/2015
6
Show
$ 2.00
$ 32.60
EVD
7/2/2015
1
Exacta
$ 1.00
$ 462.30
DEL
6/29/2015
5
Exacta
$ 2.00
$ 2,424.00
LS
7/5/2015
10
Quinella
$ 2.00
$ 518.90
MD
7/3/2015
3
Trifecta
$ 0.50
$ 1,429.15
LAD
7/1/2015
6
Trifecta
$ 1.00
$ 10,222.30
LS
7/5/2015
10
Trifecta
$ 2.00
$ 14,566.00
FL
6/30/2015
9
Superfecta
$ 0.10
$ 9,738.90
LS
7/5/2015
10
Superfecta
$ 1.00
$ 196,529.15
WO
7/5/2015
12
Superfecta
$ 2.00
$ 89,276.40
LS
7/4/2015
10
Daily Double
$ 1.00
$ 400.80
CBY
7/3/2015
10
Daily Double
$ 2.00
$ 1,416.10
WO
7/5/2015
13
Pick 3
$ 0.50
$ 2,451.75
PEN
7/3/2015
3
Pick 3
$ 1.00
$ 4,225.35
WO
7/5/2015
12
Pick 3
$ 2.00
$ 3,907.00
BEL
7/5/2015
6
Pick 4
$ 0.50
$ 5,393.25
FL
7/4/2015
8
Pick 4
$ 1.00
$ 92,899.95
WO
7/5/2015
13
Pick 4
$ 2.00
$ 13,980.00
BEL
7/5/2015
5
Pick 5
$ 0.20
$ 6,562.80
WO
7/4/2015
6
Pick 5
$ 0.50
$ 48,142.85
MTH
7/3/2015
5
Pick 5
$ 1.00
$ 11,230.00
MNR
6/30/2015
9
Pick 5
$ 2.00
$ 66,451.00
BEL
7/5/2015
5
Pick 5 Jackpot
$ 0.20
$ 56.36
LRL
7/5/2015
8
Pick 5 Jackpot
$ 0.50
$ 342.90
LAD
7/2/2015
7
Pick 6
$ 0.20
$ 51.38
LS
7/5/2015
10
Pick 6
$ 1.00
$ 22,101.25
HST
7/5/2015
8
Pick 6
$ 2.00
$ 38,868.20
LRC
7/3/2015
8
Pick 6 Jackpot
$ 0.20
$ 4,892.82
GP
7/4/2015
10
Super High Five
$ 0.10
$ 580.53
LS
7/3/2015
10
Super High Five
$ 0.20
$ 665.56
OTP
7/4/2015
12
Super High Five
$ 0.50
$ 2,825.95
MNR
7/5/2015
9
Super High Five
$ 1.00
$ 21,086.80
GP
7/5/2015
12
Super High Five
$ 2.00
$ 667.00
MNR
7/1/2015
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.