Breaking the Bank: Monster Payouts
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Breaking the Bank - featuring data courtesy of Equibase - highlights the biggest scores of the past week in racing. (Photo by Penelope P. Miller)
It is said you should never wake a sleeping giant.
Then again, no one ever said you shouldn’t bet on a Sleeping Giant.
If you did, then you might have broken the bank with last week’s biggest payoff in Thoroughbred racing.
When Sleeping Giant won the eighth race at Belmont Park on July 8 at 16-1 odds, he not only opened the door to a $213.50 exacta and a $997 trifecta, he also served as the difficult step in a Pick 6 that returned a gargantuan $131,004.
Sleeping Giant was the only horse in the six-race sequence that paid more than $12, making it a fairly reasonable challenge for a huge reward.
Two favorites (Sinatra at $6.30 and Psychiatry at $6.20) were included in the winning ticket. Beyond them came Frazil ($11.80), Ice Cutter ($12) and Privately Speaking ($11.20), and once you nudged the Sleeping Giant and woke him from his slumber, someone had enough cash to fund a rather opulent summer vacation.
The second through fifth race Pick 4 at Gulfstream Park on July 12 also presented a rewarding challenge for handicappers. The sequence started innocently enough with wins by Valid Wildfire ($9.40) and Ya Esta (9.20). Then the volume was pumped up when Giselle Ma Belle shipped in from Tampa Bay Downs and paid $34.20 to win the fourth race. The final chapter in this tale that delighted longshot players was delivered by Sir Sparky, who came out of hibernation after compiling a 0-for-17 record in 2015 and 2014 and took the fifth race at a $30.80 win mutuel.
The end result was a daily double worth $579.40 with the two $30 horses and a Pick 3 that paid a lucrative $1,904.50. The capper was a Pick 4 that returned $43,654.60 for the lone holder of a winning 50-cent ticket.
At Woodbine, the sixth race superfecta on July 10 also had the potential to be a blockbuster with a larger pool. The toteboard lit up with Optimism winning at 14-1 and 44-1 shot Court Adjourned crossing the finish line second. The 2-1 favorite was next and a 6-1 shot rounded out the superfecta.
The return was an epic $212,208.65 for a $1 ticket, unfortunately there were only a couple of winning 10-cent tickets that paid a still substantial $2,122.80.
This week’s “How did you come up with that one?” award was also presented at Gulfstream on July 12 and was bestowed on a horse who made a rather auspicious career debut. Formal Summation was originally on the also-eligibles list but gained the necessary scratch and drew into the race. Off three slow workouts, none of them faster than 50 seconds for four furlongs, Formal Summation nevertheless came flying out of the starting gate and opened a clear, 2 ½-length lead after the opening quarter.
The son of In Summation trained by Hernan Parra never looked back, leading by 6 ½ lengths at the eighth pole en route to a 4 ¾-length triumph.
That eye-opening burst of speed clearly caught handicappers off-guard as Formal Summation was dismissed at 75-1 odds and paid a week’s best $152.60 for every $2 win ticket.
For a “Summation” that was a pretty good introduction to racing.
Top Payouts for the Week Ended July 12
Wager
Wager Amount
Payoff
Track
Date
Race#
Win
$ 2.00
$ 152.60
GP
7/12/2015
7
Place
$ 2.00
$ 75.00
TDN
7/11/2015
6
Show
$ 2.00
$ 79.40
DEL
7/11/2015
10
Exacta
$ 1.00
$ 446.40
DEL
7/6/2015
4
Exacta
$ 2.00
$ 1,446.00
LRL
7/10/2015
6
Quinella
$ 2.00
$ 355.40
PRM
7/10/2015
9
Trifecta
$ 0.50
$ 8,418.20
LRL
7/11/2015
4
Trifecta
$ 1.00
$ 20,403.00
FL
7/7/2015
5
Trifecta
$ 2.00
$ 28,492.00
LRL
7/10/2015
6
Superfecta
$ 0.10
$ 11,933.10
LRL
7/11/2015
4
Superfecta
$ 0.20
$ 99.85
GPR
7/11/2015
7
Superfecta
$ 0.50
$ 6,596.50
MNR
7/11/2015
7
Superfecta
$ 1.00
$ 212,208.85
WO
7/10/2015
6
Superfecta
$ 2.00
$ 42,863.40
PID
7/6/2015
7
Daily Double
$ 1.00
$ 638.20
DEL
7/6/2015
5
Daily Double
$ 2.00
$ 2,702.60
GP
7/12/2015
8
Pick 3
$ 0.50
$ 1,918.90
PEN
7/8/2015
5
Pick 3
$ 1.00
$ 7,098.40
DEL
7/6/2015
6
Pick 3
$ 2.00
$ 3,190.60
LRL
7/10/2015
8
Pick 4
$ 0.50
$ 10,204.85
EMD
7/12/2015
11
Pick 4
$ 1.00
$ 87,309.20
GP
7/12/2015
5
Pick 4
$ 2.00
$ 8,214.20
CT
7/8/2015
8
Pick 5
$ 0.20
$ 902.90
WO
7/12/2015
6
Pick 5
$ 0.50
$ 20,044.65
GP
7/11/2015
11
Pick 5
$ 1.00
$ 28,414.70
SAC
7/12/2015
9
Pick 5
$ 2.00
$ 10,873.00
BEL
7/9/2015
5
Pick 5 Jackpot
$ 0.50
$ 250.25
LRL
7/10/2015
8
Pick 6
$ 0.10
$ 39.59
LRL
7/11/2015
9
Pick 6
$ 0.20
$ 403.36
SAC
7/12/2015
9
Pick 6
$ 1.00
$ 37,631.10
AP
7/9/2015
8
Pick 6
$ 2.00
$ 131,004.00
BEL
7/8/2015
9
Pick 6 Jackpot
$ 0.20
$ 22,754.54
GP
7/12/2015
10
Super High Five
$ 0.10
$ 142.36
LS
7/11/2015
10
Super High Five
$ 0.50
$ 1,848.45
EVD
7/9/2015
5
Super High Five
$ 1.00
$ 56,060.30
SAC
7/12/2015
9
Super High Five
$ 2.00
$ 1,060.20
MNR
7/8/2015
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.