Breaking the Bank: Tidal Wave of Greenbacks

Breaking the Bank - featuring data courtesy of Equibase - highlights the biggest scores of the past week in racing. (Del Mar photo by Eclipse Sportswire)

Perhaps they should call it the place where the Turf meets the Cash.
Handicappers at Del Mar saw a tidal wave of greenbacks roll into shore when the Pick 6 returned a bank-busting $333,444.80 to a single Big Kahuna on Aug. 6.
Inflated by a carryover of $63,706, the Pick 6 stretched to a pool of more than $500,000 and paid off on a combination that started off innocently enough with a 2.30-to-1 favorite in Tribalist ($6.60), who won the third race, but then kicked into high gear with a series of surprising winners.
Second Proposal ($16.80) started the strings of upsets that continued with Nakamato ($11.20), Alizarin Beauty ($9.20) and then She’s Not Here ($25.60), who scored at 11.80-to-1 odds in the day’s featured allowance race.
That set the stage for the eighth and final race of the day in which second-betting choice Jens De Ville drew off to a 3 ¼-quarter length victory and paid $10.80 to complete the meet-best Pick 6 mutuel that paid off a mortgage or two or three.
Click here for Equibase charts from Aug. 6 at Del Mar
Del Mar had a tuneup for the Aug. 6 fireworks the day before when the Pick 5 lit up the sky above the Pacific Ocean with an $181,829.05 payoff for each winning 50-cent wager.
Two improbable winners highlighted the sequence, starting in the third race with Warren’s Nicholas, a 6-year-old who posted his first win since 2013 and paid $66.60 for his second win in 16 career starts.
Selecting the fifth and final winner on the ticket also required some imagination as Fashioned Gem, after a lackluster debut on the turf course, switched over to the main track and rallied for a length and a half win at odds of 21.30-to-1 ($44.60).
None of the other three winners was favorites as the winning combination also included No Silent ($14.40), Congregationalist ($7.20) and Del Mar Ann ($16.60) to trigger a memorable six-figure payoff.
Click here for Equibase charts from Aug. 5 at Del Mar
Saratoga Race Course also offered a lucrative reward for longshot hunters as the Spa’s superfecta in the second race on Aug. 8 returned a delightfully rich $47,594 for a $2 wager (or $2,379.70 for the 10-cent minimum).
The first horse across the finish line was Monster Bea, a 2-year-old who shipped in from Presque Isle Downs and scored in his turf debut at 11.90-to-1 odds. While the 1.70-to-1 favorite Deeply Undervalued could do no better than finish sixth, 5.30-to-1, 20.10-to-1 and 17.60-to-1 shots filled the second through fourth spots to create a fabulously lucrative payoff.
This week’s “how did you come up with that one?” award was handed out at Evangeline Downs on Aug. 8 in the fifth race.
Little Lola came into the race off 10 straight races in which the 7-year-old mare lost by six lengths or more. Not surprisingly, off a string of races like that, she was dismissed at 54.60-to-1 odds. Yet in her first start for trainer Holly Wise, Little Lola flashed surprisingly sharp and sustained speed, cruised to a 6 ½-length victory and returned a week’s best $111.20.
Apparently, for some fortunate longshot players, a word to the Wise paid off.

Top Payout for the Week Ended Aug. 9

Wager
 Wager Amount 
 Payoff 
Track
Date
Race#

Win
 $2.00
 $111.20
EVD
8/8/15
5

Place
 $2.00
 $47.00
DMR
8/5/15
5

Show
 $2.00
 $41.20
CT
8/5/15
8

Exacta
 $1.00
 $664.80
DMR
8/5/15
5

Exacta
 $2.00
 $2,091.00
SRP
8/8/15
6

Quinella
 $1.00
 $40.80
GPR
8/9/15
9

Quinella
 $2.00
 $789.80
DMR
8/5/15
5

Trifecta
 $0.50
 $1,867.40
IND
8/8/15
5

Trifecta
 $1.00
 $9,847.40
GP
8/8/15
6

Trifecta
 $2.00
 $8,709.00
ARP
8/9/15
9

Superfecta
 $0.10
 $26,731.45
DMR
8/5/15
5

Superfecta
 $1.00
 $34,716.50
FL
8/4/15
9

Superfecta
 $2.00
 $47,594.00
SAR
8/8/15
2

Daily Double
 $1.00
 $1,409.00
EVD
8/8/15
6

Daily Double
 $2.00
 $1,243.00
SAR
8/3/15
8

Pick 3
 $0.50
 $2,042.35
PRM
8/8/15
6

Pick 3
 $1.00
 $6,125.80
DMR
8/5/15
5

Pick 3
 $2.00
 $8,592.00
SAR
8/3/15
8

Pick 4
 $0.50
 $10,809.75
GP
8/7/15
5

Pick 4
 $1.00
 $9,827.30
HST
8/7/15
4

Pick 4
 $2.00
 $34,828.00
SAR
8/3/15
10

Pick 5
 $0.20
 $6,242.50
WO
8/8/15
6

Pick 5
 $0.50
 $181,829.05
DMR
8/5/15
5

Pick 5
 $1.00
 $17,642.50
MNR
8/3/15
9

Pick 5
 $2.00
 $64,775.00
SAR
8/8/15
5

Pick 5 Jackpot
 $0.50
 $2,840.30
LAD
8/6/15
7

Pick 6
 $0.10
 $4,747.77
LRL
8/8/15
8

Pick 6
 $1.00
 $14,226.70
AP
8/6/15
8

Pick 6
 $2.00
 $333,444.80
DMR
8/6/15
8

Pick 6 Jackpot
 $0.20
 $7,397.58
GP
8/6/15
10

Super High Five
 $0.50
 $4,145.85
LRL
8/7/15
8

Super High Five
 $1.00
 $9,453.00
GP
8/9/15
11

Super High Five
 $2.00
 $1,157.20
MNR
8/9/15
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.