Breaking the Bank: The New Year and Big Payouts

Breaking the Bank - featuring data courtesy of Equibase - highlights the biggest scores of the past week in racing. (Photo by Eclipse Sportswire)
As festive as New Year’s Eve may have been, for a few perceptive handicappers the party became truly rewarding on the first day of 2016.
Handicappers who connected on the Rainbow Pick 6 at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 1 may not have taken home a six-figure Jackpot but still managed to break the bank and stuff their pockets with a wad of cash worth $25,656.28 for a mere 20-cent wager.
The Pick 6 started innocently enough with favored America’s Kitten taking the sixth race at a $4.40 payoff. But that was the lone winning favorite as the sequence closed out with wins by Deterrent ($16), Scuba Sue ($17.40), El Gran Joyful ($11.80), Dream of Mine ($50.20) and Who’s That Chick ($7.60), allowing a few handicappers to not only start 2016 off on the right foot, but to put a Gucci loafer on it.
Santa Anita also had some fireworks to usher in the new year, topped by a Jan. 1 Pick 6 that returned $57,052.80 for a $2 bet.
The sequence started chalky with wins by Mr. Sexy ($8.80) and favored Bolitar ($4.60) that generated a measly $21 double. The combination grew more challenging when Be a Lady ($13) took the sixth race, yet when wins by Pearl de Vere ($7.40) and Cautious Giant ($8.80) followed, it was left to Individual Design, a $19.80 winner of the last race, to make the payoff truly rewarding.
That last race paid off rather handsomely in another exotic wager when 42-1 shot Winninginfashion finished fourth to spark a huge $26,215.80 Super High 5 payoff for a $1 bet.
Click here for the Equibase charts from Jan. 1 at Santa Anita Park
The following day at Tampa Bay Downs, a 50-cent wager on the Pick 5 turned into $24,712.75 for the holder of one winning ticket.
Navy Princess ($27.20) took the opening race to sink many of the tickets in play, but then only one of the remaining four winners paid more than $9.80 as Brett Park ($8.20), Pramedya ($9.80), Good Times Rambles ($17.40) and Sea of Erin ($5.80) completed the sequence.
Prior to the big apple falling in Times Square, there was a celebration at Aqueduct on Dec. 30 among Pick 5 players who connected on five straight winners to bag a $37,106 payout.
The second of the five races was taken by a huge 3-10 favorite in Mia and Molly ($2.60) but wins by Stolen Victory ($21.40), Angry Moon ($26.80), Owner Gentleman ($11) and Eskendulce ($10.40) created a highly perplexing quintet of winners.
The week’s “How did you come up with that one?” award was handed out at Mahoning Valley on Dec. 28 along with a payoff that would have been huge for an exacta.
R B Wild Promise came into the seventh race off an 11th-place finish in a $7,500 claimer and was dropping into a $5,000 claimer, where he had finished seventh in his previous start at 90-1 odds.
Off those two races, and a 10th and two sixths in his three races before them, handicappers all but ignored R B Wild Promise in the 5 ½-furlong sprint and allowed him to go off at gargantuan 206-1 odds.
R B Wild Promise was toward the rear of the pack for much of the race, but when the field turned for home something astonishing happened. The 4-year-old gelding kicked into top gear and in a dramatic finish, with six horses separated by a length at the wire, R B Wild Promise edged clear to prevail by a half-length and return a whopping $415.20 to win and an equally mind-boggling $104.20 to place.
The improbable victory was also the first for 23-year-old owner/trainer Gwendolyn K. Crosser, who had a reason to pop open a bottle of champagne prior to New Year’s Eve.

Wager
 Wager Amount 
 Payoff 
Track
Date
Race#

Win
 $2.00
 $415.20
MVR
12/28/15
7

Place
 $2.00
 $104.20
MVR
12/28/15
7

Show
 $2.00
 $35.20
TP
1/1/16
2

Exacta
 $1.00
 $407.80
GG
1/2/16
5

Exacta
 $2.00
 $1,779.20
MVR
12/28/15
7

Quinella
 $1.00
 $98.20
TUP
1/3/16
7

Quinella
 $2.00
 $62.50
AQU
1/2/16
2

Trifecta
 $0.20
 $909.32
HAW
12/29/15
6

Trifecta
 $0.50
 $7,049.05
MVR
12/28/15
7

Trifecta
 $1.00
 $8,967.90
GP
12/31/15
10

Trifecta
 $2.00
 $9,663.60
TP
1/1/16
2

Superfecta
 $0.10
 $11,443.54
TP
1/2/16
9

Superfecta
 $0.20
 $13,883.74
HAW
12/29/15
6

Superfecta
 $2.00
 $29,496.00
AQU
1/2/16
5

Daily Double
 $1.00
 $807.20
TUP
1/2/16
4

Daily Double
 $2.00
 $1,615.20
SA
1/2/16
9

Pick 3
 $0.20
 $402.78
HAW
1/2/16
9

Pick 3
 $0.50
 $3,213.35
MVR
12/29/15
6

Pick 3
 $1.00
 $9,371.40
SA
1/3/16
8

Pick 3
 $2.00
 $6,541.20
LRL
1/3/16
5

Pick 4
 $0.20
 $1,582.96
HAW
1/2/16
9

Pick 4
 $0.50
 $29,619.00
SA
1/3/16
9

Pick 4
 $1.00
 $12,080.70
TAM
1/3/16
9

Pick 4
 $2.00
 $3,964.00
AQU
1/2/16
5

Pick 5
 $0.20
 $411.82
HAW
12/30/15
5

Pick 5
 $0.50
 $24,712.75
TAM
1/2/16
10

Pick 5
 $2.00
 $37,106.00
AQU
12/30/15
5

Pick 6
 $1.00
 $2,401.20
TUP
12/30/15
8

Pick 6
 $2.00
 $57,052.80
SA
1/1/16
9

Pick 6 Jackpot
 $0.10
 $274.70
LRL
12/31/15
9

Pick 6 Jackpot
 $0.20
 $25,656.28
GP
1/1/16
11

Super High Five
 $0.50
 $4,769.05
FG
1/3/16
9

Super High Five
 $1.00
 $26,215.80
SA
1/1/16
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.