Breaking the Bank: Pot at End of the Rainbow

Breaking the Bank - featuring data courtesy of Equibase - highlights the biggest scores of the past week in racing. (Photo by Penelope P. Miller/America's Best Racing) 
Two weeks ago, it was the Black Gold Pick 5 Jackpot at Fair Grounds.
Last week it was Gulfstream Park’s Rainbow 6’s turn to payoff someone’s home or college education – or maybe even both.
A pot of gold worth $179,140.46 was waiting at the end of the final race in the Rainbow 6 on Jan. 14 for one highly fortunate individual in Lewiston, Maine, whose wagers included a 20-cent investment on the winning 3-3-13-7-4-1 combination.
It was a roller-coast sequence, with three horses who paid $5.20 or less (inclduing two favorites), one who returned $11.40 and two who lit up the toteboard to the tune of $76.20 and $55.40 and wiped out most of the tickets in the mutuel pool.
The fireworks were supplied first by J C Monba, who won the seventh race at 37.10-to-1 odds. A 4-year-old, J C Monba notched a victory for the followers of the first-time gelding angle as he had not raced since Feb. 1 and was gelded in April. A class drop from the state-bred maiden special weight ranks at Penn National to an open $20,000 maiden claimer also lent a helping hand to the improbable victory.
In the eighth race, City of Weston put the finishing touches on a $2,902 Daily Double for $2 and a $29,236 Pick 3 for $1 with a 1 1/2-length victory at 26.70-1 odds. 
Winner of the Grade 3 Gallant Bob Stakes at Parx Racing in 2013, City of Weston was switching back to dirt after a poor effort on turf and upended a solid group of opponents that included the highly regarded Three Alarm Fire and 2014 Triple Crown veteran General a Rod, who failed to pull rank in the optional claimer and finished a disappointing fourth as the 4-to-5 favorite while racing for the first time since last year’s Belmont Stakes.
Equally surprising was the final act in eliminating every ticket but one.
Heading into the final race of the day, there were five live tickets. Four of them covered the same horse. One was the 3-to-2 favorite and the other was the 8.20-to-1 fifth choice.
Bet you know where this is heading. The winner, with just a single live ticket, was Leveraged Loan … the favorite.
Contrip, the aforementioned 8-1 shot, set the early pace, with Leveraged Loan pressing him in second, but was unable to hold off the favorite in the stretch as Leveraged Loan pulled away to a 3 ¾-length triumph.
Click here for the Equibase charts from Jan. 14 at Gulfstream
Imagine that. A $5 winner breaking the bank to the tune of $179,140.46.
Hold your head high, chalk players!
A few days later, on Jan. 18 at Santa Anita, a conventional Pick 6 paid off rather handsomely in its own right. A $2 ticket on 7-6-6-9-2-5 opened the door to a whopping $84,964 payday.
The biggest payoff in the sequence was only $15.60, but three winners paid at least $14.20 and there was only one victorious favorite (Holy Ascension in the second leg, $4.20), illustrating the value of a $104,326 carryover.
Last week, the “Head for the exits happy” and “How did you come up with that one?” awards formed a coupled entry that allowed handicappers to bail out in a big way if they backed Kobuk Valley in the eighth and final race at Charles Town on Jan. 17.
Listed at 10-to-1 on the morning line and coming off a loss by a less than a length in a $6,000 claimer, Kobuk Valley was virtually ignored in the $27,000 allowance race but managed to prevail by a neck at 57.90-to-1 odds and pay a robust $117.80 to win.
If there was hint of what was to come, it may have been provided by a muddy track for the 4 1/2-furlong race. Kobuk Valley was second in her only other race on a wet track.
Kobuk Valley’s upset win triggered a slew of lucrative payoffs, including a $3,003.80 trifecta, $6,519.80 superfecta, and $4,479.60 Pick 4, all for $2 wagers.
How green was your valley? Let’s just say it was colored with greenbacks, provided you placed a few bucks on Kobuk Valley.
Click here for the Equibase charts from Jan. 18 at Santa Anita Park
Top Payouts for the Week Ended Jan. 18

Wager
 Wager Amount 
 Payoff 
Track
Date
Race#

Win
 $2.00
 $117.80
CT
1/17/15
8

Place
 $2.00
 $68.40
DED
1/14/15
5

Show
 $2.00
 $25.00
LRL
1/17/15
1

Exacta
 $1.00
 $370.50
DED
1/14/15
5

Exacta
 $2.00
 $1,099.80
OP
1/16/15
3

Quinella
 $1.00
 $92.90
TUP
1/14/15
6

Quinella
 $2.00
 $93.50
AQU
1/18/15
4

Trifecta
 $0.50
 $2,510.50
PEN
1/16/15
7

Trifecta
 $1.00
 $7,693.40
GP
1/18/15
11

Trifecta
 $2.00
 $26,830.40
TAM
1/17/15
10

Superfecta
 $0.10
 $14,936.20
TAM
1/17/15
10

Superfecta
 $1.00
 $25,090.40
TAM
1/18/15
8

Superfecta
 $2.00
 $10,868.00
AQU
1/17/15
6

Daily Double
 $1.00
 $398.20
DED
1/14/15
7

Daily Double
 $2.00
 $7,999.60
TP
1/18/15
3

Pick 3
 $0.50
 $6,739.35
TP
1/18/15
4

Pick 3
 $1.00
 $29,236.00
GP
1/14/15
8

Pick 3
 $2.00
 $3,947.00
TAM
1/18/15
8

Pick 4
 $0.50
 $5,323.75
PRX
1/17/15
8

Pick 4
 $1.00
 $26,241.30
GP
1/14/15
10

Pick 4
 $2.00
 $16,257.60
TAM
1/18/15
10

Pick 5
 $0.20
 $296.42
PM
1/18/15
10

Pick 5
 $0.50
 $65,420.75
GP
1/18/15
11

Pick 5
 $1.00
 $9,541.40
HOU
1/17/15
10

Pick 5
 $2.00
 $20,006.00
AQU
1/16/15
5

Pick 5 Jackpot
 $0.20
 $1,981.88
LRL
1/16/15
9

Pick 5 Jackpot
 $0.50
 $550.40
FG
1/16/15
9

Pick 6
 $0.20
 $1,349.84
GG
1/18/15
9

Pick 6
 $1.00
 $4,492.00
TUP
1/13/15
8

Pick 6
 $2.00
 $84,964.00
SA
1/18/15
9

Pick 6 Jackpot
 $0.20
 $179,140.46
GP
1/14/15
10

Super High Five
 $0.50
 $3,730.05
FG
1/12/15
9

Super High Five
 $1.00
 $14,341.00
SA
1/15/15
8

Click here for a complete list of racetracks with abbreviations.

© 2014 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.