The Southland Festival of Racing kicks off a great weekend of racing Saturday night at Balmoral Park. Five stakes finals highlight the program with purses of $367,000.

On the gambling side, the Pick 5 has a carryover of $5,311 that will give the players an early 50 cent jackpot wager to shoot for.

The USTA and Balmoral Park will offer an instant guarantee of $20,000 on the Saturday Pick 5. The 50 cent wager starts on race two. Post time for the Pick 5 opener is 8:30 Eastern, 7:30 Central and 5:30 Pacific.

Balmoral will also offer a $25,000 guaranteed Pick 4 pool on the final four races. The minimum bet is a buck and the takeout is only 15 per cent. The average Pick 4 pool at Balmoral is over $32,000 in 2012. Forty-two per cent of the Balmoral Pick 4s have paid out more than $1,000 on a $1 ticket.

A $30,000 guaranteed Pick 4 is offered on Sunday nights.

Courtesy of Track Master, deluxe 12 line program pages are now available for the Pick 5 and Pick 4 on Saturday at www.ustrotting.com.

(Balmoral Park)