Takeout On WEG Live T-Bred 'Tri' Pools To Be Lowered; Martin On S-Bred Pick 4 Guarantees

Published: March 28, 2011 12:53 pm EDT

The Woodbine Entertainment Group today issued a release stating that it will be lowering the takeout rate on the triactor pools during Woodbine Racetrack's upcoming live thoroughbred meet. In addition, Trot Insider has

spoken with WEG's executive vice president of Racing, Jamie Martin, in regard to the organization's recently-announced early Pick 4 pool guarantee for its live Saturday cards in the month of April.

Woodbine Racetrack's thoroughbred meet will get underway this coming weekend on Saturday, April 2.

The WEG announcement in regard to its reduced takeout rate on its live thoroughbred triactor pools appears below, followed by Martin's comments on the standardbred initiative.


Horseplayers will be pleased to hear that Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) will be reducing the takeout on its triactor wager by 2 per cent for the upcoming live thoroughbred meet, which kicks off this Saturday, April 2.

The 'tri,' a bet in which fans are asked to pick the top three finishers in a race, is one of the more popular wagers at the track. It will now feature a takeout, which is the amount of money kept by the track before the winning bettors are paid off, of 25 per cent.

The takeout reduction is the second in less than two years. The rate was at 28.3 per cent, before a cut in 2009 dropped the mark to 27 per cent.

The 25 per cent takeout includes 5.3 per cent in provincial and federal taxes and levies.

"We understand how important takeout is to the horseplayer," said Sean Pinsonneault, WEG's executive vice-president and chief operating officer. "We believe this additional reduction in the triactor takeout on our live thoroughbred racing will bring even greater value to our customers and allow us to be even more competitive in the betting marketplace."

Woodbine already offers a low Win-Place-Show takeout, 16.95 per cent, and boasts some of the fullest and most competitive fields in the sport.


"We are taking a different approach, initially, to grow our live standardbred pools," Martin said, in regard to WEG's standardbred early Pick 4 initiative. "The early Pick 4 is easily our largest pool, and as previously announced we are guaranteeing a significantly larger pool on Saturday nights in April. At $100,000 this Saturday, and $75,000 for the remaining four Saturdays in April, we believe injecting monies into this pool will attract horseplayers not currently wagering into our pools, with Meadowlands dark for the month. WEG is averaging $50,000 for the Saturday early Pick 4 in 2011.

"Customers attracted to a particular pool tend to play other pools on the card, and we believe this strategy will result in continued growth in WEG standardbred handle. We'll evaluate the results later in April and determine strategies going forward."

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