On Saturday evening’s 12-race program, Woodbine Entertainment Group offered a mandatory payout on its newest wager, the Jackpot Hi 5.
Over the past few months, the wager grew in popularity and resulted in an enormous pool size of which $656,386 was carried over into Saturday evening’s program.
Always scheduled as the last dash of the evening, the Jackpot Hi 5 received an additional $1,345,640 wagered into the pool, giving the pool a total of $2,002,026.
The result was a payout of $43,795.75 on a $1 wager ($8,759.15 on a $.20 cent wager) after Drain Daddy found the wire first in 1:51 at odds of 4-1.
The top five finishers are as follows:
1. Drain Daddy
2. Rock Me Amastreos
3. Junior K
4. Speed Again
5. Real Rocker
The Jackpot Hi-5 requires horseplayers to select the first five finishers in exact order on the last race of the program.
The wager, which offers a 20-cent minimum, also has a takeout of 15 per cent, a continent-equalling low.
While handicappers eagerly awaited the finale, there was lots of action to follow throughout the night, including another sub-1:50 performance by State Treasurer in the $34,000 Preferred Pace. With Chris Christoforou in the sulky, the popular Dr. Ian Moore trainee was a repeat winner in 1:49.4 over Levy runner-up Apprentice Hanover and :25.2-sprinter Captive Audience.
Woodbine's final winter/spring card is Monday, May 19, before racing shifts to Mohawk Racetrack, beginning on Thursday, May 22.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Racetrack.
(With files from WEG)
Race fans, i was part of the
Race fans,
i was part of the great buzz saturday night warden/steeles Champions location morphed from the Preakness into the buildup for the woodbine finale....great anticpation for the night and to the race itself where players who wouldnt normally take a shot at the bet did so alongside the players who took their usual 10 dollar shot and were tripling,etc. their bets.... terrific grassroots comradery kinda' night..partnerships made..all kinds of fun including a night with 12 races and two earlier 'recalls' that drove the grand finale to the bewitching hour of 12 eastern (a time usually reserved for things like the Cup and Saucer, right?)
BUT, and a big BUT...the weeks building up to Saturday night hardly sent a ripple through the every night crowds i was part of there and other locations....EVERYONE KNEW for weeks, that the 'syndicates' were in a war that none of them wanted to lose..and therefore hammered each other nightly with such heavy wagering coverage that the little guy knew he had no chance to win the nightly big pot until there was a mandatory payout show....interest lost in this nightly gimmick at Champions locations is the feeling.
sadly, this is the fate of the 'rainbow' style wager that Gulfstream finds itself in....there is NO buzz about Gulfstream's daily 6 million and growing boast,, it excites no one......unfortunately, the woodbine harness for weeks has suffered the same fate with only the 'mandatory' there to rescue the -rainbow style from its predictable daily fate.
what can be done? not sure....but im giving you the pulse interest at grassroots level
thanks jctoronto
btw...the race itself.....Jody and Drain Daddy took no prisoners,,though that combos history has been of falling short..not so that night....and where I was Saturday night,,most tripped up by Mayotte's Junior K third, Mcnair's bounce out effort with the 6...Baillargeon sneaking onto ticket for Mark Etsell after solid weeks long run of owning this division for Corey Johnson...and the failure of Christoforou to get the 11 up and onto the ticket.....these the recollections of many there....and of some 80 or so in the house at midnight there, not a Hi 5 mandatory winner to stand up and be heard...so somewhere the fun was a happenin!!!
Once again the proof that the
Once again the proof that the key to growing handles is not just quality of race stock, but full competitive fields and a bargain for the punters...and betting into a $700k existing pool IS A BARGAIN that not only negates the takeout, but actually gives the bettor an advantage.
How do we fix the game? It's all about the bettors, stupid. Lower the takeouts, seed the pools,make larger fields...in short make it worthwhile for the bettors who are sick and tired of trying to grind out small profits from short payouts. Stop insulting the gambler's intelligence. They are much more sharper than they are given credit for by insiders of the game.
I said it before...the slots money should have gone straight to seeding pools, not directly to purses. That would have made it worthwhile to bet the smallest track and the grandstands would have not been so empty.
Congratulations to WEG on a great idea.