The Woodbine Entertainment Group’s executive vice president of Racing, Jamie Martin, has commented on Woodbine Racetrack’s massive Jackpot Hi 5 wager which saw horseplayers pour more than $1.3 million into the pool this past Saturday night (May 17).
Woodbine’s Saturday card featured a mandatory payout on the Jackpot Hi 5. The carryover heading into Saturday was $656,386 and punters wagered an additional $1,345,640 into the pool on Saturday. After the dust settled from the race, 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 unofficial handle for Woodbine's Saturday card was $3,328,933. For more on the race, click here.
Leading up to the highly anticipated Saturday, WEG Communications Director John Siscos told Trot Insider that WEG has been pleased with the Jackpot Hi 5 and that the wager will be offered when the action shifts to Mohawk Racetrack.
In discussion with Dave Briggs for his column in the Guelph Mercury, Martin said that the exposure and excitement for huge pool and mandatory payout was exciting.
"We carried the ‘Hi 5’ for 36 race days, which was quite a bit,” Martin told Briggs. “To pay out $2 million in a race, we just don't have another race that does that, including the Pepsi North America Cup. It was pretty exciting. We haven't had an exciting wagering event for quite some time, actually. So, the fact that we can have one of those is pretty exciting."
According to Briggs’ column, Martin said there were 194 winning tickets that paid out $43,796 per person on a $1 Jackpot Hi 5 wager.
"Even when it got up to $400,000, $500,000, $600,000 carryovers, people were betting $50,000 to $60,000 a night into it to try to win it as a single winner," Martin told Briggs. "It's a different mindset. You have to play the longshots and hope they come in. You want to be a single winner, you don't want to be a multiple winner. That was certainly the big buzz at the end of the (Woodbine) meet. We're going to try to carry that momentum into Mohawk."
(With files from the Guelph Mercury)