Seeded Pick 6 On Hold

Following a bold and aggressive bid to attract serious horseplayers to its thoroughbred product, Woodbine Entertainment Group today announced it is suspending its "Turbo-charged Pick 6 wager promotion"

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"We're putting the Turbo-charged aspect of the Pick 6 wager on hold, but are considering bringing it back for special events or something more regular later in the season," said Sean Pinsonneault, WEG's Vice-President of Wagering Services.

The Turbo-charged Pick 6, a bet in which horseplayers are asked to select the winners of six consecutive races, was offered over three straight Sundays, beginning on June 21, the day of the 150th edition of the Queen's Plate.

As promotion for the Turbo-charged Pick 6, WEG added $150,000 to the carryover. If the Pick 6 was won, the pool was re-seeded with another $150,000 for the following week. Unlike other similar promotions, Woodbine was actually adding money to the pools not simply guaranteeing their size.

"We wanted to promote our Pick 6 wager and felt seeding the pool with $150,000 would raise eyebrows, and it sure did," continued Pinsonneault. "It created the buzz we were looking for and encouraged racing fans and horsemen that weren't already familiar with the Woodbine Thoroughbred product to experience our racing with consistently large fields and one of the largest purse structures in North American racing."

The Turbo-charged Pick 6 was paid out on each Sunday the added $150,000 was offered.

On the first afternoon of the bet, June 21, $140,771 was bet into the pool with one fan, from the United States, collecting a $203,499.40 payout. On June 28, a total of $51,388 was bet into the pool and another American hit it for $153,884.20. On July 5, four happy fans, three from Canada and another from the U.S., had the Pick 6 for $46,982.90 each. The pool that afternoon was $86,581.

In total, Woodbine's investment into the Pick 6 pool was $450,000. In total, $278,740 was wagered over the three weeks - the vast majority of which was returned to bettors.

"It would have been nice to see it carryover a few days from our perspective but clearly some pretty savvy players were able to walk away with some significant jackpots," said Pinsonneault, "and that's ultimately what we were trying to create. We're happy for those that cashed tickets on the Turbo-charged Pick 6."

A $2 Pick 6 wager will remain on the Woodbine betting menu every Sunday without the seeded carryover beginning July 12 and continue to cover the final six races on the thoroughbred card.