Scioto Downs Racino opens its 2013 racing season with 11 races on Wednesday, May 8, and all races have at least 10-horse fields. With just under one year of VLT gaming at Scioto, the purse pool has steadily gained. Opening day, horses will race for $59,000, compared to the 11 races on the 2012 opening day card going for $22,600.
The new 10-cent Super High Five wager will be carded each night as race number nine, and the race office will do their best to ensure an 11-horse field each time (and if filled, Scioto will pay out six places). The object of the wager is to pick the first five horses in the exact order of finish.
“With the 10-cent base wager, I think people will have fun with this,” said Scioto Downs Director of Mutuels Steve Carpenito. “If no one selects all five finishers in exact order, the pool will carryover.”
In the case of a carryover, 75% of the pool will go to the next race card while the other 25% will go as a consolation to those that have selected the most horses in the correct order of finish.
“My hope is this is going to have some carryover opportunities and give added value to those making the wager,” Carpenito further explained. “I’m looking forward to a very successful racing season wagering wise.”
Something else new for 2013 is a guaranteed Pick-4; the Pick-4 bet was introduced for the first time at Scioto in 2012. The wager will be backed by the USTA Strategic Wagering program on Thursday evenings with a $3,000 guarantee pool. Past performances for races five-eight will be available for free off of this page of the USTA website. The same carryover opportunity will be available for the Pick-4 as the Super High Five.
“We picked Thursday for the guarantee because we see a window of opportunity in the simulcast universe to really get our signal out there,” explained Carpenito.
Racing will be held every Wednesday-Saturday with a post time of 6:30 p.m. through Saturday, September 14. Special 1:00 p.m. cards will be held on May 27 (Memorial Day), July 4th, August 3 (State Fair races) and September 2 (Labor Day).
(Scioto Downs)