Officials with Balmoral Park have announced that the track will be offering four guaranteed wagering pools on a single card for the first time in its history this Saturday (September 5), which will also feature eliminations for Super Night.
With the addition of a Pick Five carryover of $5,399, Balmoral Park and USTA Strategic Wagering program will offer an instant guaranteed pool of $20,000. The one mile oval will offer players guaranteed pools totalling $100,000 on Saturday night. The four guaranteed pools are a $20,000 Pick Five pool on Races 4 through 8, a $25,000 Pick Four pool on Races 9 through 12, a $30,000 Trifecta pool on Race 11 and a $25,000 High Five pool on the Race 12 finale.
The guaranteed pools averaged over $110,000 a night at Balmoral Park in August without a single carryover. The three-guaranteed-pool model at Northfield, Maywood and Balmoral has proven there is an audience for these wagers every night. That was a big step. Balmoral’s guaranteed High Five pools are bigger than every Thoroughbred track in the country except Del Mar, which handled more than $12 million a day in 2014. That was a big step. The guaranteed pools are at the height of their popularity. The Pick Four averaged only $8,827 in 2009. With the lowering of takeout to 15 per cent in 2010, the Balmoral Pick Four has grown more than four times that amount to a nightly average of $35,894 in August 2015.
That being said, Balmoral believes the right time for the track to step up by raising the Pick Four and High Five guarantees on Saturday and Sunday by $20,000 a week as it heads towards the biggest night in Illinois racing. Promoting the wagers that offer pool liquidity will most definitely get the players’ attention.
First post Saturday at Balmoral is 7:10 p.m. (Central). There will be more eliminations on Sunday, September 6 as well as the American Nationals for two-year-old colt and filly trotters. The Sunday night card will also offer $75,000 in guaranteed pools and all the action will get underway at 7:10 p.m. (Central).
(Balmoral)