Attendance tops 40,000 for opening day

ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita drew an ontrack crowd of 40,723 for Tuesday’s opening day of the winter-spring meeting and took in $17,279,161 in wagers from all sources, according to figures released by the track.

Last year, 46,514 attended opening day of the meeting on a Monday. The last time the meeting opened on a Tuesday, in 2006, 32,391 attended.

The 2016 opening day had an all-sources handle of $18,363,495, 6 percent more than on Tuesday. Handle Tuesday was 16 percent higher than the 2006 opening day all-sources handle of $14,940,501.

The track expanded its betting format for the current season, offering rolling $1 super high five on all races with seven or more runners, and a 50-cent late pick five on the final five races to go with the early pick five on the first five.

Tuesday’s late pick five drew $513,701, compared to the $974,914 bet on the early pick five. The early pick five, a well-established and popular bet, has a takeout of 14 percent, while the late pick five has a takeout of 23.68 percent, standard in California for wagers covering three or more races.

The 50-cent late pick four produced the largest pool of the day, $1,435,919.

Previously, the super high five was held only on the day’s final race. Under the new structure, the bet has a carryover to the next eligible race if there are no winning tickets.

The bet was offered eight times on Tuesday’s nine-race program and grew in handle as the program proceeded. The super high five was not hit in the final race, leading to a carryover of $28,818 for Friday’s first race. There are two carryovers in the $2 pick six for Friday’s eight-race program – $95,855 in the main pool and $20,540 in the jackpot pool, which is paid only if there is one winning ticket.

Racing resumes Friday and continues through Monday, Jan. 1.