Breeders' Cup tweaks betting menu

Breeders’ Cup will offer bettors substantially the same betting menu at this year’s event on Nov. 5-6 at Churchill Downs in Louisville as was offered last year at Santa Anita, including a wager that allows bettors to select which jockey will have the most wins in the 14 Breeders’ Cup races, the organization announced on Thursday.

The most significant changes to the betting menu involve the lowering of the minimum wagers for both trifectas and rolling pick 3’s, which will have a minimum of 50 cents, compared to $1 last year. In addition, the guaranteed pool for a pick six on Friday has been increased to $750,000 from $500,000 last year, when betting on the Friday pick six was $1.4 million.

Win, place, show, exacta, trifecta, and superfecta wagers will be allowed on every race on the card. The minimum for superfectas will be 10 cents. Rolling daily doubles will be offered throughout the card, along with rolling pick 3’s. A special daily double will link the Friday Ladies’ Classic with the Saturday Classic.

Two pick four bets will be offered each day, with a minimum bet of 50 cents, and a single pick six each day. The last race on each card – the Ladies’ Classic on Friday, and the Classic on Saturday – will also feature a super high five, which requires bettors to select the first five finishers in order. The super high five will have a minimum bet of $1, and if no one correctly selects the first five finishers in the Ladies’ Classic, the pool will carry over to the super high five in the Classic on Saturday.

A pick four linking the last four Breeders’ Cup races on Friday will have a guaranteed pool of $750,000. On Saturday, when eight Breeders’ Cup races are scheduled, an early pick four with a guaranteed pool of $1 million will link the first four Breeders’ Cup races, tentatively scheduled as the Juvenile Turf, the Dirt Mile, the Turf Sprint, and the Juvenile. The late pick four, with a guaranteed pool of $1.5 million, will link the Mile, Sprint, Turf, and Classic, though the race order could change. A pick six will link the last six races, with a guaranteed pool of $2 million. The pick six on both days will have a $2 minimum.

If no one hits the pick six on Friday, the pool will carry over after a consolation payout. The Saturday pick six will have a mandatory payout.

According to Ken Kirchner, the Breeders’ Cup’s simulcasting consultant, the field for the jockey wager will include 15 individual riders and an “all others” selection, up from 13 individual riders and an “all others” last year. The wager attracted $117,559 in bets last year, when it was first offered.

This year’s Breeders’ Cup will be the first to be held at a racetrack with lights, and the Ladies’ Classic is currently scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Eastern, about 40 minutes after sunset. The next day’s Classic is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. All races will have a maximum of 14 runners.

Ten races have been scheduled for the card on Friday. The Saturday card will include three undercard races, for a total of 11.

Kirchner said that Breeders’ Cup expects to reach an agreement with Betfair, the betting-exchange operator, that would allow the company’s three million overseas customers to bet into the Breeders’ Cup’s common pools. The agreement will also allow the customers to wagers against each other on the races, Kirchner said. Breeders’ Cup reached a similar agreement with Betfair last year.