Churchill pick six pays $1.1M

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Four improbable winners followed by two lukewarm favorites at Churchill Downs Wednesday produced a track record pick six payoff of more than $1.1 million for a single ticket purchased at an Idaho casino.

Churchill officials said the winning ticket was purchased through a Maine wagering hub that services the Idaho casino. The winning bettor wagered $6,720 and singled one of the winning favorites in the sequence on the winning ticket, which was worth $1,168,136.80 before federal and state taxes.

The Churchill pick six was in its seventh day of a carryover when longshots kicked it off. Starting with the fifth race, the first leg of the wager, the winners were Favorite Magic ($14.80, fifth choice of 11); I'm So Silly ($32, ninth choice of 12); Dilechance ($17, fifth chance of 11); and Bim's Baby Bun ($38, sixth choice of seven).

In the next-to-last leg, Halory Leigh, whom the winning bettor used as a single, returned $7.20 as the slight favorite. In the final leg, Rowans Park paid $5.60 as the favorite in another field of 10, and he was one of the three top choices that the winner used.

The winning numbers on the pick six, which is offered at a $2 minimum, were 2-3-6-2-7-6. There were 82 consolation tickets sold, each worth $3,407.

The Wednesday card began with a carryover of $329,989, seventh largest in track history. A record single-day pick six handle of $1,379,667 was wagered Wednesday. The pick six was first offered at Churchill on July 25, 1984. The record of $1,655,598 for a total pick six pool was set May 10, 1995, and the record carryover remains at $750,068, set June 12, 1993.

Churchill's previous record for a pick six payout was set May 10, 1995, when three winning bettors collected $417,389 each.

* Jockey Cornelio Velasquez won four races on the 10-race program to give him a 47-38 lead over perennial Churchill kingpin Pat Day going into Thursday. The meet ends July 6. Two of Velasquez's winners, Favorite Magic and Halory Leigh, were part of the pick six. Day won the final race Wednesday on Rowans Park.