Monmouth to offer pick four wager combining horse racing, baseball

OCEANPORT, N.J. - The William Hill Sports Book at Monmouth Park on Sunday will offer a horse racing/Major League Baseball pick four, which is being calling the Grand Slam. Head-to-head proposition wagers on some horses in the Haskell Invitational will also be available, as will betting on the margin of victory.

The bets will only be available at Monmouth.

The first three Grand Slam events will be races 10, 11, and 12 – the Grade 3 Molly Pitcher, $75,000 Wolf Hill Stakes, and Grade 1 Haskell Invitational. The wager will end with the Chicago Cubs/St. Louis Cardinals game that begins at 8 p.m.

According to William Hill's rules, the payout on a $1 Grand Slam bet would be determined by multiplying the $1 win price of all three horses times the money line of the baseball game. The minimum wager is $2, and the maximum payout will not exceed 720-1.

Players will make Grand Slam wagers by using parlay cards.

Two of the head-to-head wagers will be Good Magic vs. Bravazo and Core Beliefs vs. Bravazo. Other head-to-head wagers will be added.

The margin of victory options in the Haskell include a dead heat and distances ranging from a nose to 10 lengths or more. The odds for those bets have not yet been made.

The wagers have been approved by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement and New Jersey Racing Commission.

Dennis Drazin, the president of Darby Development, which operates Monmouth Park on behalf of the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, said he "hopes to offer a much broader, mixed wagering menu" in the future.

"Monmouth Park has been talking about trying to make crossover bets combining sports and horse racing for some time," Drazin said. "We're happy to offer our customers the first opportunity to wager on a bet like the Grand Slam as well as the other prop bets that are being made available for the Haskell Invitational."

The mixed wagers may attract more crossover interest between horseplayers and sports betting fans.

The William Hill Sports Book at Monmouth opened June 14.