Pair of low-takeout, all-stakes picks fives to link Fountain of Youth, Big Cap cards

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A pair of pick-five wagers linking major stakes at Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita will be offered to racing fans for the first time next Saturday, March 5.

The new bets are the Coast to Coast All Dirt Stakes Pick 5 and the Coast to Coast All Turf Stakes Pick 5. They are being introduced by executives at 1/ST tracks as a way to “create more big events” involving the company’s two flagship tracks that host major wintertime racing, 1/ST president Aidan Butler said.

“Racing being year-round, it’s hard to always have something exciting to look forward to, especially at this time of year,” Butler said. “This is an experiment. We’re trying something new and we’re eager to see how it goes.”

Both pick fives will be a $1 minimum with a low takeout of 12 percent. The actual lineups for both bets were to be set after Saturday entries were drawn Monday at both tracks. The wagers will mix and match 10 of the combined 15 stakes being held at both tracks, with eight graded races being run at Gulfstream and six at Santa Anita. Among the major events expected to be included are the Fountain of Youth, Davona Dale, and Mac Diarmida from Gulfstream, and the Santa Anita Handicap, San Felipe, and Kilroe Mile from Santa Anita.

The new pick-five wagers will begin about 3 p.m. Eastern and continue to about 6:30, depending on how the stakes wind up being carded.

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The concept of a cross-country, multi-race wager is not new, but Butler and other company executives believe infusing huge stakes days with a novel wagering opportunity such as this should prove popular with bettors. The races will be interspersed with one another – for example, neither the Dirt Pick 5 nor Turf Pick 5 will be run entirely prior to the other – with rapid-fire action occurring some 15 minutes apart, as opposed to much longer time spans that often transpire between races on big stakes days.

“There’ll be huge race after huge race, so it’s like one plus one equals three in that world,” Butler said. “These big days are traditionally huge days for handle at both tracks. We’re hoping these new wagers don’t cannibalize some other bets, but even if the total handle held pat over historical levels, these are some really good new opportunities for the bettors with the low takeout. We’re trying to showcase this to try to show what quality racing can do. For all of us in the game, whenever you try something like this, it’s not a bad thing.”

Bettors can find both pick five wagers labeled this way on their track/event menus: “1DN” (Dirt) and “1TN” (Turf).

Most races will be shown live during a two-hour (4-6 p.m. Eastern) broadcast on CNBC hosted by Britney Eurton, Randy Moss, and Jerry Bailey in studio, with Nick Luck on-site at Gulfstream and Eddie Olczyk at Santa Anita.

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In the meantime, 1/ST also is offering a $5 million prize pool in a separate contest to any bettor(s) selecting the winners of all 15 stakes. The chances of anyone doing so (one entry per IP address) are extremely remote, but 1/ST has purchased an insurance policy in case it happens. Short of picking all 15 winners, the person with the most winners will be awarded a VIP trip to the Preakness on May 21 at Pimlico, another 1/ST track. In case of a tie, a random drawing will be held to determine the winner.

Also, an online handicapping contest with a $3,500 buy-in is being hosted by 1/ST in conjunction with both March 5 cards. Automatic entries into the premier U.S. tournaments and a prize pool of at least $75,000 will be at stake.