Santa Anita adds new all-turf pick three

Santa Anita is adding an all-turf $3 pick three to its betting menu for the autumn meeting from Sept. 29 through Nov. 5, one of two significant changes for bettors for the six-week season.

The all-turf pick three will be offered on the final three grass races daily, weather permitting, and has a minimum bet far more expensive than the 50-cent pick three bets offered on a daily basis.

The track will offer a $1 pick six on the final six races daily, ending a seven-year period in which the pick six was offered for a minimum bet of 20 cents and had a a rainbow or jackpot format in which a portion of the pool was paid in the event of a single winning ticket or on days with a mandatory payout.

The $1 pick six reverts to the bet’s historic terms in which 70 percent of the net pool to be paid to ticketholders with six winners, or into a carryover if there are no winning tickets, with the remaining 30 percent of the net pool paid to consolation tickets, which on most days will be tickets with five winners.

Track officials first announced the change to the pick six in early August, days before receiving regulatory approval by the California Horse Racing Board.

The current Los Alamitos September meeting, which has its final three days of racing from Friday through Sunday this weekend, has a $2 pick six without a rainbow format.

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