Santa Anita opens fall meet with updated wagering menu

ARCADIA, Calif. – Everything costs more in these inflationary times, and bettors could argue certain wagers this fall at Santa Anita also are more expensive. That would be inaccurate.

When the Santa Anita autumn meet begins Friday, minimum bet for the pick six will be raised from $1 to $2. But the true “cost” is takeout, and though the pick six takeout rate remains high at 23.68 percent, Santa Anita will introduce lower-takeout 15 percent wagers – a $3 late pick three and $5 late double.

“The idea is to give [bettors] opportunities throughout the afternoon,” said Nate Newby, senior vice president and general manager at Santa Anita. “We want to give people a chance to make a score at the end of the day. Lower takeout and higher minimum mean bigger payoffs, typically.”

The new wagers complement a menu that begins with a 50-cent, 14 percent takeout pick five on the first five races. If Santa Anita owner 1/ST Racing is hoping to regain goodwill lost by its closure of Golden Gate Fields, the lower-takeout bets are a good start.

The revised Santa Anita menu highlights an autumn meet front-loaded with Breeders’ Cup preps. Saturday’s five-stakes program includes the Grade 1, $1 million California Crown with National Treasure and Muth; 15 stakes are scheduled the first two weeks of the four-week meet.

Friday’s opening-day card marks a return to pick six tradition. Santa Anita eliminated the jackpot scheme a year ago and restored a 70-30 payout structure. But due to a $1 minimum, the pick six rarely carried over.

“We didn’t get many carryovers with the $1 format,” Newby said. The pick six was hit every day at last year’s autumn meet, not one carryover. At a $2 minimum, carryovers are more likely. Not everyone will support the higher minimum.

“It’s a debate,” Newby acknowledged. “Some lobby for the $2, other guys like the $1. They think it’s a little more playable.”

The main objectives for returning to a $2 minimum are to increase carryovers and corresponding handle.

“Comparing $1 pools to 20-cent jackpot [pools], it was still falling behind,” Newby said. “With the $2, obviously we’re likely to get more carryovers. And there is no question the excitement in the building on a pick six carryover day.”

Pick six pools averaged $170,000 last fall, not counting Breeders’ Cup or closing day. Increased handle on carryover days will lift the average.

“In a state that the [main] source of purses is parimutuel handle, you take [bet-change] decisions seriously. When we’re losing ground on a bet, we have to look to change it up a little bit,” Newby said.

The best changes are the addition of 15 percent takeout wagers – $5 double on the final two races, and $3 pick three on the final three. Santa Anita will continue to offer a $3 all-turf pick three with a 23.68 percent takeout. The late double replaces the popular Golden Hour double that linked Santa Anita with now-shuttered Golden Gate.

Last fall, the median $2 late double payoff (22.68 percent takeout) was $58; average pool was $125,000. This fall, the median $5 late double payoff (15 percent takeout) is likely to be in the $150 range.

The new wagers will continue at the Santa Anita winter meet, pending approval from the California Horse Racing Board.

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Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park announced resumption of the $1 Coast-to-Coast weekend pick five. The 15 percent takeout wager excludes computer assisted wagering (CAW) operations that are largely responsible for late odds changes that were prevalent at Del Mar this summer.

Late odds changes should occur less often this fall at Santa Anita because rebates offered to CAWs become minimal when bets are made on top of post time.

The opening-day card Friday is topped by an entry-level allowance for 3-year-olds. The turf mile is the seventh race, opening leg of the late pick three. Contenders include last-out runner-up Uncle Happy, class dropper Sketchy, and late-runner Promissio.

Phil D’Amato trains Uncle Happy, who is making his second California start following a solid runner-up finish at Del Mar.

“I thought we were home free at the top of the lane, and we got run down by a nice horse,” D’Amato said. Uncle Happy “came back and trained well since.”

Uncle Happy won an entry-level allowance in summer at Lone Star, but remains eligible to the condition because he earned only $19,800 in that win. The cutoff at Santa Anita is $21,000.

Sketchy set the pace to deep stretch last out in the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby and tired. It was a solid try against better company by the Ron Ellis trainee.

“He’s a hard-knocking little horse,” Ellis said. “He tries hard and has gotten better. Those ones that try, they sometimes get better with age. It’s the ones that don’t try that never do.”

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