Santa Anita: Surface switch in ninth race creates pick-six single ticket carryover of $112,133 for Thursday
ARCADIA, Calif.- Santa Anita officials moved Sunday’s ninth race from turf to dirt an hour before post time after several jockeys told senior vice president Joe Morris that the turf course became slippery because of early afternoon rain.
The decision greatly affected bettors with wagers in the 50-cent late pick four and $2 pick six. Because the surface switch occurred after betting in the pick four and pick six began, all tickets were credited as winners in the ninth race.
The pick four paid $14.90. The winning combination was 3-2-2-all. The pick six paid $4,124. The winning combination was 2-3-3-2-2-all. Consolation tickets with five winners in the pick six paid $22.40.
The winners of the pick six races were Broke Away Grey ($15.40), Rainbow Squall ($10.60), Storm the Hill ($8.20), Geologist ($4.40), Junior Gilliam ($5), and Space Cadet ($7.40). Geologist and Junior Gilliam were favored. The pick four comprised the last four of those races.
The late surface change brought forward issues pertaining to the track’s new pick six payoff structure in which a portion of the pool is paid only if there is a single winning ticket.
Morris said there were 56 tickets still in contention after the fourth leg of the pick six, the seventh race. There were 17 tickets in contention after the eighth race, according to information provided by the track’s mutuel department.
Because there were 17 winning tickets in the pick six, the single ticket jackpot carryover has grown to $112,133 for Thursday.
Track officials said they were sensitive to concern from bettors about the outcome of the single ticket provision of the pick six because of the late surface switch.
“I wished that didn’t happen to our gamblers,” Morris said.
Overall, Morris said the late surface switch was not an ideal situation.
“It will always be safety first for horses and jockeys,” he said.
This is the first meeting Santa Anita has offered a single ticket jackpot provision in the pick six.
Rain was forecast for Sunday, but Morris said the severity of the early afternoon storm was stronger than expected.
“The rain came different than it was advertised by the weather people,” he said.