Six-week jackpot bet makes debut at Portland Meadows

A wager that may be more like playing Powerball than a test of handicapping makes its delayed debut Monday at Portland Meadows.

The first leg of the National Racing Club Sweepstakes, a Rainbow 6 jackpot wager with a guaranteed pool of $100,000, kicks off with the 10th race Monday at 4:12 p.m. Pacific. The pick six bet involves horses owned by regional racing clubs throughout the United States and Canada, with all jockeys randomly assigned.

All six races in the opening leg of the now five-week series, which was postponed when last Monday’s program was canceled due to bad weather, will be contested at two furlongs and offer a $3,000 purse.

Originally, the Rainbow 6 was planned to have a dime base, a $1 minimum ticket, and a 22 percent takeout. But on Saturday, The Stronach Group, the parent company of Portland Meadows, announced the minimum base had been raised to 20 cents.

"In order to keep some continuity between Stronach Group Rainbow 6 wagers, Portland Meadows has revised the base bet amount from 10 to 20 cents," said Karsten Hennze, vice president of The Stronach Group.

The National Racing Club Sweepstakes will be paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 60 percent of the day's pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners while 40 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.

The races are difficult to handicap, with big fields of low-level horses, many of whom haven't raced in months. The first race in Monday’s sequence, for example, consists of 12 maiden fillies and mares with a combined 163 losses. Half the field has 15 or more defeats each, and few have displayed any early speed. Bettors may gravitate to the 4-year-old City Sensation, who has been within a length of the lead at the first call in her last four outings but has been idle since July.

The West Virginia-owned 6-year-old mare Power Down, who flashed speed in her Portland Meadows debut after competing in a series of 4 1/2-furlong sprints at Charles Town, might be the best option in leg 2 (race 11), for non-winners of two races.

The 5-year-old Kameron’s Token, who is another West Virginia-owned mare, and Party Cove, a 5-year-old who displayed consistent early speed last spring in Oklahoma, are prime contenders in leg 3 (race 12).

Slacker, a 7-year-old West Virginia-owned mare, and Springtime Anna, a three-time winner in Ohio during 2014, look dangerous in the fourth leg of the sequence (race 13).

Cardinal N Gold, a two-time winner at the current meet, and Beach Music, who failed to show her customary early speed over off tracks in her first two starts locally, are intriguing in leg 5 (race 14).

In the final leg (race 15), the 7-year-old Gamblin Miss, first or second in her three starts locally since November, might be a good single.