How about that? You won $188.88 in last week’s suggested 20-cent wheel on Woodbine’s mandatory-payout Power Pick 6 by spending a mere $9.60. You’re welcome, Madame Editor and the rest of you who paid attention. The idea was to spend $19.20 which was the cost of the ticket that produced a $1,918 payoff in a pick-5 in September. So lightning DID strike twice, but you needed to spend only $9.60 because of a couple late scratches.
So, to put it mildly, this column has really been rolling along with plenty of opportunities for you to make winning plays. Betting rules have been working to a ‘T’. My biggest regret in the past couple of months is missing a rule in a Breeders’ Cup pick-5 that paid $60K for a 60-cent wheel. My BC column got four of five legs correct, but missed a leg in which the “purse value in turf races” rule wasn’t applied. If it had, you could have won $60K simply by reading the column and spending $120. Yes, it would have been that simple to score that big.
That’s going to take a long time to get over, but let’s see if we can enjoy an enriching finale to Woodbine’s race meet this weekend with a pick-5 in races 2 to 6 tomorrow that will cost you $21.60. Those races seem pretty straightforward despite the fact there are three maiden races for two-year-olds:
- RACE 2, $25,000 claiming: Nothing complicated here. Let’s take the three horses with the highest Equibase speed¨#3,4,7.
- RACE 3, allowance optional claiming: Same rule as above: #1,2,3.
- RACE 4, maiden optional claiming $40,000: Who’s dropping from maiden special weight races? #4 and #9. Who raced best at today’s condition? #1 finished second.
- RACE 5, another maiden optional claiming $40,000: Adding a 20-1 horse, #6 Call Me Kaykay, for a bit of drama. Has the biggest pace number in the race which means she has a possibility of wiring the field. Others: #2 dropping from maiden special weight and #8 and #9 who seem to have had troubled trips at this level and deserve a chance to make amends.
- RACE 6, maiden optional claiming $25,000: Here’s my key in the pick-5. #12 Sultry Sophie at 12-1 because she has dropped twice and showed good early speed in her last drop into $40K. Should ultimately capture the lead and put the others away. Go, Sophie!
20-cent pick-5 wheel: 3,4,7/1,2,3/1,4,9/2,6,8,9/12 (3 x 3 x 3 x 4 x 1 = 108 divided by 5 = $21.60.
Good luck! That does it for Woodbine until April. Now watch for my end-of-year wrap-up of the 400 rulings and penalties handed down by stewards at Canada’s five major Thoroughbred tracks. The biggest attention-grabber of the year, I thought, was an elbowing incident during a stretch duel at Century Mile that reminded me of the chariot race in the Ben Hur movie.
Best o’ the season!
~ by Ivan Bigg
