The Woodbine season wraps up this weekend with 10 races on Sunday and 12 on the final day of the season. There are two stakes events to be decided also, the La Prevoyante Stakes on December 13 and the Steady Growth on Sunday, nice events for home-grown horses.
If you are going to be at the track for the final weekend, or watching on www.HPIBet.com, Saturday’s last race, the 10th, offers a chance at a big payoff for not a large outlay. The High 5 wager has a mandatory payout and the carryover for the wager is $269,656. That means after betting closes before that race, the pool could be in the $1.5 million range!
The High 5 requires a bettor to pick the top five finishers. The base bet is just 20 cents, so if you just wanted to play your favourite numbers in order, say, 1,2,3,4,5, the bet would cost 20 cents but they would have to finish in that exact order.
Say you want to play the wager by boxing five or six horses, so that those five or six can come in any order, then it would cost $24.00 to box five horses for 20 cents or $144 to box six.
That is an expensive way to play the wager. A better way is to take one or two horses you like the best in the race and put them in the first-place slot; those are your ‘key’ horses. If you construct a ticket with two horses for first, the same two and one other for second and third and then the entire 10 horse field for fourth and fifth, the cost would be just over $33.
Of course, you can play around with any combinations and each one will cost you 20 cents.
Saturday’s final race (post time 5:40 p.m.) is an allowance/optional claiming sprint for fillies and mares and it is a difficult race to have a strong opinion about. The field is evenly matched and six of the entrants have not won a race this year.
Two horses that should have a say in the outcome are (7) GIVE ME THE BOOTS and (8) HOME FOR A REST.
Give Me the Boots is the probable lone speed and last year, almost on this exact day, she led from start to finish. She was in good form at that time and this year she comes off a last-place finish, but the pace battle she was gunned into was bananas. If Ryan Munger can get her to clear the field and not go crazy-fast, she will hang in there a long time.
Home for a Rest has been second in three consecutive races, last time as the odds-on favourite. The track was favouring speed that day, however. The track may well play against this nice filly again, but she is a top-three candidate.
Of the others in the field (2) WHY EM SEA AY was a clear second in a quickly run dash last time. She is only a two-time winner, but she is fresh and in sharp form. (6) SINCLAIRITY is one to consider up close since she has been second in a photo three times in her last four races. She will like getting back to 6 furlongs.
A possible ticket for the mandatory High 5 could look like this:
7, 8 / 2, 6, 7, 8 / 2, 6, 7, 8 / all / all
That is a $50.40 ticket, grab some friends and divide it up!
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