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Dollars and Sense: Bettors Score at Turfway Park

Dollars and Sense with Frank Angst

At 5-2 Two Phil's wins the Jeff Ruby Steaks, closing out a Pick 5 that returned more than $1,800 despite favorites winning three of the races

At 5-2 Two Phil's wins the Jeff Ruby Steaks, closing out a Pick 5 that returned more than $1,800 despite favorites winning three of the races

Coady Photography

With large fields becoming the norm at Turfway Park this winter and spring, bettors who have been able to come up with an angle or two have been handsomely rewarded.

The lucrative purses catching the attention of horsemen and a synthetic surface that has allowed racing to move forward under the changing weather conditions of Northern Kentucky has helped Turfway Park average field sizes of nearly 10 horses—9.94 per race—for the 523 races contested there since Nov. 30. With three dates remaining in the winter-spring meet, Turfway has paid out $25.19 million in purses.

Consider that just five years ago at these two full meets that run back to back (holiday meet, winter-spring meet), total purses paid reached just $5.18 million and it's easy to understand why average starters per race for the two meets has jumped to 9.94, up nearly 1.5 horses from 2017-2018.

The winter-spring meet wraps up its final three dates this week, Thursday, March 29-Saturday, April 1.

Turfway offered its biggest race date of the year Saturday, and an all-stakes Pick 5 sequence ending with an impressive win by Two Phil's  in the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) saw that sequence of three favorites, a second choice, and one longshot return $1,839.91 for a winning 50-cent wager. Granted, the challenge is handicapping five races that averaged just more than 10 starters a race, but bettors are rewarded.

Also helping matters is the track offers a 15% takeout on its early Pick 5 and its late Pick 5. The latter was added in late December. Turfway reported that through the first 41 days of racing at the current winter/spring meet (through March 22), the average Pick 5 payout has been a stout $10,437.85.

This writer would still like to see what this meet could do with lower takeout on its more basic win, place, and show wagers, but at least the penny breakage put in place at the state level at all Kentucky tracks appears to have effectively helped put a dent in the takeout. The average $2 win mutuel is $15.95 (through March 22), which is $1.14 higher than the 2022 average of $14.81 when dime breakage was in place. 

'Affordability checks' annoying UK bettors

If you haven't yet read Julian Muscat's Letter From Europe column in the March issue of BloodHorse (what are you waiting for?), it outlines industry concerns about tighter regulatory checks on British bettors using online bookmaker platforms. 

Muscat writes: "To date, the checks have alienated bettors by their intrusiveness and the stringent conditions bettors must fulfill in order to continue placing bets. Regular bettors already will have encountered these 'affordability checks.' "

Muscat notes that affordability checks are a concept introduced by the Gambling Commission, a government-appointed quango with a remit to tackle gambling addiction and prevent money laundering. The affordability checks can go so far as to require bank statements from players, to determine their ability to wager responsibly. 

Racing Post reported a week ago that the British Horseracing Authority has called for such checks to not impact the vast majority of players who wager responsibly.

"We do not support blanket measures on affordability, and believe that if measures are to be introduced, they should be targeted at the individual and reflect their specific circumstances."