The standard lineup of betting options—supplemented by a trio of "tweaks"—will be offered to racing fans as Del Mar readies for its Summer Season #86 starting on Friday, July 18.
The 31-day session will begin with a three-day weekend, then meld into its standard four-day format (Thursday through Sunday) going forward to an extra racing date on Labor Day Monday (September 1) and a final three-day weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 5 to 7).
As usual, the track's betting package starts with the traditional Win/Place/Show bets and extends out to five different multi-race exotic offerings, the kind that have proven so popular with players. They are the Early Pick Four, the Late Pick Four, the early Pick Five, the late Pick Five and the Pick Six.
All told, there have been 15 different ways to wager on each of the daily programs, which will range from eight to 11 races on various afternoons throughout the eight-week stand.
This year, though, in response to the enthusiasm that fans have shown for certain exotic offerings, there will be a trio of "tweaks" to the betting cards. They are:
- A Middle Pick 4. It will be held on Races 4-7 every weekend. (Saturdays and Sundays only; Opening Day and Labor Day both excluded. Goes in addition to Early and Late Pick 4; Regular Pick 4 takeout.)
- $3 Late Pick 3/$3 Minimum/Last three races daily/15% takeout. (Offered daily; the regular Rolling Pick 3 will continue throughout each race card until the last Pick 3 is offered.)
- $5 Late Double/$5 minimum/Last two races daily/15% takeout (Daily; the $2 Rolling Double will continue throughout each race card until the last Double offered.)
Both the $3 Late Pick 3 and the $5 Late Double provide a low 15% takeout, a universally favored factor among players big and small.
The $1 Pick 6, a huge fan favorite that has on occasion provided life-changing payoffs, is back with its traditional arrangement of 80/20, meaning the majority of the pool goes to those tabbing six winners and the lesser percentage to those with five. If nobody manages to pick six winners on a card, the 80% pool goes to a carryover for the next day of racing.
"Our bet menu has proven a winner over the years and we're expecting no less coming up to this meet," said Del Mar's director of mutuels, Bill Navarro. "We'll be interested to see how the new wagers we're offering go, but we're expecting they'll make the fans happy."
The full array of Del Mar bets outside of the three "tweaks" is as follows: $2 Win, Place and Show (all races); $1 Exacta (all); $2 Quinella (all); $2 Rolling Doubles (all except last); $1 Rolling Pick 3 (all except last two); $1 Superfecta (10-cent minimum — all); $1 Place Pick All (starts w/Race 1 or 2); 50-cent Super High Five (last); $1 Pick Six (last six); 50-cent Players' Pick 5 (first five and last five); 50-cent Pick 4 (Races 2 thru 5 and last four), and $2 Win-Place-Show Parlay (all races but last).
First post will be the traditional 2 p.m. on most days throughout the season.
This press release has not been edited by BloodHorse. If there are any questions please contact the organization that produced the release.
