Del Mar patrons will have 17 different ways to wager during the track’s 16-day Fall Racing Festival meet that begins on Friday, November 9 and runs through Sunday, December 2. The menu starts with the traditional win, place and show bets and expands out to popular exotic wagers that encompass as many as five- and six-horse combinations.
Among the track’s multiple horse/multiple race bets the Pick Four and the Pick Five – where Del Mar boasts the largest pools in all of racing during its fall stand – have proven to be highly favored with racing fans. Both are offered as a .50¢ wager and both are offered twice during all racing cards – the Pick Five on the day’s first five and its last five races, while the Pick Four goes on the day’s second event and on the last four races of the afternoon.
Last fall, enhanced by a husky average field size of 8.5 horses per race, the seaside track featured the nation’s top pools for both bets -- $720,000 for the Pick Four (with an average payout of $1,400) and $525,000 for the Pick Five (with an average payout of $3,300).
As an added incentive, the early Pick Five is presented with a reduced 14% takeout.
The track will continue to offer its $2 Pick Six on all racing days along with the “Single Ticket Jackpot” addition that it first introduced during its 2016 fall season. Under the “Jackpot” rules, a separate pool accumulates alongside the regular one if nobody hits the bet as a lone ticket holder. This allows for the separate pool to continue to grow even in the case of a “hit” on the Pick Six by two or more players. The “Jackpot” pool often reaches six figures in fairly rapid order and is eligible to grow to a substantial number for its closing day “mandatory payout.”
Last fall Del Mar’s Pick Six pools were the largest in the country at a daily average of $260,000. The average payout for the venerable bet was a healthy $65,000.
Overall, Del Mar’s all-sources handle for its 2017 meet was its best of any of the four seasons held to that point. The daily average handle for the 14 days – which did not include the Breeders’ Cup numbers – was $10,766,448, tops in the country for a fall meeting.
The full array of Del Mar bets is as follows: $2 win, place and show (on all races); $1 Exacta (all); $2 Quinella (all); .50¢ Trifecta (all); $2 Rolling Doubles (all but last); .50¢ Rolling Pick 3 (all but last two); $1 Superfecta (.10¢ minimum – all); $1 Place Pick All (all); $1 Super High Five (last); $2 Jackpot Pick Six (last six); .50¢ Pick 5 (first five, last five); .50¢ Pick 4 (second race, last four); $2 Win-Place-Show Parlay (all but last).
Opening weekend of the track’s fifth fall session will be Friday through Monday, November 12, the celebration day for Veterans Day. For the balance of the meet all racing will be conducted on a Thursday through Sunday basis. First post daily will be 12:30 p.m. with the exception of Thanksgiving Day, November 22, when first post is 11 a.m. Weekdays will see the track running eight races, while nine races will be the standard on weekends.
