AT THE POST
DAY 43 of 57 ESTIMATED ATTENDANCE 8,000 ON-TRACK HANDLE $623,123 OFF-TRACK HANDLE $2,560,681 TOTAL HANDLE $3,183,804 PICK-5 PAYOFF $368.05
TODAY’S SIMULCAST SCHEDULE 11:00 a.m. Gulfstream Park; 11:35 a.m. Tampa Bay; 12:10 p.m.; 12:10 p.m. Turfway Park; Laurel Park; 12:20 p.m. Aqueduct; 1:25 p.m. Fair Grounds; 2:30 p.m. Santa Anita; 2:45 p.m. Golden Gate;6:00 p.m. Charles Town; 6:00 p.m. Palm Beach (greyhounds); 6:25 p.m. Daytona Beach (greyhounds); 7:30 p.m. Southland (greyhounds); 8:30 p.m. Los Alamitos
FRIDAY’S STARS Nine different jockeys and nine different trainers won Friday’s nine races in Hot Springs. Most significant, Geovanni Franco took over the lead in the jockey standings when he won the fourth race for Robertino Diodoro with Myrna Anne ($30.20) in the fourth. Leading trainer Steve Asmussen won for the 25th time to maintain a 25-23 lead over Diodoro when Wicked Zar ($11) shipped in from Sunland Park in New Mexico to win the ninth race. REBEL DAY NOISE Total pari-mutuel wagering handle on last Saturday’s 11 races at Oaklawn was a record for March and a non-Arkansas Derby Day, Bobby Geiger, the track’s director of gaming and wagering, said Thursday morning.
Oaklawn handled $10,752,313.15 — $8,544,041.15 was bet off track — on the 11-race card that featured three stakes, including the Grade II $900,000 Rebel, a major Triple Crown prep.
The previous record handle for a non-Arkansas Derby Day — total wagering strictly on Oaklawn races — was $10,423,481.12 April 5, 2003, a 12-race card that was highlighted by the Grade I $500,000 Apple Blossom Handicap for older fillies and mares and the Grade II $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap for older horses.
Geiger said off-track wagering Saturday was boosted by Oaklawn’s new Pick-5 wager (last five races), which has replaced the CLASSIX, Oaklawn’s version of the Pick-6.
Pick-5 wagering Saturday was $301,091.84, Geiger said. Off track bettors contributed $280,325.84 of that total. Pick-6 wagering on Million Dollar Saturday in 2003 — the bet was anchored by the Apple Blossom, but didn’t include the Oaklawn Handicap — was $13,244. “That’s your margin,” Geiger said. Information for this article contributed by Oaklawn Park media department.