New wagers dot Breeders’ Cup menu

Breeders’ Cup plans to offer a slate of new bets for its revamped two-day event scheduled for Nov. 2-3 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., including head-to-head wagers and a jackpot-style bet requiring bettors to select the first five finishers in order, the organization announced on Tuesday night.

The Jackpot Super High 5, the bet requiring the proper selection of the first five finishers, will be offered on every race on the Friday and Saturday cards, including undercard races, according to Breeders’ Cup. The total pool for the bet will be paid out only if there is one winning ticket. If there are multiple winning tickets, then 75 percent of the pool will be paid out to winners, with the remaining 25 percent going into a progressive jackpot, Breeders’ Cup said.

The wager will pay out the total pool regardless of the number of winners for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the last Breeders’ Cup race on the Saturday card. Any carryover from Friday will be applied to the first race of the card on Saturday.

The minimum bet for the wager will be 50 cents, and takeout will be 15 percent, Breeders’ Cup said.

The Jackpot Super High 5 seeks to capitalize on a bet type that has become increasingly popular at tracks across the country. Progressive-style jackpot bets are not universally popular among horseplayers, but the wagers have been successful in sometimes generating enormous payouts.

Breeders’ Cup will also offer three head-to-head bets during the two-day event, though the betting interests for the wagers has not yet been determined. Breeders’ Cup said that the bets could include individual matchups or “Europeans vs. American in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf,” as an example. The minimum bet for each head-tohead wager will be $10, and each bet will have a takeout rate of 10 percent, Breeders’ Cup said.

Breeders’ Cup will also offer four pick five wagers throughout the two-day event, with early and late pick five bets for each card. If no bettor correctly picks all five winners in any of the first three pick five bets, that specific pool will carry over to the late pick five on Saturday, which culminates with the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Takeout for the pick five bets will be 15 percent, with a 50-cent minimum.

The early pick five on Friday will have a $500,000 guarantee, while the late pick five that day will have a $1 million guarantee. The late pick four on Friday will have a $1.5 million guarantee.

On Saturday, the late pick five will have a $2 million guarantee. The pick six that day, culminating in the Classic, will have a $1 million guarantee. The late pick four will have a $3 million guarantee.

First post on Friday is scheduled for 12:55 p.m. Eastern, with four undercard races preceding the five Breeders’ Cup races to be held that day. All of the five Friday Breeders’ Cup races are restricted to 2-year-olds, with the Juvenile Turf Sprint having a post of 3:21 p.m., followed by the Juvenile Fillies Turf, the Juvenile Fillies, the Juvenile Turf, and the Juvenile. The last race of the 10-race card is a non-Breeders’ Cup race.

On Saturday, first post for a 12-race card will be 10:45 a.m., with two undercard races preceding the Breeders’ Cup slate of nine races. The Filly and Mare Sprint will have a post of noon, followed by the Turf Sprint, the Dirt Mile, the Filly and Mare Turf, the Sprint, the Mile, the Distaff, the Turf, and the Classic.

The Distaff had been held as the last Breeders’ Cup race of the Friday card since 2008, the year after the event was expanded to two days. However, Breeders’ Cup revamped its schedule this year to focus on 2-year-old races for the Friday card.