Santa Anita adds all-turf Pick 3 to its wagering menu

Santa Anita will offer an all-turf Pick 3 wager for the first time at its fall meeting, which opens next weekend.

The wager, which carries a $3 minimum rather than the 50-cent basement bet offered on the tracks other Pick 3s, will be comprised of the final three turf races on each day’s program, conditions permitting.

The addition of the all-turf Pick 3 is one of two significant betting changes made for the fall meet, which runs from Sept. 29 through Nov. 5 and will include two days of Breeders' Cup racing on Nov. 3-4.

The track previously announced that it will drop the so-called Rainbow Pick 6, which offered a jackpot payoff to any bettor with the sole ticket correctly picking all six winners, and return to the traditional Pick 6 format.

Under the new format, the pool pays out completely if there are any winning tickets, no matter how many there are. In that case, 70 percent of the pool goes to players who had all six correct, while the remaining 30 percent goes to consolation tickets, typically tickets with five out of six horses correct. If there is no winning ticket, 70 percent of the pool carries over to the next day while 30 percent is paid as a consolation to bettors with the most correct horses.

In addition to eliminating the jackpot payout, the new format will raise the minimum Pick 6 wager from 20 cents to $1. 

The Pick 6 will be offered on the last six races on most racing days. For Breeders' Cup Friday, the wager will be offered on races 4 through 9, with any carryover going to Breeders' Cup Saturday. The sequence will cover races 6 through 11 on Breeders' Cup Saturday, with mandatory payout of the whole pool.