An older lady recently overheard me
discussing wagering strategy and politely inquired: "I wonder if you could answer a
question for me - what's the difference between a Pick 3 and a trifecta?"
"Do you go to the races often?" I asked.
"Only for the big ones," she replied, touching the brim of her hat.
So I explained: In order to cash a Pick 3 ticket you must have the winner in each leg
while in order to win a trifecta your horses must finish 1-2-3 in the same race.
Then I got to thinking - there are quite a few people who don't know about all the exotic
wagers that have been introduced since the daily double was the lone type of bet outside
win, place and show when I became a racing fan.
I often bump into infrequent horseplayers that lack the basic knowledge about wagering. In
addition, many don't know the essentials of handicapping and rely on lucky numbers or
family names.
I recall an elderly woman asking her daughter several years ago why two horses were
favored over her selection. She replied, "I don't know."
I couldn't help volunteering the answer: "The track is sloppy and the pedigrees of
the other two horses indicate they'll run better on an off track than your daughter's
pick"
Both runners did.
"Not everybody knows that," the daughter said. "That's really valuable
information."
Nowadays that's untrue. Such information is available at racing websites and in
publications, which offer past performances showing what thoroughbreds have done on wet,
sloppy and muddy surfaces.
I remember an older man wondering about exactas: "How many horses do you play?""As many you want," I explained. "But two must run
first and second."
He explained the procedure to his wife and they bet the last race on the program that
Saturday at Gulfstream Park. I also played, boxing the 2-5-9. The winning exacta was 2-5.
The man asked if he'd won, showing me two tickets: 2-7 and 5-9.
"You would have," I replied, "if you had boxed all four on the same
ticket."
A $1 box of 2-5-7-9 would have cost $12.
Here are a couple of other questions I recently answered:
What is a trifecta and a superfecta?
You can win a trifecta in various ways. First, you can box three horses for $1 and it
makes no difference in what running order they hit the board. It costs $24 to box four
horses. Remember that any $2 exotic bet costs double.
If you love a single horse, you can key that selection for $1 on top of three others for
$6. Your top choice must win, but any of the others can finish second or third to collect.
The key pick over four others runs $12.
A superfecta bet requires picking four horses that finish 1-2-3-4. The $1 box of four runs
$24. The same bet with five jumps to $120 because there are 120 combinations.
The $1 key wager singling one horse over three others runs $6 while one over four horses
jumps to $24.
"What do you look for to NOT bet on a horse?"
First, you must tackle a specific day's racing card one contest at a time. I like the
advice of one handicapper: Each race is a different puzzle so act accordingly.
Most horseplayers develop their own formula to determine the outcome of any race. My
toolbox usually includes the horse's form, his or her speed, the runner's preferred racing
surface and distance, class of the race and jockey-trainer combo's success.
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