Double Pick-6 Carryovers Push Santa Anita Two-Day Pool Toward $1.3 Million

Santa Anita Park began Friday with a $198,741 two-day carryover in the traditional $2 Pick 6 and a $69,685 carryover in the $1 Sunset Pick 6, and track officials estimated the combined Pick 6 pool would reach about $1.3 million. The double carryover followed two consecutive days when no bettors connected winners of the final six races, which pushed 70 percent of each missed day’s pool forward and paid 30 percent to five-of-six tickets.

The mechanics left a tangible consolation on Sunday: tickets with five of six winners paid $1,937.40. Santa Anita’s Pick 6 takeout is 23.68 percent, and owner-handicapper Jon Lindo said the carryover still changes the economics. “I think the term ‘pick-six carryover’ still has some charisma. Sure, with all of the added rolling bets there are more chances to win a lot by betting a little, but a pick-six carryover to me means there is dead money already in the pool that reduces the takeout playing the wager,” Lindo said.

The carryover was officially clinched in the 10th race when Vicky Lyn, ridden by Juan Hernandez for trainer Brendan Galvin, won and paid $9. The six-horse sequence that triggered the two-day carryover began in the fifth race and included Gordon’s Legacy at $31, Tiger of the Sea at $5.20, Greenwich Village at $5.40, Whiskyginandbrandy at $20.20, Mars Magic at $17.20, and Vicky Lyn at $9. Paulick Report listed those winners with program numbers as #1 Gordon’s Legacy, #6 Tiger of the Sea, #2 Greenwich Village, #7 Whiskyginandbrandy, #1 Mars Magic and #5 Vicky Lyn.

Friday’s racing was set as a nine-race card with first post listed as 12:30 p.m. PT, which converts to 3:30 p.m. ET. The $2 Pick 6 sequence kicked off with Race 4, listed around 2:00 p.m. PT (5:00 p.m. ET), and the $1 Sunset Pick 6 began with Race 8 from Gulfstream Park at about 12:50 p.m. PT (3:50 p.m. ET). Xpressbet previewed the sequence as starting with “a tricky maiden claimer in Race 4” and ending with a full-field grass event, and provided race-level grades and selections for players constructing tickets.

Xpressbet’s notes graded Race 4 as a C with a main ticket of 2 Bossing Mo, 5 Oswald and 1 Bandolero. Race 6 earned an X grade as a probable single with 3 Tiger Fire as the main ticket and Maniae as a backup, noting that Armando Aguilar takes the mount for the first time. Race 7 received a B grade with 10 Son of a Birch as the main selection and backups 1 Nesso’s Lastharrah and 9 Charlie’s to Blame.

Handicappers said the two-day carryover restored a sense of occasion. Tyler Hoffman, a successful handicapping tournament player in his 30s, said, “Is there still excitement around a two-day carryover in the pick-six with the opportunity to make some serious money? Of course. Is it the same as it was back in the day? Obviously not. I’ll still play it. It’s worth taking a shot.” Bob Ike of bobikepicks.com added, “I don’t think a single-day carryover creates much buzz at all, especially when SoCal carryover pools are sometimes as low as $25,000-$30,000. (But the) two-day carryover will create some buzz because now we’re talking a significant amount of money.”

The Santa Anita carryovers represent the largest Southern California pick-six pot in nearly a year, though a $329,773 pick-five carryover at Del Mar last November remains a recent high-water mark. With the extra money in the pot and an estimated $1.3 million pool at stake Friday, horseplayers who remember the wager’s heyday and a new generation of bettors will test Xpressbet’s grade picks and ticket-building strategies through the start of Santa Anita’s three-day racing week.