Monmouth Park lowers takeout to 15% on Pick 3, Daily Double wagers

Monmouth Park just gave horseplayers a sharper price on the kinds of wagers they chase hardest. A $1 Pick 3 or Daily Double now carries a 15-cent takeout instead of 25 cents on Pick 3s and 19 cents on Daily Doubles, a cut that puts more of every dollar back into the pools and makes the Jersey Shore track more aggressive in the market for betting value.

The change began Saturday, May 16, across the entire card for all Pick 3 and Daily Double wagers, pending final approval from the New Jersey Racing Commission. It came after Monmouth introduced a $3 late Pick 3 and a $5 late Daily Double at reduced takeout the previous weekend, along with a $3 All-Turf Pick 3. Most Pick 3s still start at 50 cents, while the final Pick 3 carries a $3 minimum. Most Daily Doubles remain $1 bets, and the final Double is $5. John F. Heims, Monmouth’s general manager and in-house counsel since 1997, said the new wagers were “wildly popular” on opening day and framed the move as a way to “put more money back in bettors’ hands.”

The pricing shift is not cosmetic. It gives Monmouth a cleaner value message at a time when the track is trying to grow wagering business as much as attendance. Monmouth’s 2025 meet drew stronger crowds on Haskell Day and Mother’s Day, but average total handle and average on-track handle slipped, a warning sign for a sport where field size, pool depth and takeout all shape the quality of the betting product. Dennis Drazin and Monmouth management have long argued that low takeout, big fields and competitive racing help attract both fans and simulcast money.

The track is also trying to build momentum early in a 50-day season that opened May 9 and runs through Sept. 13, with 36 stakes races worth $5.85 million, including nine graded stakes. Haskell Preview Day is set for Saturday, June 13, and Haskell Stakes Day follows on Saturday, July 18, when Monmouth will again lean on its biggest card of the year. Last year’s Haskell Stakes Day produced an all-sources record handle of $21,999,963 and drew 41,876 fans, a benchmark this season’s lower takeout push is meant to support.

Monmouth has used 15% takeout before. In 2016, at the Meadowlands all-turf meet in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the track and the state commission approved an across-the-board 15% structure that Monmouth described as the lowest in the nation at the time. This latest move gives the track another chance to test whether cheaper multi-race bets can sharpen its competitive position and turn more casual handle into repeat business.