Saturday's Cross Country Pick 5, featuring all graded stakes races at Belmont Park and Delaware Park, paid $3,295 for selecting all five winners for the 50-cent wager. The total pool was $259,823.
Delaware Park hosted the first two legs, starting the sequence with a huge price when Project Whiskey captured the Grade 3, $300,000 Delaware Oaks in Race 8. The 1 1/16-mile dirt route for 3-year-old fillies saw Project Whiskey, trained by Robert Reid, Jr., win her graded stakes debut after going off at 38-1. Ridden by Frankie Pennington, Project Whiskey returned $79.60 on a $2 win bet.
The remainder of the Cross Country Pick 5 was more chalky, with favorite Gufo winning the Grade 3, $125,000 Kent in Race 9. Piloted by Trevor McCarthy, the son of Declaration of War was a half-length winner for Clement in the 1 1/8-mile turf route for sophomores. He paid $3.20.
Belmont hosted the final three legs, starting with a bang with Vekoma's 1 ¼-length win in the Grade 1, $500,000 Runhappy Met Mile – one of five graded stakes on Belmont Park's loaded card – in Race 9 to give trainer George Weaver his first win in the prestigious race. Vekoma stayed undefeated in his 4-year-old campaign, improving to 3-for-3 in defeating a talented field that included 2019 Grade 1 Runhappy Travers-winner Code of Honor and last year's Grade 1 Whitney winner in McKinzie. Ridden by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, who notched his third Runhappy Met Mile win, Vekoma paid $5.90.
Race 10 at Belmont saw another prestigious Grade 1, the $400,000 Manhattan, with trainer Chad Brown saddling the first-and-second-place finishers in Instilled Regard and Rockemperor. Instilled Regard [$6.30], under Belmont spring/summer meet-leading rider Irad Ortiz, Jr., edged his stablemate by a neck to win the contest for 4-year-olds and up at 1 ¼-miles on the inner turf. It marked the sixth win in the Manhattan for Brown.
The concluding leg saw the top-two finishers of the 2019 Grade 1 Belmont Stakes rematch in the Grade 2, $200,000 Suburban in Race 11. Tacitus, who was runner-up in that Belmont Stakes, along with running second in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy and Runhappy Travers at Saratoga, finally earned a return trip to the winner's circle, romping to an 8 ¾-length win. Tacitus completed the 1 ¼-mile course in 1:59.51, never having been seriously challenged in the stretch, and returned $4.20. He was trained and ridden by a pair of Hall of Famers in Bill Mott and John Velazquez, respectively.
The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on track, on ADW platforms, and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.
The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.
The post Cross Country Pick 5 From Delaware, Belmont Handles $259,823; Pays $3,295 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
