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Gulfstream Park: Castellano Returns, Irad Ortiz Jr. Rides Five Winners; Jackpot Has $400,000 Guarantee On Thursday

Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano returned to action Wednesday at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., after sitting out for three months while rehabbing from surgery on his right leg.

The five-time Championship Meet titlist finished fourth aboard Sexy Dream in Race 9, a mile optional starter allowance for 3-year-old fillies that was taken off the turf. While the result may not have been what he would have likes, Castellano was more than happy to get back to riding horses in the afternoon.

“I'm every excited, very motivated,” Castellano said. “That was my first mount. We all are looking to win first time. It didn't work out, but we're looking at the big picture. We're looking to get fit, riding a lot of horses. I'm looking to work hard. Hopefully, I'll get a lot of support from the owners and trainers.”

A winner of 5,328 races and more than $354 million in purse earnings, Castellano had arthroscopic surgery to clean up some debris in his right leg, near the hip, Nov. 16 in New York. He went through physical therapy and returned to Florida earlier this month to start getting on horses.

Castellano is named on two horses Thursday – Todd Pletcher-trained Deemed Essential in Race 7, a maiden special weight on turf for 3-year-old fillies, and Graham Motion-trained All Come True in Race 10, a mile optional claiming allowance for older fillies and mares on turf.

Castellano won a record five consecutive Championship Meet riding titles at Gulfstream from 2011-12 through 2015-16. During that time, he was voted the Eclipse Award as champion jockey four times, from 2013-16.

Thursday's Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Guaranteed at $400,000

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool will be guaranteed at $400,000 Thursday at Gulfstream Park.

The popular multi-race wager went unsolved for a second racing day following Saturday's mandatory payout. Multiple tickets with all six winners were each worth $4,130 Wednesday.

The jackpot pool is only paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 70 percent of that day's pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.

WHO'S HOT: Fresh off a natural grand slam Sunday, defending two-time Championship Meet titlist Irad Ortiz Jr. rode another five winners Wednesday, scoring aboard Cat Lady ($4.60) in Race 1, Jacohare ($13.80) in Race 2, American Matters ($7.60) in Race 5, Dem a Wonder ($4.60) in Race 6, and Subsidiary ($10.60) in Race 8.

Ortiz sits atop the jockey standings with 93 wins.

The post Gulfstream Park: Castellano Returns, Irad Ortiz Jr. Rides Five Winners; Jackpot Has $400,000 Guarantee On Thursday appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Thursday Racing Canceled At Aqueduct Ahead Of Winter Storm Warning

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) has canceled Thursday's live racing program at Aqueduct Racetrack due to a winter storm forecast to impact the New York metropolitan area throughout the day on Thursday.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has placed New York City under a winter storm watch beginning on Thursday morning and extending through Friday afternoon. The NWS forecast, which aligns with NYRA's independent weather services, is calling for up to 8 inches of snow causing hazardous conditions throughout the region.

As a result, NYRA has canceled Thursday's eight-race card in the interest of the safety of all participants.

Live racing at Aqueduct will resume on Friday, February 19 with an eight-race card. First post on Friday is 1:20 p.m.

For additional information on the 2020-21 winter meet at Aqueduct, visit NYRA.com.

The post Thursday Racing Canceled At Aqueduct Ahead Of Winter Storm Warning appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Sam Houston Cancels Live Racing, Training Through Thursday Due To Texas Snowstorm

Snow in Texas.

Yes, you read that right.

Due to ongoing winter weather conditions in Houston, Tx., Sam Houston Race Park has cancelled live racing and training for both Wednesday, Feb. 17 and Thursday, Feb. 18, according to the track's Twitter account.

Sam Houston's power is also out, so entries for Wednesday, Feb. 24, originally scheduled to be taken today, will now be taken on Thursday, Feb. 18.

The National Weather Service's Winter Storm Warning for the area will remain in effect through 6:00 a.m. Thursday morning.

Temperatures are expected to drop below freezing overnight, and there is the potential for ice accumulation of up to a tenth of an inch.

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Between The Hedges: A Closer Look At NYRA’s Empire 6 Wager

The following is the second edition of a bi-weekly series entitled Between The Hedges. The series will revolve around the business of betting focusing on trending wagering topics and statistics. Each installment will include a column penned by Joe Longo, NYRA General Manager of Content Services, examining certain areas of interest within the landscape of the thoroughbred racing industry. Upcoming topics will include a look at minus pools, post times, purse distribution and coupled entries. Send your questions for Between The Hedges to betweenthehedges@nyrainc.com.

The multitude of jackpot style wagers offered by racetracks across North America is a frequent talking point for horseplayers. NYRA's Empire 6 is no exception.

Informed horse players are sensitive to takeout. With that in mind, NYRA established a daily mandatory payout of the Empire 6 at Aqueduct Racetrack in January as part of a pilot program to further understand the benefits of the wager for both the track and player. The daily mandatory payout was recently extended through February with the pilot project expanded by offering the Empire 6 as a retail-only wager.

The Empire 6 was launched on August 7, 2019, replacing the traditional $2 Pick 6. With a $0.20 minimum and 20 percent takeout, the Empire 6 included a jackpot provision in which the full pool would be paid out only to a single ticket selecting the first-place finisher in all six races, otherwise 75 percent of the day's net pool would be distributed to those who selected the first-place finisher in the greatest number of races with the remainder added into a jackpot and carried to the next day's Empire 6.

At the time of the Empire 6 launch, the jackpot-style wager was successful at racetracks around the country and fractional base wagers were increasing in popularity. By lowering the minimum base, it would open the wager to a demographic that may have been priced out by the prohibitive cost of coverage in a $2 Pick 6. Fast forward to December 31, 2020 and the average daily handle on the Empire 6 was up almost 100% over the traditional $2 Pick 6.

The largest Empire 6 mandatory payout pool was on August 9, 2020 with $6,140,421 in new money, as a result of an 18-day carryover period that started with the first day of the Saratoga meet that grew the jackpot to $1,393,463 into the mandatory day. Several other mandatory force out days at Saratoga topped the $5 million mark.

The jackpot feature is a double-edged sword in that tracks receive a significant amount of new money wagered into the Empire 6 pool on the mandatory payout day, but it also keeps money out of circulation that could be wagered into other pools on the days leading up to the force out. NYRA has experimented with different mandatory force-out schedules ranging from over a month to every other week.

In addition, we also looked at forcing out the pool on marquee days versus regular days. On marquee days there are more eyes on the product and more people playing so the multiplier should be significant, but it does raise the concern of what effect the jackpot wager has on NYRA's other pools.

Tying up several million dollars for six races that likely include major stakes will certainly impact the pools, but will players be more likely to bet those races in different pools having handicapped them already? Or, should NYRA shift the mandatory payout to a nondescript Sunday in hope of doubling that day's handle? These are the types of questions we ask ourselves when formulating a schedule.

The Empire 6 experiment for the month of January proved to be successful.

Total handle on the Empire 6 was $1,942,010 for 18 race dates in January compared to $1,361,819 over 17 race dates in January 2020, an increase of $580,192 or 43 percent. Some of this increase was driven by the additional race day, but the daily average handle was up 35 percent.

Thus far, the pilot program has demonstrated that bettors at the Aqueduct winter meet will support a daily mandatory payout of the Empire 6.

For more information on the Empire 6, visit www.nyrabets.com.

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