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Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5 Features Races From Aqueduct, Tampa Bay Downs

The New York Racing Association will host a Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday featuring racing action from Aqueduct Racetrack and Tampa Bay Downs.

Live coverage will be available with America's Day at the Races on FOX Sports. Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence are now available for download at https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/cross-country-wagers.

A field of eight sophomores seeking a first career win get things started in Race 5 at Aqueduct with a scheduled post time of 3:20 p.m. Eastern. Harrell Ventures' Good Culture looks to make his career debut a winning one for trainer George Weaver. The son of Anchor Down is out of the Kodiak Kowboy mare Lady Fifty Two – a half-sister to Grade 1-winner Lady of Fifty. Trainer Jonathan Thomas will saddle million dollar-purchase Will E Sutton in hopes for a successful second start. Last out, the son of Curlin out of stakes-placed Yes Liz was fourth going seven furlongs on February 8 at the Big A.

Action shifts to Tampa Bay Downs for the second leg, where a field of ten will assemble over the main track for a $5,000 tag. Leading Tampa Bay trainer Gerald Bennett sends out Malio's, who seeks a career fifth lifetime victory over the Oldsmar oval. Larry Cronin and Joseph Keenan's Irish Major was second beaten a length under the same conditions last out and seeks to come out on top this time for trainer Tim Padilla. The race is carded as Race 8 with a 3:47 pm. post.

Aqueduct takes the reins for the middle leg of the sequence where fillies and mares bred in the Empire State seek an allowance victory at six furlongs. Repole Stable's More Glitter will make her first start since December 2019, where she was fifth in an off-the-turf edition of the Tepin at the Big A. Trained by Todd Pletcher, the daughter of More Than Ready broke her maiden in October 2019 at Belmont Park going 1 1/16 miles. Carded as Race 7, the third leg of the sequence will go off at 4:20 p.m.

Just two minutes later, Tampa Bay Downs will run the penultimate leg and the final event of their nine-race program featuring a field of 11 maiden claimers running six furlongs for a $10,000 tag. Four-time starter Himelstein, who notched his best result in his most recent effort when second, is the lukewarm 2-1 morning-line favorite.

Stakes action concludes the Cross Country Pick 5 in Aqueduct's featured $100,000 Maddie May for New York-bred 3-year-old fillies at a one-turn mile. OXO Equine's promising filly Brattle House faces stakes company for the first time after an impressive November 22 victory for trainer and co-breeder Christophe Clement. She faces accomplished stakes winners Secret Love and Vacay, both of whom scored at said caliber at Aqueduct. The Maddie May has a scheduled post of 4:50 p.m.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available 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.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday, Feb. 20:
Leg A: Aqueduct-Race 5 (3:20 p.m.)
Leg B: Tampa Bay Downs-Race 8 (3:47 p.m.)
Leg C: Aqueduct-Race 7 (4:20 p.m.)
Leg D: Tampa Bay Downs-Race 9 (4:22 p.m.)
Leg E: Aqueduct – Race 8, $100,000 Maddie May (4:50 p.m.)

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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.

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Under 20’s Claiming Challenge Returns To Belmont’s Spring/Summer Meet

The popular Under 20's Claiming Challenge, which gives modest-size stables the opportunity to compete for cash prizes, will return to Belmont Park for the spring/summer meet that runs from April 22 through July 11.

The program, launched in 2018, is open to all trainers stabled at NYRA facilities with 20 or fewer horses in their care nationwide. The top-eight trainers in the contest will share a prize pool of $80,000, with the winner receiving $16,000. Stall allotments for the Belmont spring/summer will be used to determine eligible trainers.

Trainers earn points based on their horses' performances in all winners' claiming races from Opening Day on Thursday, April 22 through the conclusion of the Belmont spring/summer meet on Sunday, July 11, encompassing both main track and turf contests.

To retain eligibility, there can be no more than 20 horses on a trainer's roster at any given time, although a trainer's stable may grow above 20 horses through claiming activity. But only roster horses can earn points. A trainer may replace a claimed horse who was on their roster with another claimed horse. After a horse is claimed, it will be added to the trainer's roster only at the trainer's request.

Horses in for a tag in an allowance optional claiming race will qualify for contest points. Points are not earned in maiden, allowance, starter allowance or stakes races.

A horse that ends up on the stewards' list for poor performance [defeated 25 or more lengths] will not earn the trainer points for that race. Horses that are running for 50 percent or less of the claiming price from their most recent start will only be eligible to earn 50 percent of the typical points for that race.

In addition, horses can only earn contest points for two races within a given 30-day time period. A horse may enter in additional races during that timeframe but will not earn contest points for those additional races.

For more information, please contact the racing office at 718-659-4241.

Contest Point Structure:
Dirt Races – All claiming races for winners, including horses in for an optional tag:
1st Place – 6 points
2nd Place – 5 points
3rd Place – 4 points
4th Place – 3 points
5th Place – 2 points

Turf Races- All claiming races for winners, including horses in for an optional tag
1st Place – 5 points
2nd Place – 4 points
3rd Place – 3 points
4th Place – 2 points
5th Place – 1 point

Trainer Bonuses:
The top-eight trainers in the contest will share in a prize pool of $80,000:
1st Place – $16,000
2nd Place – $14,000
3rd Place – $12,000
4th Place – $11,000
5th Place – $9,000
6th Place – $7,000
7th Place – $6,000
8th Place – $5,000

Important dates, at a glance:
April 18, 2021 – All contest applications due no later than 3:30 p.m.
April 22, 2021 – List of eligible contest trainers posted
April 22, 2021 – Contest begins; Opening Day of Belmont Park spring/summer meet
June 14, 2021 – No additional horses may be added to earn contest points (unless replacing a claimed or injured horse)
July 11, 2021 – Contest ends; Closing Day of Belmont Park spring/summer meet
August 13, 2021 – Awards paid out

Past winners of the Under 20s Claiming Challenge:
2019/20 Aqueduct winter – Eddie Barker, Mertkan Kantarmaci (tie)
2019 Belmont spring/summer – Mertkan Kantarmaci
2018/19 Aqueduct winter – Mertkan Kantarmaci
2018 Belmont spring/summer – Eddie Barker

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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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