A series of massive wagers into exotic pari-mutuel betting pools at several Thoroughbred and Standardbred racetracks on Wednesday have officials scratching their heads over how the bets were placed and why.
The wagers – which created pool sizes never before seen at some of the tracks in question – focused on superfecta and super high five wagers that require a gambler to pick the first four and first five finishers, respectively, in a race.
Horseracingnation.com and Daily Racing Form were the first to report the bets were placed through FanDuel/TVG, which said it has begun an investigation into the matter, citing “technical issues and potential fraud.”
A full statement from a FanDuel spokesman said: “Earlier today FanDuel Racing identified technical issues and potential fraud related to wagering pools and took the appropriate steps to stop wagering via its platform. This issue is no longer ongoing and wagering has resumed. The company is undertaking a full review of this matter and will be cooperating with regulatory authorities.”
The Thoroughbred tracks known to be the subject of these wagers were Finger Lakes and Churchill Downs, while the Meadows and Monticello harness tracks also had unusually large bets placed on their races.
Churchill Downs in Kentucky put a temporary hold on the super high five payout for Wednesday's fourth race after a reported $751,000 was wagered into the pool. Last Saturday, Nov. 11, Churchill Downs offered super high five wagering on four races, with no pool exceeding $20,000.
New York's Finger Lakes had $359,298 wagered into a superfecta pool for Wednesday's fifth race, far eclipsing any other pools for that or any bet type on the card.
Harness tracks had even more abnormally massive wagers.
New York's Monticello Raceway had $1,450,600 wagered into the sixth race superfecta pool and another $950,029 on the seventh race superfecta.
At the Meadows in Pennsylvania, $119,682 in superfecta wagers were placed in the fourth race and $1,082,884 in the fifth race.
Though they did not approach the other bets in volume, Mahoning Valley, a Thoroughbred track in Ohio, saw larger than usual superfecta pools in races five and six ($63,390 and $61,386) and the day's total handle jumped 59 percent from the previous Wednesday.
One track official who spoke on background said at least one of the bets was made with every combination selected in large increments.
Horseracingnation.com quoted Shawn Wiles, director of racing at Monticello, saying, “I'm waiting to see the report at the end of the day to see how all these combinations were bet.”
Curtis Linnell, head of the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau, which monitors unusual wagering activities for North American racetracks, said he was investigating the bets.
“I'm kind of busy right now,” Linnell said when reached by the Paulick Report. He said he could not comment further at this time.
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