Double Pick 6 carryover of $260K into Friday’s card at Belmont Park

by Keith McCalmont

Friday’s Pick 6 will be boosted by a $260,473 carryover as the multi-race wager went unsolved for a second consecutive race day on Thursday at Belmont Park.

The $1 Pick 6, implemented at the current 48-day Belmont spring/summer meet, returned $1,479 to bettors who selected 5-of-6 winners correctly.

Thursday’s sequence kicked off with Dancingwthdaffodls [No. 3, $36.80] prevailing as the longest shot on the board in Race 4 with Jose Lezcano up for trainer Eduardo Jones.

Eric Cancel guided Ninth Hour [No. 6, $9.20] to victory for trainer Chris Englehart in Race 5, a six-furlong claiming sprint. The Last Zip [No. 12, $12.20], with Luis Saez up for Mike Maker, secured the win in Race 6 in a Widener turf route.

Higher Truth [No. 9, $8.50] rallied to win a 10-furlong inner turf test in Race 7 under Jose Ortiz for four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown.

In Race 8, Lezcano returned to the winner’s circle aboard Jalen Journey [No. 5, $5.40], who left the gate as the mutuel favorite for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen in the seven-furlong optional-claiming sprint.

In the finale, Chulainn [No. 1, $19.60] secured the carryover as one of only five horses not covered in the loaded 11-horse field. Graham Motion trained the winner of the one-mile maiden claiming tilt over the Widener turf as Chulainn, with Manny Franco up, prevailed by a nose over Voliero [No. 2], who would have returned a $1 Pick 6 payout in excess of $130K to two tickets had he won.

Featuring a $1 bet minimum and 15 percent takeout, the Pick 6 wager requires bettors to select the first-place finisher of six designated races on the card. A total of 75 percent of the full pool, minus takeout, will be distributed to bettors who select the first-place finisher of all six races. A consolation payout of 25 percent of the net pool will be distributed to tickets selecting 5-of-6 winners.

In the event there are no tickets with six winners, there will be a carryover of 75 percent of the net pool into the next day of the meet with the remaining 25 percent of the net pool distributed as a consolation payout to tickets selecting the first-place finisher in the greatest number of races on the card. On carryover days, the Pick 6 is offered with a 24 percent takeout.

The $1 Pick 6 replaced the Empire 6, a jackpot style wager featuring a $0.20 bet minimum first offered in August 2019 at Saratoga Race Course.

Friday’s $1 Pick 6 kicks off in Race 4 at 2:31 p.m. Eastern and will include four turf races topped by a 10-furlong $92,000 inner turf allowance in Race 8 featuring Shamrocket, the 8-5 morning-line favorite exiting a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Man o’ War. First post on Friday’s nine-race card is 1 p.m. Eastern.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Belmont Park, and the best way to bet every race of the spring/summer meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com