The historic Saratoga summer meet comes to a close on Monday with a card highlighted by the Grade 1, $350,000 Runhappy Hopeful and the Grade 2, $250,000 Bernard Baruch.
The lucrative card will be an attractive one for bettors with mandatory payouts slated for the Early and Late Pick 5 as well as the Empire 6, which boasts a carryover of $415,299 heading into Thursday’s card.
The Empire 6 features a $0.20 bet minimum paired with a 20 percent takeout and has provided horseplayers with consistently large payouts since it was added to the wagering menu on August 7. On three of the 15 days the Empire 6 has paid out five figure totals including $37,064 on August 21; $25,145 on August 14 and $12,547 on August 18.
The Empire 6 requires the bettor to select the first-place finisher of the final six races of the card. It was added to the NYRA wagering menu on August 7 and will be offered on live race days at all NYRA tracks.
If one unique ticket exists, then 100% of the net pool, plus the jackpot carryover if applicable, will be paid to the winner. If there is no unique wager selecting the first-place finisher in all six races, then 75% of the day’s net pool will be distributed to those who selected the first-place finisher in the greatest number of races. The remainder will be added into the jackpot and carried to the next day’s Empire 6.
Live racing will then shift to Belmont Park for the 37-day Belmont fall meet, including 45 stakes worth $11.525 million in purse money – an increase of $1.45 million over 2018 – starting at Belmont Park from September 6 to October 6, and concluding at Aqueduct Racetrack, with Belmont at the Big A from October 11 through October 27.
Beginning on Friday, September 6, weekday live racing at Belmont Park will feature a first post time of 3 p.m., while Saturdays and Sundays will feature a first post of 1 p.m.
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