Woodbine Racetrack hosted all 12 of the Breeders Crown Finals during its program of live racing this past Saturday night (October 24). Even though rain affected track conditions, the 13-race card still produced the largest handle for a single live program in the history of Canadian harness racing.
The Woodbine Entertainment Group has announced that Woodbine Racetrack’s $5,748,950 handle on Saturday broke the previous Woodbine handle record – which was also Canada’s Standardbred record handle – of $5,243,109, which had been set on October 19, 2001.
A total of $3,835,642 was wagered on the 12 Breeders Crown championship races on Saturday.
The evening’s final race was not a Breeders Crown Final, but it did feature a mandatory payout on the track’s Jackpot Hi-5 wager. Horseplayers wagered $1,670,263 of new money into the Jackpot Hi-5 to bring the gross pool, including a carryover of $557,274, to over $2.2 million.
A total of 155 winning tickets correctly selected the top five finishers, including 25-1 upset winner Grin For Money, to score a return of $12,746.60 for a 20-cent wager.
The race handle for the 13th and final race Saturday was $1,913,354.
Other wagering highlights from Saturday, included $52,919 wagered into the new Pick-5 and a Late Pick-4 pool of $146,720.
For a complete recap of Saturday’s Breeders Crown Final program from Woodbine, click here.
On Saturday night, Jimmy Takter was asked if his stable's six-win performance in the Breeders Crown was his career highlight, and he answered in the affirmative. A look at the numbers shows that his night was not only the biggest of his career, but the biggest single card for any participant in harness racing history.
Live racing continues at Woodbine every Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday night all fall and winter. First-race post time is 7:25 p.m.
(With files from WEG)