If you are a racetrack regular, you hear it all the time from other racetrack regulars: “I will not bet the favourite. All I want to do is beat the favourite.”
If that is indeed the case, then the racetrack regular’s best friend is the GSY (Gural Settlemoir Yarock) Series, which is featured on Friday nights at The Meadowlands. The GSY is an amateur driving club, which always provides full fields and ultra-competitive racing.
The GSY, much to the delight of the racetrack regular, hasn’t seen a race where the favourite has won since March 11, when Always A Force and the GSY’s leading driver, Tony Verruso, scored as the post-time choice and paid a very non-chalky $9 to win.
Since then, it’s been an almost inconceivable 25 consecutive races without a single favourite visiting the winner’s circle.
“The GSY races remind me of the races at The Big M in the 1970s and 80s,” said Jason Settlemoir, Chief Operating Officer and General Manager. “Full fields, constant pressure on the horses going to the lead, which leads to exciting finishes making it possible for horses to close from far off the pace. That type of racing typically leads to larger than average payoffs, which leads to larger than average pools. In fact, last Friday (April 22), the average GSY pool was well over $200,000.”
Getting back to the racetrack regular, the average GSY payoffs are sure to make him or her smile.
Over the last 26 GSY races since March 11, not one horse has gone off at odds of less than even-money. Fifteen of the 26 races have seen the post-time choice go off at 2-1 or more with 5-2 or more being the price on the chalk on eight occasions.
These average payoffs are outstanding to say the least, with win ($21.09), exacta ($189.84), trifecta ($1,389.61) and superfecta ($7,798.50) returns that are well above the norm.
“The GSY races are more unpredictable, which make the wagering on them appealing to an increasing number of horseplayers,” said Settlemoir. “Last Friday, the first GSY event handled $266,757. That’s an eye-popping number for any race.”
The GSY will have four races at The Meadowlands – for a sixth consecutive week – when racing resumes Friday (April 29) at 6:20 p.m.
(Meadowlands)