A Sure Bet: The Quinella
May 13, 2009
The quinella is one way to have twice as much fun at the racetrack.
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By C. Reid McLellan
Wanna bet you can pick the two horses that will finish first and second in any given race?
You can do that by playing the quinella or the exacta. The quinella is a wager in which you bet you can pick the horses that will finish first and second in either order. The exacta is a bet that you can pick the horses that will finish first and second in exact order. All horse tracks offer exacta betting on most races. Some tracks call the bet a perfecta, but even the mutuel clerks at those tracks recognize exacta as the same bet. Many tracks running American Quarter Horses offer quinella wagering on most races. This month we’ll talk about the quinella. Next month, we’ll look at quinella’s big brother, the exacta box.
Quinella is a simple two-horse bet because you don’t have to worry about which way you say the numbers. If you think 3 and 4 will run first and second, just say “$2 quinella 3,4″ and you win if they run first and second in either order (3-4 or 4-3). If you like three horses, you can say “$2 quinella box 3,4,5″ and win if any two of them run first and second. The order of finish doesn’t matter as long as two of them are first and second. It doesn’t matter what the third horse does either. A three-horse quinella box will cost $6 because you have three $2 quinellas (3-4; 3-5; 4-5).
I like playing a quinella in races where I see a heavy favorite. The quinella will sometimes pay more than the corresponding $1 exacta if the favorite wins. In this case, I play a quinella wheel or part-wheel. If you say, “$2 quinella wheel, 5 with all,” you win if 5 finishes either first or second. It doesn’t matter which other horse runs first or second with 5 because you have them all. That is a good bet when a race is so wide open that you have no idea what horse might run second to your selection. A quinella wheel is not a good bet if you have two or three low-odds horses that could finish in the top two. If that is the case, you could win the bet but collect less than the total cost of your wager. (A quinella wheel in an 11-runner field will cost $20.) In such a race, I prefer to play a quinella part-wheel using only the two or three runners that I think have the best chance of finishing second to my top pick. A “$2 quinella 5 with 2,3,4″ will only cost $6 and I win if 5 runs first or second and either 2, 3 or 4 is the other horse that finishes in one of the top-two spots.
Quinella is not as hard to say as it looks (kwin-ella will get the job done) and is one way to win enough money for dinner when a win bet on a heavy favorite might only win enough for a diet soda.
As Executive Director of The Elite Program, C. Reid McLellan organizes and teaches Groom, Owner and Trainer Elite classes around the country.
As owner and agent of Purple Power Equine Services, Reid helps people buy and sell race and show prospects and provides guidance and assistance with training, breeding and other equine services.
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