Just as in poker, four of a kind is a good thing on the race track.

By C. Reid McLellan

In poker, four of a kind usually means the player wins big.

Similarly, horseplayers that hit a pick four generally win big. As it sounds, the pick four is a bet that you can pick the winner of four races in a row. Los Alamitos makes its early pick four a worthwhile playing opportunity as the track guarantees that the pool will be a minimum of $50,000 on most Thursdays and $75,000 every weekend night! The pick four is not easy to hit, but with a minimum unit wager of $.50, we can bet several combinations and keep the size of our wager within bankroll limits.

To bet a pick four, go to a mutuel window prior to Race 1or Race 6 (at Los Alamitos when there are only 9 races), and say “$2 pick four 7 – 6 – 1 – 5. If 7 wins the first race, 6 wins the second race, 1 wins the third race AND 5 wins the fourth race, you win the pick four.

If a huge longshot wins one of those four races, there is a chance that no one will have correctly picked all four winners. In that case, every player that picked three winners will share the net pool. We are all aware of how hard it is to pick one winner, let alone several in a row, so betting just one $2 ticket is a bit like buying a Read the rest of this entry »

Hialeah Park offers glamour, purses and a dose of history.

The color and flash of racing at Hialeah Park.

The opening weekend at Hialeah is in the books, but the meet — and the latest chapter in American Quarter Horse racing — is just beginning. The track will host racing four days a week through February 2. During that time, they will give out $4 million in purses to those who show up to take advantage of it. They also have 23 stakes races, including the $100,000-added Hialeah Laddie, Hialeah Lassie and South Florida Derby. And, with the success of this meet, the sport may be poised to develop a year-round circuit fueled by alternative gaming money.

The track, generally known as one of the most beautiful racetracks ever built in the United States, features 10×10′ temporary stalls for horses with lots of air ventilation for the warm Florida weather. The track itself has a long history of being Read the rest of this entry »

Three in a row might not win a poker game, but it pays in horse racing.

By C. Reid McLellan

One of the most popular exotic bets at a racetrack is the trifecta, a bet that allows a player to pick the runners that finish first, second and third in EXACT order. Three ways to play the trifecta are straight, box and wheel.

Straight Trifecta

A straight trifecta is played by picking three horses then going to a mutuel window and saying, “$2 trifecta 1-2-3.” You win if the final order of finish is exactly 1 – 2 – 3. Read the rest of this entry »

At the racetrack, say hello to the quinella’s big brother, exacta.

Buy this photo of Noconi and many more at the AQHA Photo Store.

By C. Reid McLellan

In May, we talked about the quinella. This month, let’s talk about the quinella’s “perfect” big brother exacta. (In some places,this wager is called the perfecta. In Canada and some other countries, it’s called an exactor.) Read the rest of this entry »

Enjoy a free preview of AQHA’s live race video service this weekend.

Buy horse racing photos at the AQHA Photo Store

Curious about the buzz surrounding AQHA’s new live racing video project? For three days, June 26-28, you can enjoy great American Quarter Horse races from across the country for free with the new service.

Sponsored by The American Quarter Horse Racing Journal and the Bank of America Racing Challenge, this new service shows actual live video from the racetracks, including post parade and racing action. It feels like you’re watching a monitor in the clubhouse of your favorite track, but the action is right on your computer from anywhere there’s Internet access.

Participating tracks include Arapahoe Park, Beulah Park, Canterbury Park, Delta Downs Racetrack, Evangeline Downs, Fair Meadows at Tulsa, Ruidoso Downs, Sam Houston Race Park, Sunland Park, Sunray Park, Turf Paradise, Will Rogers Downs, Wyoming Downs, Yavapai Downs and Zia Park. Tracks continue to be added to the list.

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The quinella is one way to have twice as much fun at the racetrack.

Buy this photo at the AQHA Photo Store!

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.

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Give the daily double a shot next time you’re at the horse races.

Can you pick a winner?

The slogan for a popular brand of chewing gum can also apply to the daily double.

The daily double is a $2 bet that allows you to pick the winners of two consecutive horse races. Some tracks offer “rolling” daily doubles on all pairs of races on their cards. Retama Park introduced what they call the “49er Double,” where players attempt to pick the winners of their fourth and ninth races.

Some tracks have daily double wagering on the first two races and the last two races. There are even daily doubles requiring players to pick the winners of races on back-to-back days. Churchill Downs has the “Oaks-Derby Double” combining its marquee races for 3-year-olds on Friday and Saturday of the first weekend in May. Ruidoso Downs provides opportunity for American Quarter Horse fans to select the winner of the All American Derby on Sunday and the All American Futurity on Labor Day Monday. Read the rest of this entry »

Five steps to starting the new year at the horse races off right.

Resolve to have more fun at the races!

By C. Reid McLellan

If you are a horseplayer you might have already made some “resolutions” for this year. Here are five for you to consider for 2009.

Some time ago I had an insightful Cherokee female friend. She made me a choker necklace (amethyst beads and bone – purple and white, of course) that she told me was used to protect a warrior’s neck from a knife wound in battle. She told me, before I make a decision that might be life changing I should “recharge” the choker and wear it.

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Knowing what horses to cross takes special knowledge.

Veterinarian Steve Fisch

Equine specialist veterinarian, AQHA breeder and former president of the Florida Quarter Horse Racing Association Steve Fisch knows the importance of the outcross in his breeding practices. After scanning and dissecting pedigrees for possible breeding, Steve will go see the horses in person.

“We cull 90-95 percent of possible breedings based on conformation alone,” Steve said. “We are looking down the road for soundness – that mare or stallion (in our program) is going to be producing generations of babies for the track or in the arena, and they have to be able to perform for the long haul.”

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Show me the money!

Visit the statue of legendary race horse Refrigerator at the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum.

By C. Reid McLellan

That catch phrase from a popular sports movie can be applied to wagering on a horse race. The “baby” of straight bets, the show bet is the most conservative wager available at a racetrack. When you bet to show, you will collect the show payoff when your selection finishes anywhere in the top-three spots. Show payoffs are generally the lowest payoffs in a race, but, with three chances to win, there are more total show bets paid each day than any other wager.

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Share the fun of owning a racehorse and experience bigger thrills at the racetrack.

You can own a racehorse!

Perhaps the safest and most inexpensive way to get involved in racing is to become part of a racing syndicate or partnership. Basically, that means that ownership of a horse (or group of horses) is split among more than one party.

This reduces the cost for each party, but can still give the full experience and enjoyment of owning and racing an American Quarter Horse.

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Increase your enjoyment quotient and your bankroll.

Buy this photo!

By C. Reid McLellan

My wife joined me in Southern California the last week of October to spend Breeders’ Cup weekend at Santa Anita for her birthday. We enjoyed two days of Championship Thoroughbred racing and then spent Saturday night at Los Alamitos to enjoy the Los Alamitos Championship and other American Quarter Horse racing.

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