Pick 6 just needs tweaking

The pick 6 remains one of horse racing’s best, and still underutilized, marketing tools. No other bet can consistently offer the five-, six- and occasionally seven-figure payoffs that bettors crave. I say it’s underutilized because little has been tried to expand the consumer base beyond its hard-core regulars.

The wager is so vital to Southern California racetrack managers that a good or bad run of pick 6 carry-overs can dramatically affect their bottom line. This critical importance stifles innovation for fear of possibly ruining a good thing. Still, that shouldn’t stop tracks where the pick 6 is less popular from showing creativity.

Take pricing. Its $2 base cost prices out many horseplayers. Using two horses in each pick 6 race would cost $128. Add just one more horse and that ticket increases to $192. Still, no one is experimenting with a $1 base cost.

The bravest pick 6 marketing attempt was tried at Hawthorne Race Course in 2001. They seeded the pick 6 pool with a $100,000 guarantee. After bettors won the pick 6 in the first six of nine days, the guarantee was reduced to $50,000. The guarantee was canceled when the pick 6 was won four of the next five racing days. The guarantee did not generate enough handle to cover the track’s exposure.

There are new things, and some old, that can be done to improve the wager. For example, on Nov. 10, pick 6 bettors got the short end of the stick at Hollywood Park. In race 6, even-money favorite Zetterberg was a late scratch at the starting gate. Pick 6 rules state that you then receive the post favorite instead. The favorite, Signature Move, ran third.

Where bettors got skunked was, years ago, pick 6 players had the option of designating an alternate horse on their pick 6 ticket. That would have come into play with Zetterberg. Now, only on-track players in Southern California have that opportunity — not simulcast players. Blame the 2002 Breeders’ Cup pick 6 fix for losing that insurance backup.

Thursday’s pick 6 at Hollywood paid one winning horseplayer a remarkable $316,213. The morning-line odds of the six winning horses was only 3-1, 6-1, 8-1, 7-2, 7-2 and 9-2. Nothing outrageous. This shows that with good handicapping, and a solid dose of racing luck, a life-changing score is possible.

• WYNN’S DERBY ODDS — John Avello at Wynn Las Vegas has had his Kentucky Derby futures book open for some time.

The odds on Derby hopefuls will never be better. Stop by and get a bunch of unique stocking-stuffers.

• ROOTING FOR TORRE — Another good reason to root for new Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre is that he’s a racing fan, just like us. Torre co-owns about a dozen thoroughbreds. One, Night Chapter, is running Saturday in the $150,000 Hollywood Turf Express.

Night Chapter is trained by Bobby Frankel.

Richard Eng’s horse racing column is published Friday. He can be reached at rich_eng@hotmail.com.