Yes, one of the nation’s largest
steeplechase races celebrates its 88th anniversary with the approval of
pari-mutuel betting on the races. The Virginia Gold Cup (and the International
Gold Cup in October) are now the only two steeplechases in Virginia to offer
legal pari-mutuel wagering.
Yes, the real kind. Not a dollar bet
with your friends, but actual pari-mutuel wagering where you wager against
everybody else who is wagering at Great Meadow.
Just like a traditional racetrack,
the types of betting will include what the industry calls “straight” wagers
known as “win,” “place,” and “show.” A “win”
pet pays out when the horse you bet on wins. Tough one, huh? A “place” bet pays if your horse finishes
first or second, and a “show” bet pays if your horse comes in first, second or
third. The payout amounts typically
decrease as the wager becomes less exact – win wagers pay more than show wagers
as a rule.
OK, that was the easy part. The Gold
Cup will also offer “exotic” wagers – sounds sexy doesn’t it? The first exotic is the traditional “daily
double” where you win if you can pick the winners of the first two races. Two things are required: You have to be there
before the first race and you have to place this bet before the first race
begins. So if you think the #4 hourse is
going to win the first race and the #6 horse is going to win the second race,
you can buy a 4-6 daily double.
That brings us to the “exacta” which is
derived from the word exact. If you
think #3 is going to win and #9 is going to be second, you buy a 3-9 exacta
ticket and you win that wager if the those two horses finish first and second
in that exact order. In short, #3 does
in fact finish first and #9 finishes second.
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| THIS MAKE PARI-MUTUEL LOOK SIMPLE |
Finally, there is the “trifecta”
which, of course, derives from triple. This wager requires that you pick the
first three finishers of the race in the exact order. Because of the difficulty
of getting this exactly right, this wager usually produces the largest payout.
So bring your CASH. The minimum needed to place a bet is $1. Yes, one, uno, a single.
There will be betting kiosk around
the race course and you can simply stroll over and place your bets. The information on the horses running in each
race will be available in the program or you can bet on colors and numbers like
most of us usually do. But, if you want
to be scientific about it, the data will be available.
Have fun.
