Horse Racing Fans, Betting Is Back

It’s a December to remember for horse-racing bettors. Two fabled horse-racing facilities, Gulfstream Park in Florida and Santa Anita in California, have resumed their racing schedules, full swing.

For horse race bettors, there’s nothing like the Championship Meet at Gulfstream Park Racing and Casino in Hallandale Beach, Florida, which began December 2 and will run through Sunday, March 28. 2021.

Gulfstream’s Championship Meet will offer a total of 75 stakes, including 41 graded stakes, worth more than 13 million in purses.

Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California resumes its campaign with a blockbuster program starting with five significant stakes races on Saturday, December 26. Most gamblers can access the action via TwinSpires.com.

Tips for Bettors:

Gulfstream features the Rainbow Pick 6, the final six races on every card. Watch it build. The Rainbow 6 carryover jackpot is usually only paid out when there’s a single, unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there’s no unique ticket, 70 percent of that day’s pool usually goes back to bettors whose tickets hold the most winners, while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool. However, on mandatory-payout days, the entire pool is paid out to the bettor or bettors with the most winners in the six-race sequence. Last week, one nice mandatory payout saw multiple winning tickets returning $7,363.64. Throughout the meet, this pot will approach $5 million on several Saturdays.
Know the connections. When you see these jockeys listed, you can expect a top ride at Gulfstream Park. They’ve done well:

Luis Saez
Erismael Jaramillo
Irad Ortiz Jr
Edgar Zayas
Migeul Angel Vazquez
Tyler Gaffalione

Top trainers include

Todd Pletcher
Joseph Saffie Jr
Michael Maker

Watch these names, especially in tandem. A horse that features a top jockey and trainer is usually bet with confidence. If you already like a horse, and a jockey and trainer from this list is attached, you may feel even better about placing a wager.

We’ll report more on Santa Anita as its patterns evolve.

Get Weekend Exacta Insurance on selected races at TwinSpires.com. If your two selected horses finish in the first 3 home but not in the winning order, TwinSpires will refund the losing exacta wager up to $10 per race.

Gulfstream is up to its old tricks. Big payouts happen, usually one big one every weekend. On Sunday, the $1 superfecta in the eighth race paid $4,822. You have to be a bit lucky to nail it, of course—you need a favorite to run poorly and some longshots to run big, but the extensive fields make anything possible. Gulfstream is often called the Graveyard of Favorites—and for good reason.