Super hi-5

Jill Baffert and Lynn Jacobs’ Kimmyv repulsed a challenge from Millennia at the head of the stretch and then drew off to a 6 ¼-length victory in Thursday’s $47,500 allowance feature for fillies and mares at Churchill Downs.

    Trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Shaun Bridgmohan, Kimmvy assumed command after a quarter-mile in :22.77, maintained a daylight advantage to the top of the stretch and then shrugged off a bid from Millennia to score her third victory in three starts in 2010.
    
    Kimmyv, a 4-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of El Corredor, covered the seven furlongs on a fast main track in 1:23.76. The victory was worth $30,000 and increased Kimmyv’s earnings to $82,400 with a record of 6-4-1-1.

    As the favorite in the field of seven, Kimmyv returned $3.80, $2.40 and $2.20. Millennia, ridden by Robby Albarado, returned $3.40 and $2.80 with Concert finishing third two lengths back in third under Corey Lanerie and paying $3.60 to show.

The Pick 6, which requires bettors to select the winners of races five through 10, was hit Thursday after being unsolved for the first six days of the meet. There were 134 perfect tickets (11 at Churchill Downs) resulting in a $21,317.80 payoff. The day began with a $947,641 carryover and another $3,138,615 was bet into the pool.

The Super Hi-5, which requires bettors to select the first five finishers in order, also was hit after a six-day carryover with a payoff of $30,912.10 to each of the 20 winning tickets, including one on-track.

Racing continues Friday with a 10-race program with first post time at 2:45 p.m. (EDT).

Churchill Downs, the world’s most legendary racetrack, has conducted Thoroughbred racing and presented America’s greatest race, the Kentucky Derby, continuously since 1875. Located in Louisville, the flagship racetrack of Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN) also operates Trackside at Churchill Downs, which offers year-round simulcast wagering at the historic track. Churchill Downs will host the 136th running of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands on Saturday, May 1 and the Kentucky Oaks on Friday, April 30. The track will conduct its 2010 Spring Meet from Saturday, April 24 through Sunday, July 4. Churchill Downs is scheduled to host the Breeders’ Cup World Championships for a record seventh time on Nov. 5 and 6, 2010. Churchill Downs tickets are available at Tickets.ChurchillDowns.com or by calling (502) 636-4400. Additional information about Churchill Downs can be found on the Internet at ChurchillDowns.com.

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Fans who are still recovering from the 135th Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands and the surprise victory by 50-1 shot Mine That Bird will have added motivation to return to the track when the Spring Meet resumes on Wednesday as huge carryover pools will be available in both the Pick 6 and Super HI-5 wagers.

The Pick 6, a $2 minimum wager that requires bettors to correctly select the winners of six consecutive races, has a carryover pool of $781,146 as Spring Meet racing resumes following a three-day post-Derby break. The Super HI-5, a $1 minimum wager that requires the bettor to correctly select the first five horses in the correct order-of-finish in a selected race, has a carryover pool of $251,856.
    
    Post time for the first of nine races on Wednesday’s Churchill Downs program is 12:45 p.m. (all times EDT).  Admission gates open at 11:30 a.m.  General admission to Churchill Downs is $3 and $1 for members of the Twin Spires Club and seniors 60 and older.  Admission is free for children 12 and under.

    Saturday’s Kentucky Derby Day racing card marked the fourth consecutive program in which no perfect tickets were purchased in the Pick 6.  Wednesday’s $781,146 Pick 6 carryover pool is the third largest at Churchill Downs since the wager was introduced in 1984.

    Wednesday’s Pick 6 sequence begins in the fourth race, which has a scheduled post time of 2:21 p.m.

    Wednesday’s Super Hi-5 wager is scheduled for the day’s ninth and final race.  Post time for the ninth race is 4:59 p.m.

    Churchill Downs racing in the week after Kentucky Derby 135 will continue through Sunday.  Post time for racing on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday is 12:45 p.m.  Racing on Friday, May 8 will include the Spring Meet’s “Friday Happy Hours Kickoff.” Post time for Friday’s program is 2:45 p.m.  Admission gates open at 1:30 p.m.
    “Friday Happy Hours,” sponsored by Budweiser Select, features live music, beer and cocktail specials each week from 4-7 p.m.  Each week, one lucky lady who enjoys “Friday Happy Hours” will be chosen “Most Stylish” and will win a $250 shopping spree in a Louisville boutique.

    The first of the Spring Meet’s “Get in the Game” handicapping seminars with Churchill Downs racing analyst Jill Byrne is set for Saturday, May 9 in the Paddock.   Join Jill and a special guest each week for the seminars, which will begin at noon.  If weather is poor, the “Get in the Game” seminars will be held in the Trackside ITW area in the second floor of the Clubhouse.

    Spring Meet racing at Churchill Downs continues through July 5.  More information about Churchill Downs racing is available on the Web at www.churchilldowns.com or your can follow Churchill Downs racing on Twitter at @churchilldowns.

A $28,754 carryover in the revamped Z-5 (Super Hi-5) awaits horse racing fans at Churchill Downs as bettors across North America attempt to correctly select the top five finishers in Thursday’s third race.

The new Z-5 (Super Hi-5), which features a “best buy” takeout rate of 19% and is the first interstate jackpot of its kind in horse racing, rotates the popular high-payout Super Hi-5 between Churchill Downs and its sister racetrack Calder Race Course. Each pool is separately guaranteed at $10,000 and is offered daily on Churchill’s Race 3 (1:36 p.m. ET on Thursday), Calder’s Race 6 (2:42 p.m. ET) and then again on Churchill’s final race of the day (Race 10 at 5:03 p.m. ET).

If no one correctly selects five top horses in Churchill’s third race on Thursday – a full-field of fillies and mares that will race for a $15,000 claiming tag at one mile on dirt – the carryover pool will move to Calder’s Race 6, then back again to Churchill if there are no correct tickets. The zigzag rotation will continue to the following day and beyond until one or more lucky players get the winning sequence right.

Thursday’s jackpot pool for the third race at Churchill Downs was triggered when there were no winning tickets in Races 3 and 10 on Wednesday. There was no Z-5 (Super Hi-5) race at Calder Race Course on Wednesday because the South Florida racetrack was closed that day.

Thursday’s 10-race card at Churchill Downs begins at 12:40 p.m. ET. Admission gates open at 11 a.m. There also is a two-day Pick 6 carryover of $6,364.31 on Races 5-10.

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(July 11, 2008) – Churchill Downs’ recently concluded Spring Meet was highlighted by memorable performances by equine stars such as “Horse of the Year” Curlin; Big Brown, the winner of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I); and Kentucky Oaks (GI) winner Proud Spell, but it was also notable for the immediate success of the track’s Super Hi-5 wager and the introduction of a new “bundle” wager known as The Matrix.

The Super Hi-5, a $1 minimum wager introduced on the April 26 opening day of the meet, produced large mutuel payouts throughout the 52-day racing session that concluded on July 6. The Super Hi-5 required bettors to correctly select the first five finishers in the correct order of finish in a designated race. If there are no perfect tickets in a Super Hi-5, the race pool carries over to the next designated race. That aspect of the wager produced a massive carryover when the Super Hi-5 offered on the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby produced no winning ticket and carried over into a third day, generating a record pool of $2.15 million on May 8.

The record for a Super Hi-5 payout was established on June 25, when a single bettor collected $107,912 on a pool that had carried over one day.

For the Spring, the Super Hi-5 resulted in 89 instances in which an individual collected $20,000 or more for a winning Super Hi-5 bet and 107 instances in which winning tickets were worth $10,000 or more.

“The Super Hi-5 was quickly earned a reputation as a ‘go to’ bet for fans of every skill level who was looking for a way to win big and fast,” said Churchill Downs Vice President Tom Aronson, whose focus is developing new wagering products for the historic track. “It was a big hit on track and we were especially impressed with how carryovers generated enthusiasm in the simulcast marketplace. The Super Hi-5 outpaced our expectations from the start and it appears to have promptly become a fixture on the Churchill Downs wagering menu that can only continue to grow.”

The Matrix, racing’s first “bundle” bet, was limited to on-track distribution at Churchill Downs during a market test over the final month of the Spring Meet. The unique wager cost a minimum total of $9 and enabled bettors to name three horses on one ticket, which in turn provided them with 15 combinations featuring those three horses.

The package of wagers included the traditional win, exacta and trifecta wagers. If any of those horses won, two of them ran one-two, or the three selections ran 1-2-3, the player collected an increasing payout for the number of correct selections.

The track’s United Tote system fractionalized the total amount of the Matrix wager and placed an equal amount into the win, exacta and trifecta wagering pools. In the case of the $9 minimum wager, the system actually placed 60 cents on each of the 15 “bundled” bets. The Matrix is not a separate pool wager.

“The Matrix passed its initial market test as it attracted more than one percent of our betting handle from its first day,” said Aronson. “The test results showed us there is definitely a demand among our on-track patrons for new ways to package and price our bets. We’re taking a good, long look at the final numbers, but it certainly seems promising for The Matrix to make a return engagement in the fall.”

Churchill Downs, the world’s most legendary racetrack, has conducted Thoroughbred racing and presented America’s greatest race, the Kentucky Derby, continuously since 1875. Located in Louisville, the flagship racetrack of Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN) also operates Trackside at Churchill Downs, which offers year-round simulcast wagering at the historic track. Churchill Downs will conduct the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 2, 2009. The track’s 2008 Fall Meet is scheduled for Oct. 26-Nov. 25. Churchill Downs has hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships a record six times. Information about Churchill Downs can be found on the Internet at www.churchilldowns.com.

Stronach Stable’s Palm Princess held off a final bid by Miss Causeway to score a head victory in Wednesday’s $42,070 headliner for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at Churchill Downs and key a track record $107,647 Super Hi-5 payoff.

Ridden by Shaun Bridgmohan, Palm Princess edged ahead of Miss Causeway on the far turn and opened a daylight margin in the stretch before hanging on for her second consecutive victory.

Trained by Dale Romans, Palm Princess returned mutuels of $8.80, $6 and $4.40. Miss Causeway, ridden by John McKee, paid $19 and $10.40 with Furusato rallying for third another half-length back under Jesus Castanon to pay $10 to show.

Completing the Super Hi-5, a $1 wager in which bettors must select the top five finishers in order, were Dandy Mandy and Itsawonderfullife.

There was only one winning ticket, and it was the third largest Super Hi-5 payoff in North America, only behind the $125,324 and $121,172 jackpots at Santa Anita on March 29 and Feb. 11, respectively. Churchill Downs’ previous Super Hi-5 record was $66,598.20 on June 12.

Palm Princess, a 4-year-old daughter of Royal Academy, covered the 1 1/8 miles on firm turf in 1:51.71 in winning for the second time in six career starts. She boosted her career earnings to $71,136.

(June 12, 2008) – Veteran jockey Larry Melancon secured his 900th riding victory at Churchill Downs when he guided A.P. Xcellent to a front-running two-length score over Wise River in Thursday afternoon’s $47,400 D.D. Williamson’s Leadership Challenge purse for 3-year-olds and up.

Melancon, a 52-year-old native of Breaux Bridge, La., trails only Hall of Famer Pat Day (2,481) and Don Brumfield (925) in career victories at Churchill Downs. Forty-seven of those wins have come in stakes, also third all-time at the Louisville track.

Owned by Mrs. S.K. Johnston Jr., Marco Bommarito and the Molly Malone Racing Club and trained by Niall O’Callaghan, A.P. Xcellent covered the 1 1/8 miles on firm turf in 1.48.96 in defeating three rivals.

A.P. Xcellent returned payoffs of $3.20 and $2.10. Wise River, ridden by Jamie Theriot, paid $4 to place.

A 5-year-old Kentucky-bred son of A.P. Indy, A.P. Xcellent posted his first victory on grass in seven tries and increased his overall record to four wins in 18 starts for earnings of $359,725. In 2007, A.P. Xcellent placed in two graded stakes on the synthetic track at Hollywood Park, including a runner-up finish to Lava Man by a nose in the Grade I Hollywood Gold Cup.

Earlier on the card, Louis O’Brien’s Raving Rocket won his 11th consecutive race. Trained by Ralph Martinez, Raving Rocket prevailed by a length over Moment of Song. The streak, which began on June 12, 2007, has been compiled at seven tracks. Robby Albarado was aboard for Thursday’s victory.

Also, the final race of the day produced a record payoff for the new Super Hi-5 wager, which requires bettors to pick the top five finishers in order. Only one winning ticket purchased in Southern California had the combination of 12-7-6-2-4, and it was worth $66,598.20, which bettered the $35,179.30 reward on June 1.

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A victory by a 49-1 longshot in Churchill Downs' 9th race on Wednesday made a single bettor an instant millionaire with the second-largest Pick 6 payout in track history.  But the prospect of another mammoth win remained in play as the track's new Super Hi-5 wager was not hit and a record carryover pool of $866,712 will be available for the wager on the final race on Thursday's nine-race card.

        A win in Wednesday's finale by Lucille Davis's Future Prospect, who paid $100.80 to win as the second longest shot in a field of 11 claiming horses, allowed the entire Pick 6 pool of $1.127,774.60 to go to an unidentified bettor who wagered through the Nevada betting hub. The winning Pick 6 ticket consisted of numbers 5-6-1-5-1-6. Consolation payouts on tickets that contained five winners returned $3,065.60.

        A one-day carryover pool of $410,599 that was created when no one hit the Pick 6 on Saturday's Kentucky Derby Day racing program fueled Wednesday's Pick 6 betting. The Pick 6 is a $2 minimum wager that requires fans to correctly select the winners of six consecutive races.

        The massive Pick 6 payout fell just short of the record $1,168,136 payout that went to a single ticket-holder on June 25, 2003. Wednesday's wager included races 4-9 and the winning horses were:

                        4th - #5 Adhrhythm ($18.40)

                        5th - #6 Segal ($4.20)

                        6th - #1 Trainee ($8.80)

                        7th - #5 Appellate ($29)

                        8th - #1 Sprung ($6.40)

                                9th - #6 Future Prospect ($100.80) 

        While the Pick 6 went down, the new Super Hi-5 wager continued to soar into record territory with its three-day carryover pool of $866,712. The Super Hi-5, which was conducted on Wednesday's 9th race and will be offered on the same race on Thursday, is a $1 minimum bet that requires fans to correctly select the top five finishers in order in a designated race.

         Scheduled post time for Thursday's 9th race is 5:17 p.m. (all times Eastern).

        The wager was offered on Saturday's Kentucky Derby, but there were no perfect Super Hi-5 tickets on the "Run for the Roses" and that created a carryover pool of $331,928 for Wednesday's card.

        The Super Hi-5, which has been offered once per day since the Spring Meet opening on April 26, has already produced a winning payout of $33,013. That went to single bettor during Kentucky Derby Week following a one-day carryover. 

        Post time for the first of nine races on Wednesday's Churchill Downs program is 1:15 p.m. Admission gates open at 11:30 a.m.  General admission to Churchill Downs is $3, and $1 for members of the Twin Spires Club and seniors 60 and older. Admission is free for children 12 and under.

        Churchill Downs, the world's most legendary racetrack, has conducted Thoroughbred racing and presented America's greatest race, the Kentucky Derby, continuously since 1875. Located in Louisville, the flagship racetrack of Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN) also operates Trackside at Churchill Downs, which offers year-round simulcast wagering at the historic track. Churchill Downs will conduct the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 2, 2009. The track's 2008 Spring Meet continues through July 6. Churchill Downs has hosted the Breeders' Cup World Championships a record six times. Information about Churchill Downs can be found on the Internet at www.churchilldowns.com.