Whitney Day to feature five Pick 5s, including an all-stakes Pick 5
NYRA Press Office
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will offer a special all-stakes Whitney Weekend All-Turf Pick 5, linking races from Friday, August 2 and Saturday, August 3, at Saratoga Race Course.
The Whitney Weekend All-Turf Pick 5, featuring a $0.50 base, low 15 percent takeout and mandatory payout, kicks off Friday in Race 8 at 5:10 p.m. Eastern with the Grade 2, $400,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Oaks Invitational for sophomore fillies at 1 3/16-miles over the Mellon turf and continues one race later with the Grade 2, $500,000 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame [Race 9, 5:45 p.m.] at one-mile on the inner turf for sophomores.
The wager concludes with a trio of races on Saturday’s lucrative 13-race Whitney Day card with the third leg going as the Grade 1, $600,000 Saratoga Derby Invitational [Race 7 at 3:21 p.m.] at 1 3/16-miles for sophomore over the Mellon turf and followed by the Listed $135,000 Fasig-Tipton Lure [Race 9, 4:29 p.m.] at 1 1/16-miles on the inner turf for older horses which have not won a graded race this year. The sequence concludes with the Grade 2, $300,000 Troy [Race10, 5:04 p.m.] at 5 1/2-furlongs over the Mellon turf for older horses.
Saturday’s 13-race Whitney Day card will offer five Pick 5s each boasting a low 15 percent takeout, including the traditional Early Pick 5 [Race 1 – 5] and Late Pick 5 [Race 9 – 13] which offer a carryover provision. The trio of middle Pick 5 sequences will each feature a mandatory payout with sequences spanning Race 3 – Race 7; Race 5 – Race 9; and an all-stakes Pick 5 from Race 7 – Race 11.
The all-stakes Pick 5 kicks off in Race 7 at 3:21 p.m. with the Grade 1, $600,000 Saratoga Derby Invitational and includes the Grade 1, $500,000 Test presented by Ticketmaster [Race 8, 3:54 p.m.], the Listed $135,000 Fasig-Tipton Lure [Race 9, 4:29 p.m.], the Grade 2, $300,000 Troy [Race 10, 5:04 p.m.] and concludes in Race 11 at 5:42 p.m. with the featured Grade 1, $1 million Whitney, a nine-furlong test for older horses offering a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic in November at Del Mar.
First post on Saturday’s card is 12:05 p.m. Eastern, with gates opening to the public at 10:30 a.m.
