Pick Six Has a Big Payoff

After three days of pick six carry-overs, there were three winning tickets on Wednesday at Santa Anita, each worth $1,567,984.60.

One of the three tickets was purchased at Viejas Casino and Turf Club in Alpine, Calif. The others were bought through the Kentucky wagering hub and New York off-track betting.

There would have been only one correct ticket worth more than $4.7 million if Flying Kegan, a 75-1 longshot who had taken the lead in the stretch, had won the eighth. Unfortunately, the 4-year-old Flying Flags gelding broke down with about a sixteenth of a mile to run, enabling 32-1 longshot Houston Astro to prevail by half a length over 7-5 favorite Memo House.

Houston Astro provided the biggest upset on a day that featured two other double-digit winners. Deputy Tombe, a 9-1 longshot, won the fourth and 11-1 outsider Ran For The Dough won the seventh.

In addition to the $1,413,146 that had carried over, an additional $5,889,712 was wagered Wednesday, making the total pool a North American record $7,302,848.

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-- Bob Mieszerski