Florida Pick 4 rule unfair to bettors

Last Thursday's pick four at Gulfstream Park was the latest injustice done to bettors, who continue to be a largely voiceless, under-represented group despite their contributons to the industry.

Race 6 was the first leg of the pick four, and when two horses were scratched out of the gate right before the race began, many bettors assumed they would receive refunds on the scratched horses since the scratches occurred prior to the first leg of the series and the horses were in the first leg.

Wrong! Gulfstream transferred all those bets to the 6-to-5 post-time favorite Alice's Halo. So if you were betting against Alice's Halo, now you were betting on him, in multiple combinations for some people.

I cannot think of any other business that would do this to its customers. Unable to provide the service you have purchased, they keep your money and spend it as they see fit.

As a side note, if a scratch occurs in the first leg of a pick three at Gulfstream, those wagers are appropriately refunded. Why should a pick four be different?

I called Gulfstream's Director of Mutuels Edward Mackie. He was familiar with the race in question.

"We got about a million calls on that one," Mackie said. "In the pick three you get a refund, but in the pick four and pick six, your money goes on the post-time favorite. It's a state law in Florida."

State law or not, it's a terrible rule.

To Florida and any other state that may revisit this rule in the future: if a horse scratches out of a multi-race bet before the series begins (particularly in the first leg), all wagers on that horse should be refunded.

You do not change my win bets for me when my horse scratches, or if a horse I wheel underneath in a trifecta scratches. So please do not change my selections in the pick four.

Race fans love 10-cent supers

Despite initial resistance from some of the major American racetrack operators, reduced minimum increment wagers such as 10-cent superfectas and 50-cent Pick 4s seem to be a big hit with the everyday racing fan.

(Click here to read Thoroughbred Times Senior Writer Frank Angst's story on the topic.)

I know I love them. I never played a superfecta until the 10-cent option was made available. The Pick 4 is one of my favorite bets, and my action has consistently steered toward tracks that offer a combination of good racing and a 50-cent pick 4, such as Gulfstream Park and Keeneland.

Even if the reduced minimums do not send handle sky-rocketing, allowing more fans to participate at an affordable unit wager is a good thing for racing.

The only bet that reduced minimums might not be a good thing for is the pick six. A $2 minimum makes it a very difficult bet for recreational players to cover, but the degree of difficulty in hitting a pick 6 is what makes all those monster carryovers possible.