NYRA Launches Exclusive Pick 5

The New York Racing Association will be adding an “exclusive” late Pick 5 to its wagering menu at Belmont Park beginning Tuesday, July 4.

The 'NYRA Bets Late Pick 5' will be available only to NYRA Bets members across the country through NYRA's national advance deposit wagering (ADW) platform and also to bettors in New York wagering on-track or through a simulcast facility. NYRA's prestigious Saratoga meeting kicks off Friday, July 21.

“This is a very bold move on NYRA's part to do something like this,” Tony Allevato, President of NYRA Bets and Executive Producer for NYRA TV, said when reached for comment Friday afternoon. “We're a late entrant into the national ADW space–we just launched nationally last year toward the end of the summer. In order to differentiate ourselves from our competitors, we thought we had to do something that was very bold.

He continued, “The Pick 5 has become arguably the most popular bet in horse racing right now. There's been a lot of demand for us to bring a late Pick 5 to our NYRA tracks. So we thought, 'Why don't we give something to our customers that they're asking for?' We made a decision to make it available to people all over the state–they're not being punished for going to Belmont, Saratoga or Aqueduct or an OTB in New York–they can still make the wager. But from a national standpoint, if you want to play outside of New York, the only way to play it is on NYRA Bets.”

The 'NYRA Bets Late Pick 5,' comprised of the last five races of the day's card, will feature a 15% takeout rate and $0.50 bet minimum, the same as the existing early Pick 5. NYRA Bets members are also eligible for a guaranteed minimum $100,000 payout in the event that an account holder is the sole winner of the 'NYRA Bets Late Pick 5.' The $100,000 guaranteed payout will be available only to NYRA Bets members through the end of July. NYRA Bets is now currently available in 29 states, including New York. Last weekend's early Pick 5 pools at Belmont averaged $360,416.

While Allevato expects a “positive response from our customers,” he understands that everyone isn't going to be happy with the decision to create this exclusive wager.

“If you look at an ADW's space and if you look at businesses in general, people are always doing things to try and differentiate their product or their service from their competitors,” he said. “It's no different than buying concert tickets on a certain credit card to get the opportunity to buy tickets before anyone else or frequently flying on the same airline and getting to board the airplane before everyone else.

Allevato concluded, “This is something we'd like to try and we'll see how it goes and evaluate after the first 30 days.”