KINGSTON, Jamaica - It was a fortuitous day for one punter at the end of the 11-race programme at Caymanas Park on Saturday, January 11, 2020.
The lucky punter pocketed a whopping $6,496,128 as the sole winner of the popular exotic wager, the Twilight 6.
The Twilight 6 started in the sixth race with 6-1 chance Sure Step starting the wager going with apprentice Reyan Lewis in the saddle for trainer David Powell.
The seventh race gave those punters left in the Twilight 6 some hope as the well-back Genuine Train got home at odds of 2-1.
Then came a setback for most players when jockey Omar Walker, usually aboard the favoured horses, set the cats among the pigeons scoring on the Prince McDonald-conditioned Queens Highway at piecing odds of 10-1. This win by Queens Highway significantly reduced the numbers of punters left in the Twilight 6 although this horse has in the past shown a likeness for the starlight course.
At the end of the ninth race, there was a restoration to some betting order as the improving apprentice Daniel Satchell was able to get his mount Samora on time to win the event at reasonable starting odds of 2-1 for trainer Kingsley Davis.
What turned out to be the fatal blow for punters who wagered on the Twilight 6 except for the lone winner came after the completion of the penultimate 10th race. It was then that the blossoming partnership of trainer Michael Francis and jockey and former champion jockey Anthony Thomas again combined for victory, this time with Money Call at rasping odds of 17-1. Many punters were left staggered and bruised, as the “money call” was devastating.
The final and 11th race saw the well-backed Eye Candy with promising apprentice Anthony Allen on board for trainer Dennis Lee, winning easily at odds of 5-2.
Then it was announced that there was only one winner of the Twilight 6.
Other big pay-outs on the day came in the Pick-5 with an offering of $263,240 for each of the winners.
The Pick-9, because of the outsiders mentioned above, namely Queens Highway and Money Call, was not caught and therefore comes with a carryover of $ 1.3 million on the next race day, which is next Saturday, January 18.
Of note in terms of other pay-outs on last Saturday’s card came in some of the exacta wagers.
Since the promoting company released the hatchet by reducing their takeout from 30 per cent to 25 per cent on the exacta wager, there has been a marked uptick in that particular dividend.
The sixth race saw Sure Step winning at 6-1 with Parajet second at 7-2, the exacta pay-out in that race was a sweet $2,152.
Another noticeable exacta pay-out came in the day’s ninth race. The winner of that event, Samora, did so at odds of 2-1 with Awesome Cat finishing second at 9-1. The ninth race exacta paid out $1,668.
With these apparent successes with the reduction of the takeout for the exacta bets, the hope is for the promoter to make similar adjustments with other bets they offer to punters and quickly too.
A closer look at the race card of Saturday, January 11, 2020
