Racing Resumes Thursday, May 6 with Big Carryovers in Pick 6, Super Hi-5

May 05, 2010 John Asher

Racing returns to historic Churchill Downs on Thursday, May 6 after a four-day break that followed memorable renewals of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands and the Kentucky Oaks with a 10-race program highlighted by large carryover pools in both its Pick 6 and Super Hi-5 wagers.

The Pick 6, which requires bettors to select the winners of six consecutive races, returns on Thursday in races 5-10 with a two-day Oaks-Derby carryover of $947,641.  The Super Hi-5, which is offered in the day’s final race and requires fans to select its first five finishers in the correct order, returns with a carryover of $147,055 that remained when no one hit the Derby Hi-5 wager in Saturday’s ”Run for the Roses” won by WinStar Farm’s Super Saver.

Post time for the first of Thursday’s 10 races is 12:45 p.m. (all times EDT) and the 5th race, which begins the Pick 6 sequence, has a scheduled post time of 2:53 p.m. The 10th race, which features the Super Hi-5 has a scheduled post of 5:28 p.m.

The Pick-6 sequence looms as a challenging exercise for racing fans with large, competitive fields of Thoroughbreds.  It opens with a field of nine horses entered in the 5th race and is followed by the 6th (11horses), 7th (9), 8th (12), 9th (8 horses, including a coupled entry), and the 10th (a full field of 12 with two also-eligibles), which is also the Thursday’s Super Hi-5 race.

Along with the return of live racing, simulcasting is set to resume at Trackside at Churchill Downs in the track’s clubhouse after spending most of April at Trackside Louisville on Poplar Level Road, which was unable to opens its doors last Sunday because of a power outage.  Fans who wish to cash their Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby 136 mutuel tickets and were unable to do so because of Sunday’s power outage will be admitted free to Trackside at Churchill when they produce one of those tickets at the gate.  Free admission will be granted to those patrons through Sunday, May 9.

Admission gates open on Thursday at 11:30 a.m.  Post time for the first race in Churchill Downs’ Thursday-Sunday racing schedule this week is 12:45 p.m., with the exception of Friday’s 2:45 p.m. post time for the first session of “Dress to Impress Friday Happy Hours” sponsored by Budweiser Select.
Saturday’s racing program features the return of the popular “Get in the Game” seminars conducted by Churchill Downs racing analyst Jill Byrne.  The seminar will be  conducted in the Paddock, weather permitting, and will begin at 11:45 a.m.

Sunday is Mother’s Day at the Downs and fans have the opportunity to treat Mom to a delicious Mother’s Day Brunch and enjoy a day of terrific racing at the home of the Kentucky Derby.  Reservations are required for the spectacular Levy Restaurants’ brunch in Millionaires Row 4 & 6, Skye Terrace 5 and the Stakes Room, all of which offer a spectacular view of the track, admission, reserved seat and racing program.  Reservations may be made online through Churchill Downs’ Box Office at http://tickets.churchilldowns.com/.