Churchill Downs: Single 6 carryover climbs to $74,348 on Breeders' Cup eve

Slowly but surely, the Single 6 jackpot at Churchill Downs is climbing to lofty heights, and an enticing carryover pool of $74,348 will await bettors on Thursday’s card.

The jackpot-style structure of this lucrative Pick 6 wager decrees that the entire pool shall only be dispersed if a single bettor holds the only winning ticket on a given day. In the event multiple winning tickets are sold, a portion of the pool is dispersed among the winning bettors and another portion is added to the jackpot pool, allowing it to steadily accumulate throughout the race meet.

Wednesday recap

The Single 6 continues to reap better-than-expected dividends considering the generally predictable results we’ve been seeing at Churchill Downs. The Wednesday card was a great example; favorites won two of the six events, second choices claimed three more, and a 5-1 co-fourth choice ranked as the longest-priced winner of the day.

A theoretical $2 win parlay across these six straightforward winners would have returned $1,016.06. Yet the $0.20 Single 6 returned more than three times more ($3,328.94), an excellent payoff under the circumstances.

Thursday insights

Thursday is the last chance to sweep the Single 6 jackpot before racing at Churchill Downs takes a two-day hiatus during the Breeders’ Cup. Action at the historic Louisville oval will resume on Sunday.

The sequence kicks off in Race 5, a 1 1/8-mile allowance event for fillies and mares. If you’re feeling bold, you could do worse than single #3 Tempers Rising (2-1) to start the day. Runner-up in the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) during the spring, Tempers Rising ran deceptively well in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) two starts back, finishing fifth behind a quartet of Grade 1 winners. A repeat of this effort should land Tempers Rising in the winner’s circle, albeit at a short price.

Starting the sequence with a single is helpful since Race 9 looks like a beast to handicap. An allowance optional claiming event held over a mile on the turf course, the race has drawn almost exclusively proven stakes winners, such as #1 Jasikan (15-1), #2 Big Score (4-1), #4 Parlor (5-2), #5 Made You Look (15-1), #6 Mr. Misunderstood (7-2), #7 Real News (10-1), #8 Snapper Sinclair (7-2), and #9 Frostmourne (12-1).

But here’s the problem: none are frequent winners, and only one has managed to win a stakes race in 2020. Five of the eight haven’t won a race of any kind in 2020, so hitting the "ALL" button might be the only way to survive the muddied form of this seemingly inscrutable field.

Good luck!