Why the TwinSpires.com Players Pool Played the National Racing Club Sweepstakes Rainbow 6

It's not often you get a 15-race card on a Monday at a non-harness or greyhound track, but that's what awaited bettors today at Portland Meadows where the National Racing Club Sweepstakes anchored the marathon card with the Thoroughbred action kicking off with race 5.

The Monday card was essentially divided into three parts: Quarter Horse action in the first four races, Thoroughbred races out of the condition book for races 5-9, and the National Racing Club Sweepstakes for races 10-15. The NRCS has full fields of 12 Thoroughbreds dashing two furlongs each. There's various gimmicks tied to horse and jockey performance, but the big hook for bettors is the $0.20 Rainbow^6 with a $100,000 guaranteed jackpot to a lone winner (i.e., the pool is not guaranteed at $100,000, but regardless of how much is in the pool, a lone winning ticket is worth $100,000).

Because of the chance to scoop a $10,000-$20,000 pool and win $100,000, TwinSpires.com decided to fire up its Players Pool and take a shot at the big pay day.

The horses are coming from all over with layoffs ranging from days to years. In handicapping, I've put premiums on jockey, mud pedigree, and early speed. 2,985,984 is a lot of combinations for a Pick 6 and that number seems even more daunting when you consider the variables of unkown horses at an unknown circuit.

BUT that $100,000 carrot is a big one.There won't be close to $100,000 in the pool. Even stringing together six consecutive $15 horses makes the $0.20 parlay worth $71,191. Granted you have to be the only winner, but with this pool size and these field sizes, we feel that's likely if the average mutuel is double digits.