As one who is very critical of racing on many fronts, I did put my money into the late pick 5 at Santa Anita after studying it for a little bit this morning.
The track is seeding 50k into the pool. While the early pick 5 has a lower takeout than the late pick 5 and while this takeout may end up still being more than the early pick 5 (remains to be seen how much is bet), this is a step in the right direction to treat bettors in a positive way.
In addition, there are no BB runners in the sequence which makes it more attractive from a betting standpoint as well.
I tossed the first two choices in leg 1 (and others) so I'll know whether I made an intelligent bet or not right away.
Good luck. 13 mtp.
EDIT after Leg 1 (945,567 in the pool including the 50k seeded). $778,171 bet into the pool last year on Sunday, January 3rd late pick 5. So they increased handle by 116k give or take.
