by Mark McKelvie, WEG Communications

Toronto, ON — Horseplayers flooded to the windows and wagered more than C$2 million into the Jackpot Hi-5 for the mandatory payout Friday night (Dec. 23) at Woodbine Racetrack. A significant carryover of C$548,396 was brought into Friday’s mandatory payout.

New Image Media photo

The Rev winning the Jackpot Hi-5 race.

Horseplayers threw their money down attempting to score a nice holiday payday and wagered C$2,081,441 of new money into the Jackpot Hi-5, bringing the total pool, including carryover, to C$2,629,837.

Six-year-old pacer The Rev and driver Doug McNair crossed the wire first at odds of 3-1 to win the Jackpot Hi-5 race.

A 20-cent winning ticket with the correct combination of 6-4-11-7-1 returned $4,842.70.

The top five finishers were:

1st: #6 The Rev (Doug McNair) 3-1
2nd: #4 Electric Western (Mario Baillargeon) 10-1
3rd: #11 Regal Son (Chris Christoforou) 8-1
4th: #7 Half A Billion (Jody Jamieson) 20-1
5th: #1 A Cool Card (James MacDonald) 23-1

The Jackpot Hi-5 requires horseplayers to select the top-five finishers in order. The minimum wager is 20-cents and the takeout is 15 percent. Friday’s mandatory payout on the Jackpot Hi-5 was the first offered since earlier this season on June 18 at Mohawk Racetrack.

Outside of the Jackpot Hi-5, horseplayers were active throughout the entire Friday evening card. Multi-leg wagers were popular, as C$75,216 was wagered on the Early Pick-4, C$62,970 on the Pick-5 and C$55,815 on the Late Pick-4.

The total handle for Friday’s 12-race card was C$4,704,527.

Live racing resumes at Woodbine on Boxing Day (Monday, Dec. 26) with a 12-race matinee card beginning at 1 p.m.