by Tom Kelley, publicity director, Balmoral Park

Crete, IL — Balmoral Park will kick off Derby week with a pair of guaranteed pools this Wednesday. A large one day Pick-5 carryover of $7,665 will kick off the action on the first race of the night. The popular .50 cent Pick-5 wager is offered Wednesdays on races 1 thru 5. The USTA and Balmoral Park have created a $40,000 INSTANT GUARANTEED POOL on the Wednesday Pick-5. Post time for the first race is 8:10 Eastern, 7:10 Central and 5:10 Pacific.

Balmoral will also offer a $10,000 Guaranteed Pick-4 pool on Wednesday. The Pick-4 has a one dollar minimum and a low 15% takeout. The Pick-4 pools in 2013 averaged $32,254, an increase of almost $24,000 a night since the takeout was reduced by 40 per cent. The average one dollar payout in 2013 was $2,441.60. Balmoral Park offers a Guaranteed Pick-4 wager every night with free program pages and a 15% takeout. The Wednesday Pick-4 starts on race six, immediately after the conclusion of the Pick-5 wager.

Big Payoffs highlighted the action this weekend. The original ten cent High Five, was offered on the final race of the night. Saturday night, and one lucky patron took down the entire pool and won $19,772.29 for a dime. Saturday handle was $1,043,291, a strong barometer considering it was opening night at Churchill Downs and many track handles in the country were down significantly.

Balmoral Park continues to offer some of the biggest pools in harness racing. Through April 22, the Balmoral handle is averaging $1,020,297 per night in 2014. The handle breaks down to $87,681 per race, easily the second largest in the United States behind the sport’s flagship track, The Meadowlands.

Handicappers across North America can get a head start on their competition with free

12 line program pages for the entire Balmoral Park Wednesday program right now courtesy of the USTA and Track Master on the handicapping section at handicapping.ustrotting.com.