by Michael Antoniades, Balmoral Park racing analyst

Crete, IL — On Wednesday (June 29), Balmoral Park will go where no other Illinois track has ever gone before. With the help of the USTA Strategic Wagering Initiative, Balmoral Park will offer guaranteed Pick-4 pools with a low 15 percent takeout every racing night, beginning with a new $15,000 guarantee this Wednesday. Free program pages are available each racing night at handicapping.ustrotting.com, courtesy of Trackmaster.

The Balmoral Pick-4 continued to outperform the marketplace in the month of June. Through June 28, eight guaranteed pools were offered on the one-mile oval. Four Saturday pools totaled $71,217 for an average of $17,804 per night. Balmoral will raise the ante on Saturdays by pumping up the guarantee to $20,000, up 33 percent from the original $15,000 offered. The $20,000 guarantee will start this Saturday (July 2).

The hugely successful Sunday Pick-4 was helped by offering a carryover on the June 5 program. The rollover on the first Sunday in June enticed a Sunday only pool of $73,862, making the final pool $86,328. With the help of that carryover, the four Sunday Pick-4 pools added up to $172,667, an average of $43,166. The $25,000 guarantee on the Sunday Pick-4 will continue.

The guaranteed pools have not only increased the size of the pools, they have increased the payouts as well. Through June 28, the average payout on the guaranteed pools was $1,032.51 for a dollar. The high payout continues to be the April 9 Pick-4 that paid $4,308.40 for a buck.