by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal Expo Harness

Sacramento, CA — There was one winning ticket in last Saturday night’s Pick-5 at Cal Expo, returning $9,968 for what proved to be an excellent 50 cent investment.

The Pick-5 is one of three wagers offered here nightly with a reduced 16 percent takeout rate. The others are the 20 cent Pick-4 with a $20,000 guaranteed pool on Friday and a $25,000 guaranteed pool on Saturday; and the Hi-Five on the finale.

Had last Saturday’s winning ticket been paid out under the regular takeout rate, it would have returned just over $9,000, a difference of some $920 to the winner.

“We have had these low takeout bets in place since we took over the meeting in the fall of 2012,” said General Manager Chris Schick. “We are very pleased with the response to these wagers.”

Last Saturday’s Pick-5 sequence got off to a pretty formful start as 2-1 second choice Orlando’s Express got the job done for James Kennedy, followed by co-favorite Diva Las Vegas clicking at $6.60 with Tim Maier and 2-1 second choice Alpine Hawk posing for pictures with Rich Wojcio.

It got a bit tougher when Hi Ho Disguise prevailed at $11.20 in the penultimate leg with Dave Siegel at the controls, then kicked into overdrive after Majestic Lass upset the second leg of the Marvin Shapiro Series at 22-1 with Mooney Svendsen giving directions.

There is another chance to pick up a nice piece of change for a minor investment here Friday night with the reduced takeouts of the 50 cent Pick-5; the 20 cent Pick-4 with a $20,000 guaranteed pool; and the 10 cent Hi-Five on the final contest.