by Mark McKelvie, WEG Communications

Toronto, ON — Christmas will come a few days early for horseplayers, as Woodbine Racetrack has announced a mandatory payout on the Standardbred Jackpot Hi-5 for Saturday (Dec. 23).

The Jackpot Hi-5 carryover currently sits at C$153,104.77 with six-cards remaining ahead of Dec. 23. There will be no freezing of the pool ahead of the mandatory payout.

This will be the second consecutive year that Woodbine has offered a Jackpot Hi-5 mandatory payout on the final card before Christmas. A mandatory payout on Dec. 23, 2016, which had a carryover of C$548,396, saw more than C$2 million of new money wagered into the pool. Horseplayers that correctly selected the top five finishers in order scored a holiday bonus of C$4,842.70 for a 20-cent ticket.

The most recent mandatory payout offered on the Woodbine Standardbred product was on Oct. 14 at Mohawk. The carryover that evening was a record C$978,779 and horseplayers wagered an additional C$2.3 million on the Hi-5. Winning horseplayers on Oct. 14 got back C$2,446.33 for a 20-cent ticket.

The Jackpot Hi-5 requires horseplayers to select the top five finishers in order and features a 20-cent minimum wager with a 15 percent takeout. The wager is offered nightly on the final race of each card.

Live racing continues at Woodbine Racetrack every Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Post time is 7:30 p.m.

For more information leading up to the Standardbred Jackpot Hi-5 mandatory payout, follow @WoodbineSB on Twitter.