Santa Anita reduces Daily Double takeout

With the approval of the Thoroughbred Owners of California, Santa Anita will

offer a lower takeout of 18 percent on Daily Double wagers during its

Winter and Spring meets.

The Winter meet gets underway Thursday and runs through

April 20. A separate Spring meeting starts April 25 and concludes June 29.

The Daily Double, first offered by Santa Anita in 1961, is a $2 minimum bet

that requires players to select the winners of two consecutive races. Santa

Anita, which runs through June 29, will offer three Daily Doubles on three

separate occasions each day --races one and two; four and five; and on the final

two races.

"After consulting with many of our best customers and the TOC, we felt it was

time to make some 'player-friendly' adjustments to this iconic wager," said Tom

Ludt, Santa Anita Senior Vice President, Racing and Gaming. "Lowering the

takeout to 18 percent is obviously something that everyone is in favor of.

Additionally, by offering three Doubles per day, we're confident we're going to

see a significant increase in pool sizes and that is going to result in bigger

payoffs -- which is why the vast majority of our customers come out to the

races."

Santa Anita will also offer fans a guaranteed $500,000 pool in the Late Pick

4 on opening day.

Known as "The Great Race Place," Santa Anita's overall wagering menu will

again include the "Players' Pick 5," a popular 14 percent takeout wager with a

50 cent minimum. The $2 Pick 6, first offered at Santa Anita in 1980, remains

one of the most popular exotic wagers in the country and will again be offered

on the final six races each day.

Santa Anita will again offer $1 exactas, trifectas and superfectas on each

race and will offer rolling Pick Three wagers throughout each day's card. All

win, place and show wagers feature a 15.43 percent takeout (one of the nation's

lowest) with a $2 minimum investment.

First post time on opening day is 12 noon (PST).

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