Haskell, Sports Betting: Good Start to Synergy By Lou Monaco

OCEANPORT – The big question entering the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park last month was will they come to the annual Jersey Shore event without a big name horse after the retirement announcement of Triple Crown champion Justify due to injury?

Fear not, horse fans.

Not only did they come, Oceanport ushered in the big event in conjunction with sports’ newly-found money machine, the Monmouth Park Sports Book by William Hill.

Let’s look at the Haskell Day numbers (track and sports book):

Attendance: The 37,186 people that showed on a gorgeous last Sunday in July was a 5% increase over 2017 (35,303).

Handle: On track – $1,965,661.10; Overall – $13,395,373. The overall number was a 5% increase over last year: $12,809,126.

This was the first time at Monmouth Park that sports betting was offered during the Haskell.

Track and sports book officials decided to come up with some interesting proposition bets that utilized the synergy between the two sports entities and it turned out to be something that will definitely move forward in the future.

Let’s take a look at the three:

Margin of victory: You didn’t have to even bet the race. Odds were posted on the Haskell margin of victory offering different groups of numbers you can wager on. Those bets were mild, generating $4,396.

Grand Slam: Prior to the Haskell race, officials chose three stakes races you had to pick the winner on PLUS the result of the Major League Baseball game that night as the Chicago Cubs visited the St. Louis Cardinals.  Consider it a Pick 4 with a sporting event. Those wagers were also mild with $4,233 entered.

Head to head matchups: Proposition bets were offered on one-on-one outcomes of the race between two horses. So rather than beat the field or even winning, as long as your horse finished higher than the horse it was up against, you win. Those wagers were highly popular, as $15,012 were wagered on those props being offered.

It was a first run of trying something and experimenting, getting the feel of what the betting public wanted in its first go-around combining both sports and horse racing.

The result: a win-win for all parties involved.  Look for more synergy between the two entities not only on Haskell Day, but on other stakes days as well.

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