Global Tote issue causes some refunds in Mid-Atlantic Pick 4

Two days after AmTote acknowledged wagering remained open following the first leg of the cross-country Pick 5 Saturday, another issue with a totalizator company required TwinSpires players to receive a refund on their Mid-Atlantic Pick 4 bets Monday afternoon.

This time it was Global Tote with the issue, as the tote company for Monmouth Park, which acted as hub for the new multi-track multi-race wager had an issue with United Tote, which TwinSpires utilizes. The other three largest account wagering providers – TVG, NYRABets and 1/ST Bet – were unaffected because they all run on AmTote. Churchill Downs Inc. owns both TwinSpires and United Tote while the Stronach-controlled 1/ST Technologies owns AmTote.

This was the first-ever Mid-Atlantic Pick 4, and it linked two races from Monmouth Park and two races from Colonial Downs. The wager was priced at 15 percent takeout and handled $45,533. Estimates put handle lost from the TwinSpires issue between $5,000-$10,000.

The issue with the cross-country Pick 5 was different in that it involved the pool not closing on time, affecting all bettors. The New York Racing Association and AmTote supplemented the pool with an additional $50,000, which increased the payoff about 36 percent, but it took about 90 minutes to reconcile the wager, Daily Racing Form reported.

NYRA will offer the cross-country Pick 5 on Saturday, before suspending it until AmTote can automate the stop wagering function for multi-track events. For wagering purposes, the special multi-race wagers involving non sequential races at the same or multiple tracks are listed as separate events on wagering menus.

Monmouth and Colonial plan to continue to offer the Mid-Atlantic Pick 4 on Mondays in August and expect TwinSpires to be a part of it going forward.