Del Mar offers $1 million guarantee on opening day Pick 6

For the first time, Del Mar Thoroughbred Club will present a $1 million guarantee to any single-ticket holder who hits the track’s Pick Six on its opening day, Friday, July 21.

It is likely that the seaside track will be conducting 10 races on its first program, meaning the Pick Six will be offered on races five to 10. The Pick Six wager can cost as little as 20 cents.

In a potential opening day scenario where a horse player would hold the lone ticket on the Pick Six that pays, say, $300,000, that afternoon, the track shortly thereafter would write him/her an addition check for $700,000 to make the payoff $1 million.

“The Pick Six is one of our players’ favorites,” said Del Mar’s director of mutuels, Bill Navarro. “Our special opening day enhancement is meant to put an exclamation point on the fact that the bet can be a life changer. We want to get the buzz for it started early.”

Besides the opening day special arrangement, track officials note that there will be multiple other days during the meet where a “mandatory payout” will be in effect for the Pick Six. Those additional dates will be announced after the track is up and running and into its 84th summer season.

Del Mar’s record Pick Six pool was $10,751,768, which occurred on Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021. Its highest Pick Six payout is $2,100,017, which happened on Aug. 1, 2004, when there was a single-ticket winner.

First post on opening day is 5 p.m. EDT. The track’s eight-week season runs through Sunday, Sept. 10.