Oaklawn tweaks its wagering menu for 2024-25 meet

Oaklawn added another rolling Pick 3 to its wagering format for the 24-2025 meeting, which starts Friday.

The new Pick 3 will begin with the first race. Previously, rolling Pick 3s at Oaklawn began with the second race. The wager requires bettors to select the winners of three consecutive races.

“Just wanted to add to our wagering format is all,” Oaklawn vice president of racing Jason Milligan said.

Oaklawn’s 2024-25 wagering menu was unanimously approved in October by the Arkansas Racing Commission.

In other wagering tweaks this season, both involving 11-race cards, the second Pick 5 will begin with the fifth race and the second Pick 4 will begin with the sixth race. Those wagers previously began with races 3 and 5, respectively.

The pari-mutuel takeout structure remains the same as past years, 17% on straight wagers and 21% on exotic wagers. The only exception is the show bet bonus, which features a reduced takeout, 10%, on show wagers made on-site at Oaklawn. The bet has been popular because those payoffs are higher than the same wagers made off track or through ADW platforms.

“It’s worked well,” Oaklawn attorney Skip Ebel told the commission.

Minimum bets also remain the same: $2 for win, place and show; $1 for doubles and exactas, 50 cents for trifectas, 10 cents for superfectas, and 50 cents for Pick 3s, Pick 4s and Pick 5s.

Oaklawn averaged a single-season record $7.03 million in daily all-source mutuel handle in 2023-24.