Finally. Somebody got it right.
In fact, there were four tickets that did.
A pick six carryover of $67,322 attracted lots of interest Friday night, and eager players increased the pot to $166,349, the largest pick six pool in Canterbury Park history.
Eric Halstrom, Canterbury’s vice president of racing operations said Friday afternoon that a “pool of $50,000 would be fantastic. This is better than fantastic,” he said Friday night.
There were more than 49,000 tickets, on-track and off-track, with various combinations at the start of the pick six. That number had been reduced to 93 heading into the final race.
And that number was reduced to just four after Lori Keith brought in her second winner in the pick six, 15-1 longshot Sir Reddington in the last race of the night and the pick six.
That left four tickets, all off track, worth $31,122.20 apiece.
Adolfo Morales brought in the first winner in the pick six on Thursday night and repeated himself on Friday, riding Manningtoharrison, a $7.80 winner by the tip of the nose over post-time choice Just a Nibble in a thriller. There were two noses at the wire and Manningtoharrison’s was a tad longer in the photo.
Paul Nolan brought in Friendly Force, the post-time favorite, in the fourth race, a 5 1/2-furlong race for maiden claimers. Nothing surprising there.
There were 4,506 tickets still alive heading into the fifth race. Seyah at the Kazba, with Lori Keith up, eliminated a bunch of them by winning an absolutely great race from favored Country Boy Wit in a photo finish. There were three lead changes between the top two horses during the stretch run.
There were 4,506 tickets still alive before the fifth race. Keith and Seyah at the Kazba along with post-time choice Owen’s Choice and Derek Bell in the sixth race reduced that number to 411 heading into race seven. Bell continued to expand his lead for another riding title with his second win on the card. Only a disaster can keep him from becoming the first rider in Canterbury history to win six titles. Owen’s Choice put Mac Robertson one win in front of Justin Evans in the trainer’s race.
Race seven produced a 2-1 winner with Juan Rivera driving Celtic Fable to a half-length victory over Cap Spring Squall.
