If Santa Anita is the King of Carryovers, then Rick Hammerle is the Carryover
King. Take it from no less an authority than private clocker Gary Young, who, as
a player for over 30 years, has won all or part of more than 200 of the wildly
exotic wagers requiring bettors to select six consecutive winners in quest of
lottery-type bonanzas.
It’s a gamble with an adrenaline rush that has changed the face of racing,
especially in Southern California, where the clime is always bright and the time
is always right. Through 23 racing days, there have been nine Pick 6 carryovers
at Santa Anita this meet, the latest one worth $70,422 into Friday. With racing
for the first time extending through June 29, assuredly there are more to come.
“Hammerle is the Carryover King,” Young said, bestowing a new nickname on
“Hammer,” Santa Anita’s racing secretary who, along with his crack staff, is
responsible for putting together attractive and challenging racing cards at the
Great Race Place.
“It’s great to have carryovers,” said Young, who began his clocking career in
1978 at Calder Race Course. “My friends and I were talking about the days before
intertrack wagering and ADW (advance deposit wagering). When there was a
carryover back then, especially on a weekend, you would have to fight to get
through the crowds in the grandstand at Santa Anita or Hollywood.
“It was unbelievable, because everyone was concentrated in one place. It’s a
different kind of excitement today, because you’re watching on HRTV, where
Laffit (Pincay III) and those guys do a good job telling you how many
combinations are still alive and other information.
“But is it like it was when there was a carryover on a weekend and there were
40,000 people at the race track? Not quite, but it still is the only bet out
there that can really, really, really change your life.
“If you get lucky and hit a Pick 5 for maybe 20, 30 thousand, unfortunately,
that doesn’t go as far as it used to. But you could win a hundred thousand if
you hit a Pick 6.
“The Pick 6 has been cannibalized somewhat by the Pick 5 and the Pick 4 and
other exotic wagers, and quite frankly, the Pick 6 is more difficult to hit.
Plus, it’s not as long between drinks when you can play a 50-cent Pick 5 instead
of a $2 Pick 6.
“You don’t have to be a Stanford grad in mathematics to figure out that you
have a whole lot more horses involved in one bet than the other. But the Pick 6
has kind of defined my gambling career. I’ve been lucky to have had a piece of
over 200 of them in my life.”
Asked what it may have netted, Young was his usual candid self.
“Put it this way,” he said. “There has been a lot more expense than there’s
been profit. When gambling was a really, really high priority in my life, it was
what you lived for.
“There would be certain days when there were maiden races I liked or workout
horses I had clocked that maybe the rest of the world didn’t know about, like
they do today because of the technology. Those were days when I felt I had a
chance to go out and hit the Pick 6.
“It made you feel like you were on top of the world.”
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