Largest win in Arlington Park history beat 1 in 95,040 odds

The out-of-state winner of Sunday’s $1.1 million JackPOT High-5 at Arlington Park overcame odds of 1 in 95,040 to claim the largest single ticket payout in the track’s 85-year history.

To do so, the bettor paid $1 to choose the correct sequence of the first five finishers in the final 12-horse race of the day.

Arlington Park Senior Communications Manager Dave Zenner explained that the way to calculate the odds of choosing the correct sequence of five is to multiply 12 by 11 by 10 by 9 by 8.

And that’s assuming the winning bettor didn’t further complicate the matters by applying the odds of each particular horse’s finish.

The first-place horse, Better Make Money, had odds of more than 42 to 1 of winning. The second-place finisher, Dixie Banter, raced at odds of 14 to 1.

The JackPOT High-5 is a new wager at Arlington Park this year, and had no single winners during the first 23 racing days of the year. Multiple bettors had cashed winning tickets on other days, but they shared 50 percent of the total pool, while the remaining 50 percent carried over to the next day until a single bettor could claim the whole thing.

On Sunday, the carry-over pool started off at $939,000 but was raised to $1,115,184 by the more than $200,000 that was bet during the day.

The winning bet was placed at an out-of-state, off-track betting facility, and a lump-sum payment will be made by that facility, Zenner said.

The winner has chosen to remain anonymous, he added.

When the JackPOT High-5 begins again on Wednesday, the pool will start at zero.