Too Young to Qualify for the 2020 Olympics? Not Anymore
“It exceeded our expectations because we did not expect as many other tracks to cancel racing,” Chris Kotulak, the track’s chief executive, told The Grand Island Independent. “So the limelight that we believed we were moving into just got a lot brighter than we expected.”
Bettors nationwide are suddenly desperately interested in Nebraska racing. “We got a call from some guy in Ohio who wants to buy a Fonner Park T-shirt,” Kotulak said. The focus on Tuesday was on the Pick 5, which requires selecting the winners of five straight races. The total bet by players trying to hit that jackpot on Tuesday was $3.6 million, plus another $500,000 or so bet earlier.
In the end, 203 gamblers — in Nebraska, Ohio, New York, who knows? — picked five winners, earning $16,888.40 for a $1 bet. It’s a pretty sure thing that many of them have never been anywhere near Grand Island, Neb.
But it wouldn’t be a day at the races without some disgruntled fans. In the first leg of the Pick 5 there was controversy, the horse racing site Paulick Report said. Finisher Where’s Rufus crossed the line first but was disqualified for interfering with the second-place finisher Taylor’s Prince, a decision that seemed to be marginal. This could not have pleased those who chose Where’s Rufus in the Pick 5, and then hit the next four winners, missing out on the jackpot.
Even as the world changes, horseplayers stay the same. VICTOR MATHER
Is This It for the XFL?
While the pandemic has caused a steep economic blow to many sports leagues, no major ones have yet gone out of business.
But there was disquieting news for fans of the XFL, the football league that launched this season and made it through five games before being stopped by the virus. At the time, it vowed to return in 2021, but on Friday the league decided to suspend its operations and lay off most employees.
It was not immediately clear if the league would be back next season, but certainly the signs were ominous. An email to a communications executive at the company on Friday afternoon was returned as undeliverable. VICTOR MATHER
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/sports/coronavirus-xfl-gymnastics-olympics.html