The New York Racing Association’s Cross Country Pick 6, you’re probably familiar with. But for this Saturday’s busy day, how about a Cross-breed Cross Country Pick 5?
NYRA and Monmouth Park joined forces for Saturday’s All-Stakes Cross Country Pick 6. That weekly slate isn’t surprising given it’s Haskell Day at Monmouth, the biggest day on that New Jersey track’s meet.
This weekend’s Cross Country Pick 6 reverts to the 20-cent variety NYRA abandoned for the Belmont Park Spring/Summer Meet in favor of a $1 Pick 6. It features a low 15% takeout and a mandatory payout.
Cross Country All-Stakes Pick 6
| Leg | Track | Race | Time (ET) |
| Leg A | Monmouth Park | Grade 3 Monmouth Cup | 3:29 p.m. |
| Leg B | Monmouth Park | Grade 3 Molly Pitcher | 4:38 p.m. |
| Leg C | Monmouth Park | Grade 1 United Nations | 5:12 p.m. |
| Leg D | Saratoga | Grade 3 Sanford | 5:40 p.m. |
| Leg E | Monmouth Park | Grade 1 Haskell | 5:47 p.m. |
| Leg F | Saratoga | Grade 1 Diana | 6:16 p.m. |
The Cross Country Pick 6 sequence opens with the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup, a 1 1/8-mile race for 3-and-up fillies and mares. Leg B is the Grade 3, 1 1/16-mile Molly Pitcher for 3-and-up fillies and mares. Also at Monmouth, Leg C is the Grade 1 United Nations, which sends 3-and-up horses 1 3/16 miles on the Monmouth Park turf.
All the Grade 1s are here for the Cross Country Pick 6
Leg D is the first of two Saratoga legs: the Grade 3 Sanford, a six-furlong sprint for 2-year-olds. Leg E completes the Monmouth portion of the series with the flagship Grade 1 Haskell Stakes. The biggest race on Monmouth’s schedule, the Haskell is a 1 1/8-mile route for 3-year-olds.
The Cross Country Pick 6 sequence ends back at Saratoga with the Grade 1 Diana. That 1 1/8-mile test is for older fillies and mares.
Picking cross-breeds on one wager
But NYRA also put together an unusual Pick 5: the Cross-breed Cross Country Pick 5. That wager requires you to pick the winners of two Saratoga stakes races: the Sanford and the Diana. But it tests your harness racing handicapping skills, requiring you pick the winners of three Standardbred harness races at the Meadowlands in New Jersey.
Cross-breed Cross Country Pick 5
| Leg | Track | Race | Time (ET) |
| Leg A | Saratoga | Grade 3 Sanford | 5:40 p.m. |
| Leg B | Saratoga | Grade 1 Diana | 6:16 p.m. |
| Leg C | The Meadowlands | Haughton Memorial | 8:37 p.m. |
| Leg D | The Meadowlands | Hambletonian Maturity | 9:05 p.m. |
| Leg E | The Meadowlands | Meadowlands Pace | 9:38 p.m. |
Those three races are the William Haughton Memorial, the Hambletonian Maturity and the Meadowlands Pace.
The Cross-Breed Cross Country Pick 5 comes with a 15% takeout and mandatory payout. New York residents, however, are shut out from making this wager. New York State regulations allow wagers only on Standardbred races held in New York. So this wager isn’t offered at Saratoga, OTB facilities in the state or on the NYRA Bets ADW inside the state.