Kleinhans hoping for great Pick-8 at Big M

When racing returns to The Meadowlands Friday (Feb. 6) night, there will be a new bet on the menu which could create the type of excitement not seen at the mile oval in a long time.

And no one is as pumped up as Peter Kleinhans.

The Big M’s faithful followers, starved for action with the track having canceled four consecutive programs due to inclement weather, will have a huge pot to shoot for when the third race rolls around, as that dash will mark the debut of the $1 Pick-8, which will not need several carryovers to create a big pot.

The wager, which is the brainchild of Kleinhans, will be seeded with $50,000 of Kleinhans’ money, and in the event the bet isn’t hit the first several nights it’s offered, the potential carryover pools could be positively monstrous.

“Hi all, I just wanted to call attention to a new bet that I’m sponsoring at the Meadowlands,” said Kleinhans, harness racing’s jack of all trades, on Facebook. “It is my hope that this Pick-8 seeded with $50,000 will lead to historically high carryovers and something entirely new for the horse players and fans to be excited about. The bet will start on February 6th. Please have fun, support this bet, and I hope you win big!”

Kleinhans is banking on big carryovers to create interest like there hasn’t been seen in a long time. Without the $50,000 start, a bet like this might have seen pools in the $2,000 range, but if Kleinhans’ hopes are realized, right out of the shoot, there should be $5,000 of gravy poured on top of the $50,000 filet mignon.

The Oak Grove Racing, Gaming and Hotel track announcer, who is also a horse owner, amateur driver, sometimes fill-in co-host on the Sam McKee Memorial Broadcast Set, and singer/songwriter, whose next performance is scheduled for March 11 at the Bitter End in Greenwich Village, isn’t merely putting up the money to line the pockets of would-be winners.

But, on the other hand, he’s not doing it to make money, either.

Kleinhans is hoping to give the harness game a shot of adrenaline with the Pick-8 and has committed to seeding the pool four times.

“I am not expecting to break even,” said Kleinhans, a married father of three who has found financial success playing the stock market, in an interview conducted Wednesday afternoon. “I am just hoping that one of these four go-rounds sees a carryover that gets to a million dollars.”

The way it is set up, as long as there are decent to good carryovers, Kleinhans will recoup a good chunk of his money. He can actually make money in the event that the carryovers get to an extremely high level.

If no one hits for an extended period of time, there will be a cap of 25 carryovers before there is a mandatory payout. Kleinhans decided on the $1-dollar minimum but said he may reduce that to 50 cents if the situation calls for it.

“It’s been something I’ve been thinking about for over 20 years,” said Kleinhans. “Finally, I decided, I didn’t want to go to my grave wondering what would have happened. Maybe this could have revitalized the game.”

The sometimes fill-in Big M track announcer hopes his idea catches fire and spreads.

“My hope is that other tracks will want to do this as well,” said Kleinhans. “I think tracks should step up and take chances. This Pick-8 venture, the main payoff on this one, is harness racing coming up the winner.”

“There is the potential here for carryovers that would be beyond gigantic,” said Big M Chief Operating Officer and General Manager Jason Settlemoir. “Peter Kleinhans is someone who wants to see the visibility of The Meadowlands – and harness racing – increase, and the Pick-8 was his vision, so all of us at The Big M appreciate his efforts to create some huge excitement for our players, who will no doubt support this wager given the possibility of making a big score.”