Was there a horse in the pick 5 where you could have made the same return with laying out less capital?
Short answer..no not that particular sequence. Short fields use the all button
Long answer each ticket is different with different strategies.
Everyone on here knows my basic strategy.. take a pick 5 sequence and choose 2 of the 5 races you feel the most confident in singling and spread in the other 3 legs as much as possible. My comfortable ticket range falls usually between 100 to 150 bucks
You start leaving horses out rather then just using the all button you will get burned. .
That happened to me last month at Gulfstream. The last leg I only used 7 of the 9 horses to keep the ticket within my comfort zone. The ticket was for $147.
Well the horse that won was one of the two I didn't have and it cost me almost 7 grand by not just spending an extra 40 bucks by hitting the all button. That one hurt.
My basic strategy doesn't apply to harness racing..pools to small