LAUREL, MD – A Maryland state record 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot carryover of $295,762.95 will greet bettors when live racing returns to Laurel Park Friday, April 13 with a nine-race program.

The popular multi-race wager went unsolved for the 28th consecutive program Sunday, when $129,183 was bet on top of a carryover of $254,426.59 from Saturday’s card. Multiple tickets were sold with all six winners, each worth $304.60.

The previous state record for the largest Pick 6 carryover was $275,322, reached heading into closing day of Pimlico Race Course’s spring meet on June 6, 2015. A mandatory payout that day produced multiple returns of $12,518.28.

In the Rainbow 6, the carryover jackpot is only paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 60 percent of that day’s pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners while 40 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.

No single bettor has taken down Laurel’s Rainbow 6 since it was solved for a $5,896.30 payout on Feb. 4.

Friday’s Rainbow 6 covers Races 4-9, highlighted by a $35,000 entry-level allowance for Maryland-bred 3-year-olds and up going one mile in Race 7 and a $45,000 second-level optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up at 5 ½ furlongs in Race 8.

There will also be a carryover of $2,404.11 in the $1 Super Hi-5 for Friday’s opener. First race post time is 1:10 p.m.

Private Terms Winner V. I. P. Code Working This Weekend for Federico Tesio

Everest Stables’ homebred V. I. P. Code, the 36-1 upset winner of the Private Terms Stakes March 17, is scheduled to return to the work tab this weekend ahead of an anticipated start in the $125,000 Federico Tesio for 3-year-olds April 21.

The 1 1/16-mile Private Terms was the third win with two seconds and two thirds from nine starts for V. I. P. Code, a Maryland-bred City Zip colt who beat a field that included multiple stakes winners Still Having Fun, the betting favorite, and Whirlin Curlin. All three are among 37 sophomores nominated to the Tesio.

V. I. P. Code was third in the Frank Whiteley Jr. Jan. 27 and fifth in the Miracle Wood Feb. 17, the first two of four races in Laurel’s series for 3-year-olds on the way to the 143rd Preakness Stakes (G1) May 19 at historic Pimlico Race Course.

“He’s been doing good. I was really happy to have this time between races instead of running him right back on three weeks’ rest. Like horses at this time of year, he’s growing a lot,” trainer Phil Schoenthal said. “As he gets taller he gets leaner, so you’re trying to keep weight on him. We’ve been kind of backing off him a little bit. He’s eating really good and he’s gaining weight. I’m going to breeze him this coming weekend and then we’ll plan to run on the 21st.”

For the third straight year, the 1 1/8-mile Tesio offers Triple Crown-nominated horses such as V. I. P. Code a ‘Win and You’re In’ berth to the Preakness, the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

“I think it’s going to be a good race. I think you’ll probably get most of the horses that were in there the last time to come back, and there’s always going to be one or two new shooters from New York or wherever else. It’s just a good race,” Schoenthal said. “If he were to win I think we are intending on running in the Preakness, which is a once in a lifetime kind of thing for guys like us. You kind of feel like you’re right on the doorstep, you’re in the Elite Eight and one more win will get you to the big dance so there’s a little bit of anticipation and excitement that way that you wouldn’t normally have.

“It would be a lot of fun to have a local Maryland-bred horse in the Preakness,” he added. “I’m not going to put the cart before the horse; he’s still got to win and it’s going to be a good race. Let the best horse win and if it’s us, thank God and if not, then God bless the winner and good luck to him. It’s just fun to be a part of it and to have a horse of that caliber.”

Notes: Jockey Julien Pimentel rode a pair of winners for the second straight day, finishing first with Springtime Wind ($14.60) in the second race and Big City Blues ($2.40) in the eighth.