New Jersey bettor's 50-cent Saratoga bet pays off big time

A horse bettor won $471,124.50 on a bet that he paid 50 cents for on Saturday.

The winning ticket had Realm (11-1), English Minister (3-1), Site Read (21-1), Hey Bro (24-1) and Saratoga Mischief (6-1) all winning the first five races at Saratoga Race Course, which they did.

Because there was only one ticket that had all five of these winners, the bettor from New Jersey, who requested anonymity, won the entire pooled payout.

Andy Serling, handicapper for the New York Racing Association (NYRA), which controls Saratoga, Belmont and Aqueduct racetracks, told ESPN.com that Saturday's single payout was a rare occurrence.

Since the fall of 2013 -- when NYRA tracks started offering the Pick Five -- there has been at least one winner every race day. But Serling said there has been a single winner only a couple of times in nearly two years.

While the winning ticket cost 50 cents, the bettor bet a total of $675 on a combination of five horses to win those first five races.

It was the highest payout for a Pick Five, the NYRA said, since Aug. 29 of last summer at Saratoga, when a single winner took home $595,502.