Speaking of bets, is that typical to make late entry horse an 80-1 longshot? Wouldnt 30-1 or maybe even 40-1 been more reasonable, seeing how the prior "longshots were all 30-1 until rich strike was entered. Sounds like someone wanted to make some extra scratch on this.
The odds are based on what is bet on a horse with the house taking a gig (is that the correct term? - too lazy and at work to look it up)
Example - I am not sure if this is accurate but close enough
Overall $100 is bet by everyone in the park for win
The house gets $10 (probably too high but makes my example easier)
So there is $90 in the pool to go to the winner
$10 is bet on the horse so everyone gets $9 for every $1 bet.
That would be 8-1 odds.
The original bet of $1 plus $8.
To break it down further
5 people bet $1 each and a sixth person bets $5 for the total $10 bet
5 people would get $9 each and the sixth person would get $45