Since so much of the public keeps the favorites on its superfecta tickets, one would expect the odds on the win and place horses in the superfecta to play an important role in creating the payoff.

It's no surprise then, that the average superfecta payoff we found when an even-money or odds-on favorite won the race was only $380, compared to the over-all average of $4,370. The minimum payoff was even worse, just $6.70 for the favorite compared to $50 over-all. The following graph shows that the payoff grows exponentially with the odds on the winner.

In general, however, we found that the effects of odds on the winner or place horse were pretty much the same up to odds of about 7/1. But, once the odds get to 8/1 or greater, the difference between the winner and the place horse becomes increasingly significant. With the place horse at odds of 20/1, the average $1 payoff is about $3980. But when the winner is as high as 20/1, the payoff grows to about $7,060.

Clearly, the superfectas in which big favorites win or place payoff much less than the average. Of course, this doesn't mean that you should leave favorites off your tickets. However, you might do better in the long run if you leave them out of the top spots unless you have strong feelings for some long shots in the other positions.