Trifecta Costs

Question
Can you tell me how the costs are calculated for a trifecta bet such as (A,H/B,C,D,E/D,E,F,G)?
I know how to calculate boxed trifectas such as (A,B,C/A,B,C/A,B,C), which is simply 3x2x1=$6 for $1 unit, I'm having difficulty to find the formula for calculating bets such as (A,H/B,C,D,E/D,E,F,G)  
Regards.
Jim

Answer
Hi Jim,
         That is a very unusual combination so I am not surprised you are having trouble calculating it.
As a rule of thumb you multiply the number of horses to win by the number to run second by the number to run third.

Where you have selections in more than one category you remove one of them from any subsequent multiplier. Below is your example;

1-2 / 3-4-5-6 / 5-6-7-8

so the formula is 2x4x3 =$24, 5 or 6 can not fill more than one place so one of them must drop out of third place.

You have left horses 1 & 2 out of subsequent places. As only one of them can win do you expect that the other will be so annoyed it pulls up?

This is always an interesting bar room discussion topic and it never ceases to amaze me how wrong some people can get this calculation.

We got it wrong on Tuesday. We picked the first five home in the cup but we took a banker with So You Think to win. Bugger! If we had boxed those 5 for $60 we would have won $224!

Hope this helps,
Don