The steward pan shot of the far turn clearly shows the 7 drifting in and out of his path for about 150 yards to impede other horses. It was not crowd noise. The rider was trying his best to get home in front, and were it not for the claim of foul the stewards would have let the order of finish stand.

derb!

I only have one Derby story, a Kentucky boy needs one. 1987 Alysheba year. My date is with Whittingham Stables and we are sitting right on the finish line front row box. Alysheba clipped heels in the stretch, damn near did a somersault yet charged to win. The big shots in our group went up to Millionaires Row, picked and bet Sheba, but we didn't know so I didn't have anything on him. Pre cell phone days. We didn't know who they were betting upstairs/inside. Driving home after the race, dude drinking puts me behind the wheel of his mega sports car I can't even remember what it was, me barely old enough to drive and driving a bomb myself. I damn near wreck it in the wild traffic trying to get on the freeway.

Early that week, my poker buddy, a dead ringer for the Norton character in Rounders, brainlocking on the name of that character, Damon's friend, flew from Vegas to Kentucky. He got diverted to Louisville for some reason, middle of the night. Jack Van Berg trainer of Alysheba is there with no ride because of the diversion. My buddy gives him a ride to Lexington, and Van Berg, a great guy, tells him the story about Sheba's very recent throat surgery clearing a flap and he's running like a champ suddenly. Wins prep Lexington Stakes or Bluegrass Stakes at Keeneland but taken down for foul, wins Derby as maiden, wins Preakness, 4th in Belmont. Wins Breeders Cup Classic the next year. But my friend didn't tell me all this until after the race. Again, I miss the chance to get the tip to bet it. I think he paid 9/2 or 4/1. Or maybe just his saddle number was 4. We didn't know who won down on the track because his very rough trip, 3 incidents bumps clips, his saddle number got tucked up under the saddle. Couldn't see it at all. (Dang, just watched it and his saddle number seems visible, but not sure very fuzzy.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbyuEiQuPok

Oddly Alysheba finished 1-1-4 in the Triple Crown races, but didn't win the Triple Crown overall bonus, lost that to Bet Twice who finished 2-2-1. Always thought that was wrong somehow. Wins gotta be given more weight than just one other position.

I've had one Derby winner in my life, a couple years ago, real pricey, can't remember the name. That's out of 50 years, LOL. Got a lot going today.

Ok, I think horse racing is bad for gambling, bad for the public, and especially bad for horses.

But that was a genuinely exciting finish

OMG

Holy crap the long shot.

What a finish.

And so begins a long and illustrious career of impregnating other mammals

Sick life

Wow. I had second and fourth.

80-1! Goin crazy after too

Goat Horsie

Then you've got that thing that they are pampered like no other animal under the sun.

i had 15 trifecta bets, not one had the 21 horse

Every single time they interview the owner or the trainer, I'm immediately struck by the impression that they're a terrible human

$1 superfecta - $321,000

What a fun race!


My wife thought those handlers were crazy for even getting near him after that immediate celebration of sorts. LOL!

Seeing the overhead of that stretch run just makes it more amazing.

This.

Threaded the needle a few times. The openings were right there when he needed them. What a ride!

you didn't have it? i mean it was so obvious

Former trainer's foreman calls me picking long shots, after race she says I almost called back with the 80/1 Cinderella story. But I rushed her off the phone the first time so she didn't call back she says. A thousand ways to lose, one way to win ... or something like that.

what?

Huge overlay on the exacta. Winner's implied odds over 300:1 with fave in 2nd hole. Tri was also an overlay but about half as much.

It pays to look at the exotic payoffs for situations like this. With both the winner and favorite preferring the pace scenario that played out the best bets would be to wheel the winner with the shorter prices (assuming one liked the winner on top). Win bets would be a small fraction of the total amount wagered.

Either that or somebody had sizable win action without playing the exotics. That would explain 80:1 straight odds with 300:1+ implied in the exacta pool.

I had the exacta for $1 for $2050. Total bet was $45 if I remember correctly.

I’ve bet every derby in my lifetime and this is the first I remember actually cashing a ticket. This probably got me back to even on all my derby bets.