Kentucky Derby: The Missing Ticket
Giacomo (named after the youngest son of "Sting") was sent off at odds of 50.30 to 1, the son of former Derby contender, Holy Bull, out of Set Them Free, by Stop the Music was the second-longest shot in the field of 20.
Edging 72 to 1 longshot, Closing Argument by just one-half length resulted in astronomical payoffs at the window. But, thats not all, the story gets better.
A record $9,814.80 exacta, $133,134.80 trifecta and $1,728,507.00 superfecta on a $2 wager were to be had. Afleet Alex, one of the favorites with odds of 4.5-1, finished third. Another long shot, 30-1 Don't Get Mad, was fourth.
No one picked the top four Derby finishers in order on a $2 Superfecta ticket, which would've paid more than $1.7 million. And here's where it gets even better.
Chris Hertzog, a Phoenix firefighter, bought one of seven $1 tickets to hit the Superfecta, which paid $864,253.50.
Hertzog made 100 $1 bets; 50 superfectas and 50 trifectas; all in random computer generated quick picks. When he thought he'd lost after the Derby, he left the tickets on a table and walked off.
Later, according to Turf Paradise, a track official told mutuel clerk Brenda Reagan that her machine had spit out a superfecta winner. Track owner Jack Simms told Hertzog, but when he returned to the table, the tickets were gone.
"I couldn't believe it," he said. Maintenance crews gathered all the garbage bags in the clubhouse and Hertzog and others picked through them with no luck.
The next day, Reagan noticed two tickets lying next to her machine, according to track officials. One of them was Hertzog's winner. After taxes, Hertzog walked away with over $604,000.
This year, on-track betting on the Derby totaled $10,055,508 and off-track wagering soared to $93,270,002. The combined $103,325,518 marked the first time wagering on a North American race had topped $100 million.
Edging 72 to 1 longshot, Closing Argument by just one-half length resulted in astronomical payoffs at the window. But, thats not all, the story gets better.
A record $9,814.80 exacta, $133,134.80 trifecta and $1,728,507.00 superfecta on a $2 wager were to be had. Afleet Alex, one of the favorites with odds of 4.5-1, finished third. Another long shot, 30-1 Don't Get Mad, was fourth.
No one picked the top four Derby finishers in order on a $2 Superfecta ticket, which would've paid more than $1.7 million. And here's where it gets even better.
Chris Hertzog, a Phoenix firefighter, bought one of seven $1 tickets to hit the Superfecta, which paid $864,253.50.
Hertzog made 100 $1 bets; 50 superfectas and 50 trifectas; all in random computer generated quick picks. When he thought he'd lost after the Derby, he left the tickets on a table and walked off.
Later, according to Turf Paradise, a track official told mutuel clerk Brenda Reagan that her machine had spit out a superfecta winner. Track owner Jack Simms told Hertzog, but when he returned to the table, the tickets were gone.
"I couldn't believe it," he said. Maintenance crews gathered all the garbage bags in the clubhouse and Hertzog and others picked through them with no luck.
The next day, Reagan noticed two tickets lying next to her machine, according to track officials. One of them was Hertzog's winner. After taxes, Hertzog walked away with over $604,000.
This year, on-track betting on the Derby totaled $10,055,508 and off-track wagering soared to $93,270,002. The combined $103,325,518 marked the first time wagering on a North American race had topped $100 million.
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