The Longest Shot: Big Brown?!

Big Brown
Big Brown

Big Brown has been so much of a favorite that there's no reason to bet on him at the Belmont, other than to get a collectible ticket should the horse become the first one in 30 years to win the Triple Crown.

But there's one man who has a lot riding on a Big Brown bet.

You see, before Big Brown even won the Florida Derby that solidified his entry into the Kentucky Derby, an Arizona man known to play horse futures put $150 on Big Brown to win the Triple Crown.

His bet, confirmed to me by John Avello, director of the race and sports book at the Wynn Las Vegas, would yield him a cool $18,750 should the horse win it all on Saturday.

Since I haven't seen a place that ever had Big Brown at 150 to 1 and the fact that sports books limit their exposure on something like this, this man could very well have the most valuable gambling ticket off the fewest dollars for Saturday's race.

The man, who preferred to remain anonymous, has been betting horse futures for years. Triple Crown odds began about a decade ago.

His hopes were crushed when Smarty Jones lost to Birdstone at the Belmont in 2004. This guy had that horse's odds at 150 to 1.

Why did he have faith in Big Brown?

"I saw that this horse won on the turf by 11 lengths," he told me. "Horses win on turf by four or five lengths, 11 lengths is just freakish."

And he says that anyone who tells you that they knew this horse had it from the beginning is lying.

"In his maiden start, they had him at 15 to 1."

The man says he might not cash the ticket if he there's a collector out there who wants to keep it or auction it.

"All you have with Secretariat are these $2 win tickets," he said. "There are thousands of them. This is one-of-a-kind. It could be a huge piece of history."

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