After I wrote about an Arizona man who can win almost $19,000 from a $150 bet on Big Brown made before he ran the Kentucky Derby, I expected to get a couple notes of other people who had money on the line.
The best one I got though was from reader Glenn Ellis, who said Big Brown has already come through for him--to the tune of $60,300 off a $300 bet. The image posted here is his ticket.
And here's his story:
"My friend Rob Hutcherson from Louisville, Kentucky joined me out at the Venetian. We are both very big horse racing enthusiasts and happened to bet Big Brown at his Gulfstream Allowance race on March 5th. What struck us about Big Brown is that we have never seen a three-year-old go such a quick first quarter then draw off by 10 lengths under a hand ride. The ironic part is that the race was scheduled on the turf and was switched to the main track after the rain. Big Brown was never being pointed for the Kentucky Derby and had zero graded stakes earnings which are necessary to even make the starting gate the first Saturday of May. After witnessing the most impressive race ever won by a three-year-old that day, before the results were official, we noticed he was eligible for the Kentucky Derby and ran to the window and made our $300 wager at an unheard of 200 to 1.
As you previously pointed out, most sports books will not give out that kind of action because of the potential loss. However, based on our strong play the bosses decided to give us the action. I suppose that nobody (including us) would ever think he would actually go to the Derby let alone win. Big Brown was not even part of the three separate Kentucky Derby Future pools until the third and final pool where he went off 3 to 1. The fact the Venetian even had him listed as his own entity and not just part of the field at 6 to 1 was a miracle in itself. After the race was official we even tried to put an additional $200 on him to win but the odds dropped to 100 to 1 so we decided to not accept that wager and just be happy if we won the $60,000.
Needless to say, the way Big Brown won the Kentucky Derby and in fact will win the Triple Crown makes our story one for the ages. Big Brown is the greatest horse of our generation and will show the world this on Saturday. I hope you and your readers can enjoy a copy of this ticket to prove miracles and dreams can come true."
Questions? Comments? SportsBiz@cnbc.com
