Fun Fact; Exterminator raced and won at old Latonia Raceway in Latonia, KY on the site, today, of Turfway Park in a prep race for the 44th running of the Kentucky Derby (1918). In that year's Run for the Roses Exterminator finished first in a field of eight in just under 2 minutes 11 seconds on a track rated as "Muddy" (no surprise, right?) and paid $61.20 to win.
Not-so-fun Fact; Many years ago I bid unsuccessfully on the silver julep cup awarded to the owners of Exterminator for winning that Latonia prep race.
Records for wagering on both the Derby itself and for Derby Day in its entirety were set this year:
Southwest Ohio, also known as God's Country, continues to be among the strongest television markets for the Kentucky Derby:
Way to go, Cincinnati and Dayton!
There were no 6-of-6 winning tickets for the Derby Day Pick Six. Learning of such, a handicapper's mind immediately seizes upon one compound word; Carryover!
Following the teeming mass of humanity that descends upon Churchill Downs each year for Oaks and Derby Days and litters the premises with race programs, Daily Racing Forms, losing tickets, a not-insignificant number of winning tickets, hot dog wrappers, paper cups, dashed hopes and crippled dreams, the Twin Spires goes dark for a few days to put the place back into running order. Thus, it would not be until the following Thursday that live racing would return to Louisville, KY and bring with it a Pick Six carryover of $770,000.00. Expecting considerably more greenbacks to flood into the pool, I made like noted horse racing enthusiast Peter Edward Rose and dove in headfirst.
The Thursday race card was filled with vastly less-accomplished thoroughbreds than inhabited Churchill Downs the previous week.
Using a common pejorative for such races and fields, "cheap races/horses." Implied in those derogatives is the expectation of less predictability of outcomes among horses proven to be inconsistent competitors exhibiting poor results. Even so, the Pick Six pool - bouyed by the three-quarter million dollar Derby Day carryover - ballooned to nearly $2 million dollars. Horse players all around the globe aimed to take their shot.
The Derby Day Pick Six was set as a $2 minimum wager. On Thursday, the minimum wager for the Pick Six was set at $0.20. Accordingly, I loaded up my ticket with more combinations than typically would be financially practical.
As you can see, I had 3 winners, a second, a third and an also-ran that amounted to a payout of nothing.
There were two dozen winning tickets each of which paid $81,891.72.
Roll the credits!
