Larry Jones was already having a great day: His second-string Kentucky Derby prospect, Friesan Fire, had just cruised to a dominating victory in the Louisiana Derby in New Orleans and here he was in the paddock of Oaklawn Park putting a saddle on undefeated Old Fashioned for the Rebel Stakes.
Jerome Myers is a practical handicapper. He had a colt in the Rebel, Win Willy, but he still thought Old Fashioned was a deserving 1-9 favorite. So he bet a 1-9 exacta, hoping his colt would finish second to Old Fashioned. After all, Win Willy was a 56-1 long shot.
When the field of nine turned for home in the mile-and-one-sixteenth race, Myers felt pretty smart. Win Willy was coming from dead last and passing horses.
When they hit the stretch, however, all that stood between Win Willy and the finish line was Old Fashioned, and Win Willy catapulted ahead for an emphatic two-and-a-quarter-length victory in the Grade II, US$300,000 Rebel Stakes, turning the Kentucky Derby picture upside down.
There is not another three-year-old in the US, however, who is as unlikely a candidate as Win Willy. The son of 2001 Derby winner Monarchos was bought for a bargain US$25,000 on the final day of the Keeneland September Sale, which is where trainers like Mac Robertson shop for clients like Myers who love racehorses but are hardly millionaires.
The colt had won two of his three races and never had gone around two turns before he pulled into the gate for the Rebel, which also was his first stakes try.
Robertson already was having a good meet. Last month, he sold Hamazing Destiny for US$1.5 million after the colt won his debut race by ten-and-a-half lengths. Now, Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas trains Hamazing Destiny, who finished second to last.
“You sold us the wrong horse,” Lukas joked after the race.
Robertson said entering Win Willy in the Rebel was a last minute decision.
“I knew I had a closer, and we might get fast fractions,” Robertson said. “We could either run for a US$30,000 allowance, or take a shot here and maybe pick up second or third.”
Instead, Myers, a retired sheet metal manufacturer, earned a winning check of US$180,000, and Win Willy’s backers got a windfall US$115.60 for a US$2 bet
It was the richest race any of his horses had ever won over the 25-years that he is been in the game. Now, he, too, is on the road to the Kentucky Derby, which took the sting out of not betting Win Willy on top of his exacta. It paid US$3.20.
“I still have to pay for dinner, though,” he said.
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