Woman wins $1.2M on $18 Kentucky Derby bet

The favorite has won the Kentucky Derby for six consecutive years, the longest streak in the race’s history. Apollo was the last to it and, thus, the curse was named for him.

The final horse was an easy pick: she chose Justify to win the Kentucky Derby, as did apparently everyone else at Churchill Downs that day.

Winning the Kentucky Derby in only a horse’s fourth lifetime start has been accomplished just twice before.

A Texas woman won $1.2 million on an $18 “Pick 5” bet that included Kentucky Derby victor Justify. Justify earned $1,432,000 for the victory and rewarded his pari-mutuel backers with $7.80 on a $2 bet to win, $6 to place and $4.40 to show.

Good Magic, who ran a good but futile second, is on the fence for the Preakness.

“My job was just to get him out of there”, he said. “He has that presence about him”.

Among the masses are celebrities, who’ve come for the races and the parties.

“He’s the most handsome horse”, Baffert said. It was also Baffert’s fifth Derby victory. Last year’s victor, Cloud Computing, won with a time of 1:55.98.

To understand how she got there, you need to understand a little bit about the sometimes-arcane world of betting on horse racing. But he said: “I’ve never been on a 3-year-old like this”. The woman has been going to the racetrack for years. “The horse will tell us”. He is so above average; he’s got unbelievable talent and he’s got a mind to go with it. “Supercharged”, is how Baffert described it. Chad Brown, the trainer of Good Magic, said after the race that he would not take his horse to the Preakness.

However, the big money in horse racing is in the so-called “exotic” bets.

We asked if we could start putting Justify in the same conversation as American Pharoah – who won the Triple Crown – and Baffert told us it’s not a insane comparison.

“Right now I’m thinking just keep him healthy”, he said.

The horse’s large ownership group reflects the rise of partnerships across the industry, even among the sport’s most powerful owners.

It may take partner Sol Kumin a little longer to total his Churchill winnings since he is also a partner in Monomoy Girl, the victor of the Kentucky Oaks on May 4. But the trend to team up, Wolf said, is here to stay.

The Sport of Kings knighted a brand new millionaire.

After Justify came through with the win, that decision to up the odds wound up being worth $25,000 in extra cash for the lucky bettor.

“For a horse to do what he has done he has to be really great”, Baffert said. “In fact, it’s the first time it’s happened at Retama”. Surely, Kumin now felt differently.

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