How one bettor got Kentucky Derby winner Justify at 300-1

It wasn’t quite a case of turning $18 into $1.2 million, but one sage horse player realized early on: If you can get 300-1 on a horse named Justify, bet it. And bet it big.

In an interview with the Vegas Stats & Information Network, Johnny Avello, odds maker at the Wynn Las Vegas, confirmed that he at least once offered that sky-high price on the eventual Kentucky Derby winner.

“I get a call from a guy I know — very respected horseman — he says to me, ‘Johnny, I’ve got a horse that I want to bet in the future book,’” Avello said.

That conversation happened back in February, before Justify ran the first of his three races leading into the Derby.

“I said OK, I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll give you 250,” Avello said. “He goes, ‘Come on, Johnny. 250?’ So I said I’ll give you 300.”

The ticket cost $500 and returned $150,500.

Bill Krackomberger, who writes for GamingToday.com, provided further context on the ticket — with photo proof — in a pre-Derby column. Krockomberger said a friend of his received a call in February about “a monster of a horse” readying for his debut for trainer Bob Baffert.

“My friend repeated the story out loud when he hung up the phone,” Krockomberger wrote, and it was overhead by “a so-called friend of his,” who then put in a call to get Justify at 300-1 at the Wynn.

The so-called friend didn’t let his buddy in on the ticket, saying he received the same tip from someone else. That’s Vegas for ya.

The Scat Daddy colt ran his first race on Feb. 18, winning by 9 1/2 lengths, and immediately dropped to 18-1 at the Wynn.