The big hit: Cashing a $2,700 superfecta 20 times over

Horse Racing Nation is highlighting readers’ best betting days at the races -- how they chased the big score and cashed in -- with this new weekly feature. Let us know about your big hit here. Whereas many stories shared of big payoffs and life-changing scores involve lengthy multi-race sequences, Tim Rogers found out it sometimes only takes a minute and 34 seconds, or the time New Money Honey spent to hit the wire in the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. New Money Honey scored at 6.5-1, but it’s those who finished just behind her that make this a story worth telling years later. Rogers and his neighbor nailed the superfecta many times over on a $2 base bet to gross $55,942. After taxes, they split $41,957. “We did a four horse super box,” said Rogers, who lives in Louisville, Ky. “It cost us $48. He gave me half and I put in half.” Not bad for a few minutes of watching the races on Breeders’ Cup Friday from Santa Anita Park. RELATED: More bettors share their big hit stories

 

Rogers couldn’t get off work for the day, so placed a few bets from his phone. No luck to start off. He hurried home, then invited his neighbor in to watch the remainder of the card. “He really enjoys betting and I asked him if he’d come over and we’d bet the last two races,” Rogers said. “He said he wasn’t prepared but would just do what I did.” Rogers had a few opinions on the Juvenile Fillies Turf and was fair confident in his choices for the superfecta wager, which he knew he was going to box. “I narrowed it down,” said Rogers, who gravitated toward five fillies. “I liked New Money Honey for Chad Brown and Javier Castellano on board. I really liked Lull. I had seen Lull a couple weeks before at the Jesamine at Keeneland. It was a mile-and-a-sixteenth race and she lost to La Coronel, who was another horse that I had some interest in, but I didn’t like her post at No. 14 so she was the first one I eliminated.” A five-horse superfecta box with a $2 base bet costs $240, but cutting one horse from the ticket drops the price to a much more manageable $48. “My neighbor was like, ‘Man, just pick four horses and let’s roll with it,’” said Rogers. “I had New Money Honey locked in and Lull locked in. I really liked Roly Poly, Coasted and Hydrangea, which was the No. 1 horse, and I didn’t like the No.1 post position so I eliminated her.” But, as is so often the case with horseplayers, Rogers made a last minute change to the ticket. It made the difference. “When it came down to it, I eliminated Roly Poly in the No. 13 position, and chose Cavale Doree, the No. 9 horse, just because earlier in the telecast, they’re like, ‘Whatever you do, don’t leave Flavien Prat out when he’s racing at Santa Anita,’” Rogers said. “It just stuck in my head and I said, ‘I’m going with it.’” As expected, Lull got out to an early lead, setting a quick pace well ahead of the next contenders. But as she tired, New Money Honey surged to overtake about 50 yards from the wire. Lull was passed twice more -- by Coasted (23.5-1) and Cavale Doree (15.1-1) -- and rounded out the superfecta. “We were sitting there in shock,” Rogers said. “We were waiting for the replay, and indeed we hit it. We thought we were going to win 17 or 18 grand. And when it became it official it showed the 10-cent super as $2,700, and we were like, ‘We just hit this twenty times, right?’” The two “danced a jig” in the living room when Rogers advanced deposit wagering account confirmed the winnings, then settled up immediately. Said Rogers: “It was a pleasure writing him a check for over $20,000.”