Framed on the wall in Lance Gasaway’s home is a $100 bill.
It was not the first Benjamin Franklin he had earned, nor was it a symbol of achieving an important goal. Instead, it is a reminder of winning bets between friends.
“He has Bayou Well , a really good horse with Derby potential,” trainer Kenny McPeek recalled on May 5. “We made a side bet, ‘I bet you a hundred that I beat you in the race This.’ So I rode a horse (flint my man) and he runs Wells Bayou. I finished second, he won the race.”
After winning that first special weight class on October 26, 2019, at KeenelandGasaway had McPeek sign the C note before framing.
“When I walked into his house, I could see my $100,” McPeek said.
Afterward Mystik Dan won the $5 million Kentucky Derby (G1) on May 4 at Churchill DownsThere are now many hundred dollar bills among them.
Thinking back, that almost didn’t happen.
Gasaway, co-owner gold money colt with cousin Brent Gasaway and wife Sharilyn Gasaway—4G Racing—as well as Daniel Hamby III, and Valley View Farm, which had originally planned to retire Mystik Dan’s mare, Dear madam .
McPeek, who helped Lance Gasaway get her along with his father Clint and brother Greg, convinced him to breed her instead. When his father and brother gave up the business, Lance Gasaway turned to his current partners to take the next steps.
Relying heavily on McPeek’s expertise, the coach recommended pairing Ma’am with the Goldencents. This created Mystik Dan.
“Lance and Shararilyn are great people to have here,” McPeek said. “They came in and decided to take it all in and enjoy it. I just believe in mojo. I believe in positive energy. And we had a lot of that.”
“We feel like we’re just normal people and we just got an amazing horse that God gave us,” Sharlyn Gasaway said.
Bred by Lance Gasaway, Hamby and 4G Racing, Mystik Dan is now 3-1-1 in seven starts and has earned $3,741,360.
He is also the gift that keeps on giving. Sunday morning at the barn, Lance and Sharlyn Gasaway were presented with replica World Wrestling Entertainment championship belts with customized plates honoring the 150th Kentucky Derby. traditional, while the other belt is made of horse bridle.
Thinking about how far they had come, Lance Gasaway was amazed.
“Just pinching myself. You just wonder if this is real,” he said after the race. “She just won the biggest horse race in America. I mean, who would have thought, ma’am, that we’d take a little horse, and run it, and not breed it for a $10,000 stud fee, and win the Kentucky Derby? It’s really surreal.”
