It is rare for the winner of a bet of $1 million or more to pay at least $150 in the winning pool.
But for it to happen twice in the same day?
Welcome to February 26th, the day when the first pari-mutuel lightning struck in Asia when Icon line pull out a shock in the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1) and pay a staggering $229.20 on a $2 winning bet in US betting groups.
About six hours later and about 7,500 miles away in Arkansas, a one-eyed dog bred by the state of New York with the apt name Un Ojo – “One Eye” in Spanish — stunning 75-1 surprise in $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn Park.
Jogging along the tracks in dark, rainy conditions, Cypress Creek Equine’s Un Ojo overtook his teammate The path of purity in the final steps to win the half-length rebellion. He paid a staggering $152.80 to win the 1/16 mile bet on 3-year-olds and secured himself a spot in the May 7 Kentucky Derby. presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).
“It was crazy,” said coach Ricky Courville, who has collected his first ranked bets since he earned his degree in 2008.
Un Ojo galloped home in the rain to win the uprising
Participating in the Rebel race painted the race as another performance for Newgrange who went undefeated by coach Bob Baffert, an eight-time Rebel winner and 4th-5th favorite to add Rebel to a winning list that includes Southwest Stakes (G3) and Oaklawn Park and Sham Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita . Park. But the son of Violence A rare mistake was made by a Baffert-trained 3-year-old in prep for this year’s Kentucky Derby when he pressed for early pace but left space blank and faded into third place. six on field 11.
“I think he’s in a good position. When the run started, he didn’t get where he is today. But it happened,” Baffert said. “He didn’t show up today. I can’t really think of any excuses.”
With Newgrange out of the picture, it opened the door for a nice bonus at the betting windows, but few thought it was a good time 75.
For a long time, it seems Hall of Fame coach D. Wayne Lukas is on the brink of an epic performance stolen from the pages of his record-breaking feat of the past. 1980 and 1990. After winning $300,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) for brilliant 3-year-old fillings Secret Vow earlier on Saturday’s card, Lukas .’s 15-1 shot The path of purity seemed headed for victory in the Uprising with a half-time lead in the eighth column.
Then, Un Ojo entered the picture.
Un Ojo is not without merit in Rebel. He finished second in the 1 1/8 km Withers Stakes (G3) match at Aqueduct race track in his previous start, complete the last 4 and a half paragraphs Vote early , and placed second in a $500,000 New York Stallion Series stake in its 2-year-old finale. However, his odds in those races foreshadowed what happened on Saturday when Laoban’s son went away 28-1 and 23-1 respectively.
Opponents succumb to Un Ojo too late in Rebel
Un Ojo was trained in New York by Tony Dutrow for his two starts there before he returned to Courville, who did gelding training on his first three times, for Rebel.
“It’s a split between me and Tony (Dutrow) because I sent him to Tony, to the Aqueduct, for the winter and Tony had him until Monday and sent him back to us.” Courtville said. “God, I feel bad for Tony. The owners decided (on Rebel). I think Tony wanted to keep him there for (March 5) Gotham Stakes (G3), but they wanted to not shoot. one mile at a time and (Kevin Moody of Cypress Creek Equine) wanted to send him down here and shoot the money. He kept saying two passes would be better for us.”
Bred by Southern Equine Stable in Empire State from AP mare Indy Risk a Chance, the winner of 2 out of 6 starts was the first bet for his dam, who has a 2-year-old stallion. Ghostzapper pony.
Un Ojo and racer Ramon Vazquez hugged the transparent track and finished third after half a mile with: 48.86, behind pacesetting Kavod and Newgrange. They were still third in the eighth column, one length behind Ethereal Road, but gelding showed up in the final game and extended the gap by 1:45.69 on the fast track.
With 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points for the winner, Un Ojo secured his ticket to Churchill Downs on the first Saturday of May while taking second place in the points race.
Aaron Sones ‘Ethereal Road, a Quality Sugar colt, finished second to WSS Racing’s Barber Road and took 20 points to place fourth on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard.
“This horse is a really good pony,” Lukas said. “When he got into all that trouble in the final start and was able to get through it showed his talent. He worked like a good horse. Now we leave. this race with a really good outlook for the races ahead.”
Haircut line the son of Race day coached by John Ortiz, who was second in the Southwest, got 10 points and was fifth with 18 points. Kavod finished fourth and received five points to rise to 19th on the leaderboard.
“We’re really proud of how he ran today in these conditions,” Ortiz said of Barber Road. “It seems that the gap is getting longer and longer, he will continue to improve. That is the most important thing to bring him to Derby.”
Videotapes: Rebel S. (G2)
