[robmpink]

Not the most you ever won, but your first big score?

Mine was in 95 or 96. I bet my last $5 on what I thought was 2 exactas at Detroit Race Course on a self betting machine. I got the tickets and it said Arlington. Obviously I hit the wrong track. I look at the screen and Arlington isn't going off for 20 minutes. Better yet, the horse I keyed in my 2 exactas was 40-1. I was about 20 and really was going to throw the ticket on the floor and just leave. In retrospect, I hope I would have left w/ the ticket in pocket and just checked the results later.

Anyway I stayed and watched the race. I got the exacta on both tickets and got a little over $600.

[DDT]

I'm still waiting to cash my big one!

[BGboothA]

My first pick 4. Was betting online and bet $2 with 3 singles and a double in the last.

Watched all three races and won. The final race came down to a photo. In the end I won. I saw the tote board and it read $375. I was do excited I didn't go back into my account that day. The next day I had over $800 in my betting account. Turned out the screen showed me the $0.50 price. I got to celebrate two days in a row.

[Arletta]

1999 Kentucky Derby. I had $42.00 to play the derby with and did 42 -$1 Tri's.


I won $6800

[str]

As a bettor, it was 1971 Belmont. Pass Catcher. That is the day I learned it was O K to bet long shots. He paid 71.00 to win.

As a trainer, it was Grey Squall, June 1st , 1976 @ Pimlico. The 1st horse I ever saddled and it won. Unreal. Tried to watch the race with binoculars but the last 1/8th of a mile they were shaking so bad, I could not see anything.

[balls2wall]

I don't remember. I have hit a few couple hundred dollar pick 3s and 4s off $3-$6 bets.

The one I do remember (sorta) though was the one I missed. I had what was probably a $6-$10 bet on a pick 4. I had it all laid out. I didn't change a single thing except right before the start I took out a long shot (probably 20-1 or so) I had in race 1 and replaced it with the post time favorite since I didn't have the favorite on my ticket. Of course the one horse I removed won race 1 which obviously killed my ticket.

If I would have kept that long shot in race 1 the ticket would have cashed around $1800.

It was about a year ago when I first started doing horse racing so I don't recall all the details, but I am still feeling the pain, LOL. That would have funded me all the way up until now and then some.

[wtt0315]

played 10 dollars on the 3 horse at track out west. I thought i was betting the 4 at 2-1. The 3 horse won and was going through all my tickets and throwing out the losses. I look and saw i hit the 3 instead.. Cool i hit it and went and put it in and it paid 810 dollars. The 3 was 80-1...

[cbiscuit]

My first satisfying score was a Stakes race and I boxed Gulch, Polish Navy and Cryptoclearance for a nice score.
In line with what othrs are entering here I hit an accidental exacta about 10 years ago for about $1500 on a $2 investment!

[Easy-Rider 66]

Biggest hit was Summer Bird in the 2009 Belmont. Bet him in early wagering and made about $700.

[andywend]

The one I do remember (sorta) though was the one I missed.

I loved 2 horses on a 9 race card at Santa Anita and bet $200 to win on the first one and the horse paid $29.80 in race 1.

The second horse I liked wasn't running until the 8th race and was 15-1 on the morning line and was a Noble Threewit claim trying the turf for the first time. I bet $400 to win and $200 to place and left the track.

I tune into KDOC and watch the race replays and the horse went off at 80-1 and had a 5 length lead coming down the hill at Santa Anita. The jockey who rode the horse was Chris Morales (a very weak apprentice jockey) and the horse goes about 10 wide around the last turn all by himself and got beat 2 noses.

The very next race Threewitt moves the horse up into a stakes race going down the hill and replaces Morales with Patrick Valenzuela and the horse breaks the course record and wins by 8 lengths and paid $7 to win.

Would have cleared almost $40K if the horse won at a time when I had about $2,000 in the bank.

That one hurt for quite a while.

[MrExacta]

1996 Preakness Day

My friend kept talking about Preakness Day at the race track. Not knowing or having ever been to a horse race, much less bet on them, I decided to go with him since he made it sound so fun.

This OTB was packed with people at the small track where we live and I didn't think it was much fun other than drinking a few beers, etc.

We were standing in line to make a bet and i was looking up at the monitor with the horses listed, not understanding a single thing I was seeing. The lady asked me what I wanted and I had heard some other people talking about exacta's. She told me that was 2 horses and to tell her what 2 horses I wanted. I didn't have much money so I said give me a $5 Exacta. She again asks what horses. So I look up at the monitor and just blurt out 6-11, so random I can remember saying it and not even knowing what it meant. She printed off a 6-11 straight $5 exacta while my friend laughed and told me all about the lame horses I had picked.

The race starts and we are standing room only packed shoulder to shoulder with other people all staring up at the television screens. The horses are running and they show the four leading horses numbers at the bottom of the screen in little digital numbers, it starts with 6-11-x-x. I start getting excited as they are running around the 1st turn, which immediately receives laughs from most of the people standing around us. I hear things like..."still a long way to go"....blah blah. Louis Quatorze ends up wiring the field with Pat Day, Skip Away trailed in 2nd most of the race, so I got watch my 6-11-x-x digital numbers stay the same the entire race. I can't remember how much it paid but it was a lot for me at that time.

The funny thing about this is that I rarely ever play straight exacta's because they never seem to hit.

I believe gambling on anything will always produce winners for people that never play or it is their first time ever playing a certain game/sport. This in turn will get them to play again and again, essentially hooking them. I don't know how many beginner's luck stories i've personally watched over the years. It is staggering. Watching someone play $5/hand blackjack, never having ever played before, coming away with $600+ for the trip? Very strange.

That's my story.

MrExacta -`

[LAURIN]

My first trifecta was down in Billings Montana during their spring fair. The favorite fell under the loading gate, and the doctor said he was fine to race. He came in last and the horses I had came in 1,2,3. Go figure. The other one I was a $20.00 WP on a 17/1 in the Kentucky Derby.