This morning's (my time) Dubai World Cup stretch run was the most exciting since... well, since it looked like longshot Gronkowski might ruin Justify's attempt to win the Triple Crown last June.
Do you know what it's like to bet on three horses in a 12-horse race, and at the top of the stretch, have two of those horses separate from the rest... and one of them is at 40-1? It looked like Gronkowski on the rail was going to win, and I was about to faint because I couldn't believe he had it in him -- but I'd bet him because he was the reason I won money on the Belmont Stakes when he was a surprising second to heavy favorite Justify -- and then Thunder Snow, who I was also betting out of sentiment, because he won this same race last year at 17-1 when I had tickets on him, just got up to edge Gronkowski by a couple of inches. Modest payoffs for 4-1 Thunder Snow and huge for Gronkowski, especially since I had them boxed in the Exacta. All told, bet $18 on the race and got back a whopping $218.30 Who hoo! There's nothing like betting longshots, especially when one has a sentimental attachment.
Good old Thunder Snow. He was one of three horses I bet in the 2017 Kentucky Derby, and he came out of the gate like a bucking bronco -- wanted nothing to do with all that mud -- and was pulled up. I stayed loyal when he returned home Dubai, and bet him at 17-1 when he was an easy winner of last year's Dubai World Cup. He hadn't won since, but I stayed with him once again as one of my selections. He had to put in a 110% effort to get by Gronkowski, and while I would have won a whole lot more if Gronkowski had gotten the nod in the photo, I love that Thunder Snow is now the only two-time winner of the richest horse race in the world. Quite a comeback in the two years since his hugely disappointing mishap in the Kentucky Derby.
A major Kentucky Derby prep, the Florida Derby, is on later today, but I have little interest. I liked Bourbon War because I won money on him at good odds last out, but now he's 7-2, and I don't bet odds that low.
Nobody puts on a racing show like the Arabs in the UAE. They can't even bet, and they yet the crowd turns out big-time for Dubai World Cup day. I was cashing place and show tickets on longshots throughout the morning. Like the Breeder's Cup, it's so wonderful when there's top races with large fields, so that really good horses can go off at high odds. Still, a 40-1 semi-success story is... wow.
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