Record Breaking 50-1 payout at the Kentucky Derby
Danielle Almond – gambling on line magazine.com
May 3, 2009 - The 135th running of the Kentucky Derby took place
on Saturday with a total of 153,563 turning up despite horrible weather to watch
the races. An outsider, Mine That Bird, won which gave one of the biggest
payoffs in the Derby’s history at 50-1.
Eventually paying off $103.20 Mine the Bird is the second biggest ever paying
out horse since Donerail in 1913 who paid out at $184.90
Not everyone had as much faith in Mine That Bird with Sports Interaction listing
the horse at 80-1 at the beginning of the day however this was lowered to 35-1
by the afternoon with odds typically being slashed quickly even after a few bets
are placed at the longer odds.
Punters must have been keen to collect their winnings though with both the
Sports Interaction and Gambling911 websites crashing directly after the race.
As well as being one of the most unlikely winners Mine That Bird also had the
largest margin of victory the Derby has ever seen beating the previous record
set in 2006 by Barbaro by 1 and a half lengths taking the new record to eight
lengths.
Mine that Bird has a true under dog’s story with an average pedigree and past
performance. He was also purchased for only $7,000 which is nothing compared to
the millions spent on the 18 other thoroughbreds competing in the race.
Another record broken by this years Derby is for television ratings with the
highest figures in 17 years being recorded with 22% of all TVs in use at the
time tuning into the Derby.