An Incredible Derby Tip Cashes In from 1982
The upcoming Kentucky Derby is the famous horse race at Churchill Downs in Louisville Kentucky. The two week long Kentucky Derby Festival ends with the horse race dubbed “the greatest two minutes in sports”. The Derby is the first of the big three Triple Crown races followed by the Preakness at Pimlico, Maryland and the final leg of the Crown at Belmont Park in Queens, New York.
Betting on the Derby is the biggest entertainment ticket for all those bettors and non bettors who flood the sports books looking for their horse to gallop in to the money with a substantial payout. With up to 24 horses in the field each Derby, you can expect a wild ride and long shot money to appear. Horse racing has lost its appeal over the years but the Kentucky Derby always brings it back for a brief shinning moment.
I remember and cherish the incredible Derby tip I received in 1982 on the most majestic of animals, a thoroughbred racehorse named Gato Del Sol — Cat of the Sun.
Living back on Long Island, New York as a young 34 year old hospital account supervisor in the early eighties, I enjoyed betting sports with the neighborhood mob runner at the local sports pub. Landline phone wagering was the common betting vehicle. No cash traded hands until the betting week was over after Monday night. Tuesday was usually hump day of coughing up the greens or collecting a few bucks. Times have changed in 35 years but handicapping is still the same but with better information tools at your disposal.
As an account supervisor at a small hospital, I needed to update received items and check inventory data and connect with co-workers. Most days I would usually get down to shipping and receiving department to talk sports, gambling and other male topics with two cool worker running the department. One worker was a friend and colorful character Nick, who tells me he has a very strong legitimate tip on the Derby running the next day, Saturday. Guys can boast about their knowledge and how they have inside information from an inside source — we have all heard that one before.
But Nick really did have inside information from an inside source. As it turns out, the inside source was a breeding specialist researcher who plays softball each week with Nick. Nick explains that his softball buddy called him last night and said he was working with the owners of a few Derby horses down in Kentucky. His research involves rating the potential of the horse through his bloodlines. Who was the sire and the mare who produced the foal and trace back a few generations to find any champion traits.
Nick is telling me what his friend related to him from Kentucky. The gist of the conversation was his buddy opened up about a horse named Gato Del Sol. whose breeding line was a strong breed from the grandsire and was a viable longshot at 20 to 1. He said the horse ran great fractions during a Wednesday workout. This expert friend of Nick was so sure and said the horse runs from behind and is a closer. That is what his breeding records indicated. The horse loves to run on a soft track if it rains as the weather forecast was partly cloudy with maybe a trace of rain. But it did not matter as the horse will wait its turn at the back and close strong to be in the money — first, second or third.
I thanked Nick for the inside information. It is Friday, one day before the Derby and I am anxious to let my fellow bettors down at the pub hear about a real tip from a real insider and the advice he gave about the horse. The word gets spread around during happy hour at the pub and we hope to bang the bookie and the OTB parlor — legal off track betting.
What happens on Derby Saturday is a day I will cherish and smile about forever.
The running of the 1982 Kentucky Derby is remembered as the “Topsy-Turvy Derby”, the one in which last finished first. By the end of the mile and a quarter race, Gato Del Sol had come from last place in a field of 19 to win the 108th Kentucky Derby. The race unfolded just as the expert researcher told Nick. He closed in the stretch run to win handily. He called the race exactly and was the best tip I ever recalled from an expert in the field, not just some tout handicapper.
Gato Del Sol paid $44 to win, $19 to place and $9 to show. The bookie lost about $7000 to about 10 of us amateurs. It bailed out a lot of us down money that week. I was a mini hero for this inside information and I did not pay for any drinks over the next few weeks.
