Posted on Tue, Oct. 28, 2003
HORSE RACING
He knows how to pick 'em
South Dakota bettor nets more than $2.6 million by nailing six winners on Breeders' Cup card
By Joe Drape
NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE
ARCADIA, Calif. - On Saturday, Richard Mandella had the kind of day every horseman dreams of: Horses he trained captured a record four Breeders' Cup races, an accomplishment worth more than $4.5 million in purses.
In Rapid City, S.D., a 40-year-old businessman turned in an afternoon that every horseplayer fantasizes about: He successfully picked the winner of six Breeders' Cup races, a betting feat that earned him more than $2.6 million.
Even more impressive was the fact that the sole winning ticket cost only $8.
One year after three former fraternity brothers used inside access and a computer to rig a $3 million payoff on the Breeders' Cup Ultra Pick Six, racing officials immediately examined the circumstances of the winning bet. On Sunday, they declared it to be valid as well as phenomenal.
"There is nothing that we've seen that would indicate it is anything but a legitimate winning ticket," said Ken Kirchner, a senior vice president at the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.
Unlike last year's bogus bet, which was manipulated electronically by a senior programmer named Chris Harn at Autotote, a company that processes 65 percent of the nation's horse racing bets, the winning wager was taken from a known customer by a teller at the Time Out Lounge, an off-track parlor next to the Time Inn Motel in Rapid City.
Software installed in the wake of last year's scandal scanned the scores of pick-six tickets, which totaled nearly $4.5 million in bets, after each leg of the bet. Last year, Harn, through his accomplice, made the bet electronically, so he was able to infiltrate the pools via a computer after four races were run and change the selections made on the first four legs to the winners. Because his tickets had every horse selected in the last two legs, Harn was assured to have a winning ticket.
Harn and his accomplices, Derrick Davis and Glen DaSilva, pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit computer and wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. They are serving their sentences in federal prison.
In addition, according to Kirchner, a California state auditor examined this year's pick-six wagers independently. By the time the Classic, the sixth and final leg of the bet, was run, officials knew that there were only four tickets remaining with a chance to win. The other three tickets featured the 5-2 favorite, Medaglia d'Oro; the 4-1 second choice, Ten Most Wanted; and the 6-1 shot Congaree.
Only the South Dakota man, who is still trying to decide whether to go public, had Perfectly Pleasant at 14-1. It was the only selection on his ticket.
In fact, in four of the six races, he made only one choice: he selected Six Perfections (6-1) in the Mile, Islington (3-1) in the Filly and Mare Turf, and High Chaparral (5-1) in the Turf. The Turf is the second-to-last leg of the pick six, and the bettor had to endure a photo finish and 13-minute delay before the stewards decided that High Chaparral and Johar had finished in a dead heat for first place.
In the Sprint, he chose two horses: the favorite, Aldebaran, and Cajun Beat, who won at 22-1. In the Juvenile, he chose Tiger Hunt (4-1) and Action This Day, who won at 26-1. Bolstering the man's credibility was that he bet a series of pick-three wagers -- a wager where a bettor must select three straight winners -- using the same horses with similar success.
The man came to the Time Out on Saturday night and collected $4,000 on the pick-three tickets, said June LaCroix, the owner of the bar and simulcast site. "We sent him over to the bar while we did the IRS paperwork," she said. "He had some money to spend and everyone was real excited, but we stayed pretty well-behaved."
When Perfectly Pleasant, trained by who else but Mandella, romped home the winner, a career betting day was complete. But just as Mandella has to settle for the trainer's 10 percent cut of that $4.5 million in purses, it was not a complete sweep for the savvy bettor.
"He had a partner," LaCroix said, "another nice fellow who he's going to split it with."
HORSE RACING
He knows how to pick 'em
South Dakota bettor nets more than $2.6 million by nailing six winners on Breeders' Cup card
By Joe Drape
NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE
ARCADIA, Calif. - On Saturday, Richard Mandella had the kind of day every horseman dreams of: Horses he trained captured a record four Breeders' Cup races, an accomplishment worth more than $4.5 million in purses.
In Rapid City, S.D., a 40-year-old businessman turned in an afternoon that every horseplayer fantasizes about: He successfully picked the winner of six Breeders' Cup races, a betting feat that earned him more than $2.6 million.
Even more impressive was the fact that the sole winning ticket cost only $8.
One year after three former fraternity brothers used inside access and a computer to rig a $3 million payoff on the Breeders' Cup Ultra Pick Six, racing officials immediately examined the circumstances of the winning bet. On Sunday, they declared it to be valid as well as phenomenal.
"There is nothing that we've seen that would indicate it is anything but a legitimate winning ticket," said Ken Kirchner, a senior vice president at the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.
Unlike last year's bogus bet, which was manipulated electronically by a senior programmer named Chris Harn at Autotote, a company that processes 65 percent of the nation's horse racing bets, the winning wager was taken from a known customer by a teller at the Time Out Lounge, an off-track parlor next to the Time Inn Motel in Rapid City.
Software installed in the wake of last year's scandal scanned the scores of pick-six tickets, which totaled nearly $4.5 million in bets, after each leg of the bet. Last year, Harn, through his accomplice, made the bet electronically, so he was able to infiltrate the pools via a computer after four races were run and change the selections made on the first four legs to the winners. Because his tickets had every horse selected in the last two legs, Harn was assured to have a winning ticket.
Harn and his accomplices, Derrick Davis and Glen DaSilva, pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit computer and wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. They are serving their sentences in federal prison.
In addition, according to Kirchner, a California state auditor examined this year's pick-six wagers independently. By the time the Classic, the sixth and final leg of the bet, was run, officials knew that there were only four tickets remaining with a chance to win. The other three tickets featured the 5-2 favorite, Medaglia d'Oro; the 4-1 second choice, Ten Most Wanted; and the 6-1 shot Congaree.
Only the South Dakota man, who is still trying to decide whether to go public, had Perfectly Pleasant at 14-1. It was the only selection on his ticket.
In fact, in four of the six races, he made only one choice: he selected Six Perfections (6-1) in the Mile, Islington (3-1) in the Filly and Mare Turf, and High Chaparral (5-1) in the Turf. The Turf is the second-to-last leg of the pick six, and the bettor had to endure a photo finish and 13-minute delay before the stewards decided that High Chaparral and Johar had finished in a dead heat for first place.
In the Sprint, he chose two horses: the favorite, Aldebaran, and Cajun Beat, who won at 22-1. In the Juvenile, he chose Tiger Hunt (4-1) and Action This Day, who won at 26-1. Bolstering the man's credibility was that he bet a series of pick-three wagers -- a wager where a bettor must select three straight winners -- using the same horses with similar success.
The man came to the Time Out on Saturday night and collected $4,000 on the pick-three tickets, said June LaCroix, the owner of the bar and simulcast site. "We sent him over to the bar while we did the IRS paperwork," she said. "He had some money to spend and everyone was real excited, but we stayed pretty well-behaved."
When Perfectly Pleasant, trained by who else but Mandella, romped home the winner, a career betting day was complete. But just as Mandella has to settle for the trainer's 10 percent cut of that $4.5 million in purses, it was not a complete sweep for the savvy bettor.
"He had a partner," LaCroix said, "another nice fellow who he's going to split it with."
