Bad Luck Board Visits Gronkowski and Haunt

A Painful Beat as Gronkowski is Edged Out by a Nose by Thunder Snow

  [caption id="attachment_42127" align="alignleft" width="300"] Thunder Snow and Gronkowski 2019 Dubai World Cup (Horsephotos.com)[/caption] Adding blinkers for his third career start in Saturday’s third race at Gulfstream Park, Haunt was backed down to the 4-1 second choice in the field of nine maiden three-year-olds. Unfortunately, the Bill Mott-trained colt broke through the gate and, after being reloaded, bobbled at the start. More than six lengths back after a half-mile, Haunt was even farther back once he commenced a very wide bid into the stretch. He finished fifth, beaten 6 1/2 lengths. Minutes later, in the Dubai World Cup (G1) at Meydan, Gronkowski unexpectedly ran the race of his life at odds of 40-1. Showing more early foot than seen previously, the 2018 Belmont Stakes-placed colt engaged pacesetter North America entering the backside and then seized the lead around the far turn. Opening up slightly in upper stretch, Gronkowski continued to fight on when pressured by Thunder Snow and yielded only narrowly at the wire to that rival, who made history becoming the first two-time winner of the World Cup. We at TwinSpires.com consider the losses by Haunt and Gronkowski to be bad luck and in part unforeseeable via normal handicapping processes. In our quest to do things differently, TwinSpires has instituted a Bad Luck Board. Every Monday, TwinSpires will select a race or races from the preceding weekend in which we feel unforeseen circumstances or just plain bad luck cost our players and compensate them. In our attempt to deliver a win one loss at a time, TwinSpires will refund $10 to all players who bet $10 or more on Haunt. For those that bet $10 or more to Win on Gronkowski, they will be compensated $410, the amount a $10 Win wager would have paid had Gronkowski won.