Our biggest Kentucky Derby heartbreaks

This week, we'll be strolling down memory lane to revisit several Kentucky Derbies that hold special personal meaning for us. Our second "team blog" looks back at our biggest Derby heartbreaks.

Vance Hanson: Have you ever been completely spot-on about a race and yet walked away with relative peanuts as a reward for your brilliance? For me, the 1995 Kentucky Derby was that race. That Derby was the first on which I could legally bet, and I went to the track feeling only three horses could win: Timber Country, Thunder Gulch, and Tejano Run. Timber Country was part of an entry with Serena's Song that was favored at 3-1, a price I wasn't about to take on a horse who had not looked all that progressive in his Santa Anita preps, and at the time no favorite had won the Derby since 1979. Thunder Gulch, like the entry, was trained by D. Wayne Lukas. The Florida Derby winner's dull fourth in the Blue Grass was excusable, but I have to admit his 24-1 price discouraged me. What could possibly be wrong with him? Tejano Run had placed in both the Jim Beam and Blue Grass and seemed to be sitting on a good race. He was the 8-1 fourth choice. As a high school senior with very limited betting funds, I had to make a decision. I seriously considered both the exacta and trifecta pools, but when push came to shove both wagers seemed too much to risk my small capital on. In the end, I bet my budget on Tejano Run in the win and place pools. As everyone knows, Thunder Gulch scored the upset with Tejano Run second and Timber Country third. A $2 exacta box, costing $12, would have given me a $480 return. A $2 trifecta box, also costing $12, would have returned $2,099.20. Tejano Run paid a measly $10.20 to place by comparison. Instead of proclaiming myself "King of the World" Andy Beyer-style, I was just the latest example that scared money never wins.

 

James Scully: I was sold on Silver Charm after the 1997 San Vicente. It was his first start since capturing the Del Mar Futurity and the gray colt rolled to an impressive win in a fast time. The performance led to a $50 Kentucky Derby wager, at 12-1 odds, while on a Las Vegas trip with friends in early March. Silver Charm proceeded to drop his final two preps, finishing a close second in both the San Felipe and Santa Anita Derby to Free House, who I readily admit to shortchanging at the time as well as dropping some coin on Silver Charm win bets. When I witnessed Pulpit capture the Blue Grass with ease, I officially abandoned ship. I touted the wrong horse on Derby week, with my tickets going into the garbage after Pulpit weakened to fourth, and Silver Charm finally came out on the right side of a close battle, repulsing the late run of Captain Bodgit to win in thrilling fashion. Some solace was to be found from the future bet, but the outcome really stung at the time because of my lack of faith in the future Hall of Famer.