Washington Bettor Calls Rainbow^6 Score a Miracle

It has been a good five weeks for Rainbow^6 players on TwinSpires.com.

Just days after the official wagering site of the Kentucky Derby gave away a $20,000 bonus to Rainbow^6 players who qualified by hitting the bet in December, Jesse Sherman of Washington became the lone winner of the jackpot Pick 6 wager on Saturday, hitting for $317,161.44 on a $33.60 bet.

“To tell you the truth on this one, I’m calling it a miracle,” Sherman said Tuesday, three days after taking down racing’s biggest jackpot. “I handicapped the first [leg, race 6], and I liked that longshot [48-to-1 Noble Prince], so I thought I’d go for the carryover. The other five races I was just pretty much in the dark. So call it dumb luck, a miracle, or a gift from god.”

And while luck may have been involved, it wasn’t all that dumb, as Sherman added that one of his guiding principles when handicapping Gulfstream is to use “outside horses who have a chance;” the winning sequence of 8-9-9-9-3-8 had five of the six winners from post 8 or beyond.

Sherman’s ticket went 1x1x2x3x4x7 and was in excellent shape heading into the final leg of the wager, as any of his seven horses hit the jackpot and any horse but the favorite would have given him a five of six consolation payout (there were multiple tickets alive to the rail horse but none of them Sherman’s). Despite the most likely winner standing between him and thousands (maybe hundreds of thousands) of dollars, Sherman did not hedge w/ the 12-to-5 favorite Dobra Historia.

“I sat tight,” Sherman said. “It was a lot easier to root against one horse than to have to cheer for anyone. It was pretty intense, but it was a good feeling.”

Sherman had already booked a win on the day, as he not only singled Noble Prince to kick off the Rainbow^6 but had win and place money on the longshot, who was coming off three consecutive losses by a combined 46 ¾ lengths.

“He had won at Calder [Gulfstream Park West] four races back, and I figured if he could win there he could compete with these,” Sherman said. “There’s no way he should have been that price, so I singled him and went for the carryover.”

From there, it was relatively smooth sailing, as four of the next five races were decided by more than a length, and the favorite in the last race was never a win threat.

Sherman, 51, has three things planned for the money, which totaled $237,877.44 after automatic withholding: pay off all his debt, put a “substantial chunk” in savings, and go on vacation.

The Rainbow^6 has proven popular because of the potential to make a life-changing score on a bet with a base of just $0.20. TwinSpires.com’s $20,000 Rainbow^6 Bonus promotion in December helped the site more than double its handle on the bet in the month while increasing share 54.5%. Sixty-six TwinSpires.com players hit the Rainbow^6 at least once in December and received $250 for each share of the Bonus.