[Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]
- From: frank mcelligott via Derby
- Date: Mon, 4 Jul 2022 14:41:10 -0700 (PDT)
- Subject:
[Derby] the list had the same info from zito
But the lister kept it to himself, but posted it after the race. We know who it was,but will never forgive him..... The biggest score of his life came with the help of a contact. Four nights before the 2004 Belmont Stakes, Goldberg, who provided horse racing analysis for ESPN at the time, had his annual dinner at Umberto's pizzeria with trainer and longtime friend Nick Zito. That year, Zito had entered a promising runner named Birdstone in the demanding 1½-mile Belmont, but the colt was coming off a disappointing eighth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby and was a double-digit longshot. He was set to face the undefeated and ultra impressive Smarty Jones, who was looking to become the first Triple Crown winner since 1978 and had been installed as the heavy 2-5 morning-line favorite. "Nick said, 'This horse that I have has been training his eyeballs out in Saratoga, and nobody knows it,'" Goldberg recalled. "He said, 'The race really sets up for him.' He said Smarty Jones' jockey [Stewart Elliott] would screw up on the backside. 'Our horse will be off-the-pace and will run down Smarty Jones. Trust me.' So I figured, what the hell?" Goldberg used Birdstone in his Pick 4, daily double, exacta, trifecta and superfecta wagers. Smarty Jones left the starting gate at 3-10, while Birdstone went off at 36-1, the third-longest shot in the nine-horse field. The race played out exactly as Zito had predicted, with Elliott moving prematurely on Smarty Jones and Birdstone surging past in the final strides of the race. Goldberg won $24,000. _______________________________________________ Derby mailing list Posting: Derby at lists.derbylist.com Sub/Unsub: http://lists.derbylist.com/listinfo.cgi/derby-derbylist.com