Worst bad beats of all time

[ZippyChippy423]

My story. It was about 15 years ago or so( where does the time go?) Anyway I played a $24 pick 6 ticket at Aqueduct. A friend of mine owned a small piece of a horse named “ Speed Jama” ....he was all speed and raced just 5 days before and won. Anyway back to Speed Jama in a few. I was lucky enough to make it through the first 5 legs. Three was an 11-1 somewhere in that sequence so it was pretty exciting to have a shot in the last leg. Knowing it’s very tough for a horse to come back off a 5 day layoff and win I opted off of choosing my friends horse “speed Jama” even though he was confident. My pick was named “ Harry the Rock” and was the only shot I had. As suspected Speed Jama did all the early Speed dirty work while Harry the rock tracked close behind. As Speed Jama folded up on the far turn my horse shot up under and drew away....for about 5 seconds it was a life changing moment. The ticket was paying 18k. The moment came to a screeching halt as a super long shot named “ Fast Is a Turtle” got me deep in the lane. I play that moment over again in my head a few times a year. This was the same time of year my bad beat happened oh the memories. BTW the turtle horse next time out won at double digits again. Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas !

[chiguy]

It was sometime in the 1990's, Friday night racing at Hollywood along with Los Al etc. My best buddy and I put together a place/pick all at HP. I believe we put in $32 each. When we handicapped the races the night before the one race we agreed on with one horse was the last race. I think there were 9 races back in those days. It was a Mike Mitchell off the claim with Corey N. riding. The horse was 4/5 on the morning line. Don't remember his name. We singled him to close out the ticket. The only thing we discussed was that he was 0-0-0 in 12 starts at HP. However we both agreed that there was no way he could not at least finish 2nd in a truly bad field of claimers going 1 1/8. We got through the first 8 races with two races where we had both horses. In addition we had a race with two double digits odds horses run 1-2 and we had one of them. Another race with a 5-1 and 40 something to 1 where we had the 5-1. We had no idea what it was going to be paying but we were standing in line to cash 15 minutes before the race went off, with our SS cards in hand we were so confident. Anyways as you have guessed by now the horse didn't run in the first two. In fact he never picked up his feet at all and ran last all around the track. The bet paid just over 16k. We figured maybe 5k with this horse in it and we would have had it a few times.

[Cuffdaddy]

Around 3 years ago so my memory of exact amounts are foggy but I was live to 4 horses for entire Pick 4 pool at either Delta or Evangeline. One of my horses wins the race and I go crazy, the pool was approx 25K. Anyway, I sitting there waiting for the official sign to post, 5 minutes pass then 10 then 20, track announcer saying tote delay. They then declare race a no contest and pay to all in that last leg and I collect a tad under 10K. The following race goes off as planned with no further issues.
I called track the next day and was told it was the tote company who caused the issue and track decided instead of waiting longer they had to go on with the card.

[thaskalos]

Around 3 years ago so my memory of exact amounts are foggy but I was live to 4 horses for entire Pick 4 pool at either Delta or Evangeline. One of my horses wins the race and I go crazy, the pool was approx 25K. Anyway, I sitting there waiting for the official sign to post, 5 minutes pass then 10 then 20, track announcer saying tote delay. They then declare race a no contest and pay to all in that last leg and I collect a tad under 10K. The following race goes off as planned with no further issues.
I called track the next day and was told it was the tote company who caused the issue and track decided instead of waiting longer they had to go on with the card.

It's nice to score for just under 10K on your "worst bad beat of all time". :ThmbUp:

[Cuffdaddy]

It's nice to score for just under 10K on your "worst bad beat of all time". :ThmbUp:

Funny, I have had others where I collected zilch but for some reason this one stuck with me, I think because it was the entire pool and I had already won, so I thought.
As I am sure you are very aware, if you bet long enough virtually every possible thing can happen in this game and it is a learned experience to be able to purge the pain as soon as possible.
The clearer the mind the better the handicapping.

[lex]

Sorry about that loss but now I'm wondering what ever happened to Fast Iz A Turtle. I remember him well. I think maybe he ended up at Finger Lakes.

[ZippyChippy423]

Sorry about that loss but now I'm wondering what ever happened to Fast Iz A Turtle. I remember him well. I think maybe he ended up at Finger Lakes.

The turtle had his last race at Finger Lakes in 2009. I still have not gotten over my bad beat. The Turtle nailed my horse at the wire at over 40-1. The pick six paid 150,000 and my consolation was a paultry 700.00. There was about 7 or 8 other people that felt the same pain as me as we lost out on 18k.

[sammy the sage]

Da'Tara....belmont....threw out Big Brown...knew he had no shot that day...had every horse covered but Da'tara...p/6, multiple/4's and 3's...would have been a 6 figure score...stupid me didn't even bet $100 on him just for break-even coverage at 50/1 or whatever he ended up at...have tried to forget that one...:pout::bang:

[wisconsin]

Back in the 90's my brother and I were playing late night harness simulcast action from Fairmount Park and we had an exacta box and win bets on a pair of 25-1 shots. They were a clear cut 1-2 inside the 8th pole, but one broke stride and than the other broke a few seconds later and we got nuttin'...:bang:

[Afleet]

Ive lost a few pick 6's on the last race, its like a punch in the gut

[arw629]

Maybe 8-10 years ago my buddy who occasionally bets asked me for a longshot at aqueduct. I said i could make a case for the 12 at 40-1. He handed me two bucks and asked me to bet it to win. I go to the teller and ask for $2 on the 12 to win. For some reason he punches 2-12 exacta box and asked for $4. I cancelled the ticket instead of keeping it and then made my buddy’s bet. Sure enough it came 12-2 and paid $1800.

[woodbinepmi]

Back in the 90's a LaD if you caught a track that wet muddy the day before and it came back fast today all you had to do was find speed that could get to the rail. I handicapped the card in 10 minutes and put together a $2 ticket for a pick six, and my luck the track came up with a very speed rail bias. Was alive going into the last race, my horse Houston Reality had a three length lead coming into the stretch and for an unknown reason Jon Court hit him on the right side and he immediately took a left turn and threw him right over the rail. I was speechless!

[Afleet]

Back in the 90's a LaD if you caught a track that wet muddy the day before and it came back fast today all you had to do was find speed that could get to the rail. I handicapped the card in 10 minutes and put together a $2 ticket for a pick six, and my luck the track came up with a very speed rail bias. Was alive going into the last race, my horse Houston Reality had a three length lead coming into the stretch and for an unknown reason Jon Court hit him on the right side and he immediately took a left turn and threw him right over the rail. I was speechless!

I hate seeing jockeys hit maidens with a clear lead in the stretch; seen many weird things happen

[Jeff P]

Enjoyed a bit of a bad beat myself a few minutes ago in Woodbine R8.

Early bias today. (Imo, weather related.)

My bet was the #2 horse at 10-1.

Broke ok. Ran forwardly. Put her primary pace rival away when asked.

BUT --

The #7 horse reared at the start and came out of the gate without the rider while spotting the field several lengths.

A lot of times a riderless horse goes wide on the turn.

But this one crossed over to the rail, drew a bead on the pacesetters, quickly rushed up toward the lead, and after my horse had put her pace rivals away -- put my horse away.

It's one of those things you can clearly see coming as the race unfolds --

But there's not a single thing you can do about it.


-jp

.

[Track Phantom]

Around 2006, I head home from work midday on my way to a meeting about an hour later. I turn on TVG and decide to put one bet in before I had to leave. I had a good weekend and had about $3,000 in my ADW so I decide to bet $20 to win on a horse without even looking at the form. Just a bet, watch the race and go. I decided to bet the #7 at 9-1. I was just about to hit submit before I changed my mind to bet a trifecta. I decided on a $1 trifecta 7 with 10 with all. The #10 was 12-1. There were 11 horses in the race so the bet was going to be $9.

I bet it, hit submit and get ready to watch the race. Problem was I forgot to change the denomination from $20 (which was going to be the amount of the win bet) to $1. Thus, I just hit submit on a $20 tri 7 with 10 with all for $180.

The horses were loading in the gate, and at this time you had to actually call by phone to cancel your bets and needed like 5 minutes to post to get them to cancel. I almost didn't bother but thought $180 on this kind of bet is stupid.

I made the call and the girl asks me what race, what bet and how close to post. I tell her their loading into the gate and she says "oh, we can't do it". I ask her if she could try anyway as it was a large bet made by mistake. She says she'll try.

So, I have to read her the details again and she's taking them and yelling to some other person so they can try to cancel. I'm watching the horses load in the gate on TVG and wondering why I'm even bothering as the last horse was loaded like 20 seconds earlier. Then I realize another horse had been acting up and it was causing a delay.

As she was yelling to the other person, and the horse was acting up, I realized they might get it canceled. So, I tee up a $1 7 with 10 with all trifecta to submit if she tells me the other bet is a cancel.

She yells into the phone "we got it canceled"! I hit submit right at that time and it gives me a red font error that the race is already off. That means they got the bet canceled at the last possible second.

I watch in abject horror when the 10 opened up 2 lengths on the turn and the 7 was the only horse moving behind him. As if it was going to finish any other way, the #7 got by the #10 in the final 100 yards. Do you think the favorite was 3rd? No, of course not, another 15-1 got the show money.

Everything became a daze at that point and I nearly threw-up on the spot. It was 9-1 over 12-1 over 15-1. The $1 trifecta was $1,600.

Not only did I not get my original win bet in, nor did I get "stuck" with the $20 tri, I was actually shut out of the $1,600 win as a consolation by a matter of a second or two.

At the meeting I had to go to, the people speaking were sounded like the teachers in the peanuts cartoons. I had my laptop open in front of me pretending to be listening and taking notes but instead had the ADW window open and was calculating what my payoff would have been with my $20 trifecta in the pool.

I'm pretty sure I took about a decade off my life span on the drive over to that meeting. My blood pressure was in the danger zone.

[mountainman]

Compared to those I've read here, my bad-beat story involves small money. And I've suffered far costlier -and unlikely-defeats, but this one hurt worst, and still twinges on occasion.

It was 1985 (or so), my mom had just been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and I had moved back home to offer support and hopefully assuage her fears.

Tragically, I was broke with scant prospects, and we were struggling to exist. To exacerbate matters, my gambling partner and inseparable friend, Phil, had recently been imprisoned, a merciless slump had driven my other backer (another bad dude with "indeterminate" sources of income) away, and my confidence was shot.

But a horse I was high on was in-camouflaged form, certain to be long odds..the whole bit. And, somehow, I managed to scrape up 80 bux by the finale, which saw the horse in easy, and at 12-1.


After betting it all on the nose, I walked to the 1/2 pole to watch. At the time, mom lived in a mobile home right across from the track, and I often walked it instead of taking my car. When the hoofbeats reached me, my play had the lead, but one foe had emerged from an increasingly distant pack of pursuers to gather him in. I knew that foe was a hanger, though, and by mid-stretch the announcer began shouting, a sure sign my horse had met fire with fire and that a tight one was in store.

The photo sign remained up when I reached the apron. A buddy of mine who NEVER missed a photo walked past and opined that the 7 (my horse) had won it and it wasn't even all THAT close. My odds, by the way, had climbed to 18-1. I steeled myself and focused unflinchingly on the board. Ten eternity's passed. The numbers went up. 8-7.

The air went out of my world. Nothing since comes even close to that despair.

[deathandgravity]

Not sure this is my worst beat. Things got a little out of hand while cutting-my-teeth @ TUP in the early 80’s. Made some bets I shouldn't, but learned from that & happy I came back with some discipline.

One that sticks out…
I was playing the Aqueduct inner track/winter (RIP) meet about 5 years ago & doing fairly well (had a nice ROI for the meet). Mostly P4, but just about every day I would put in a small P6 ticket… only $32-64. Had my P6 set & getting ready to bet when all hell broke loose @ work. (the cloud was down…which was an issue since I managed it.)
Never got a chance to place the bet & you know what happened. Not life changing ticket, but $6K would have been nice.

Figure karma comes around… earlier this year I made a mistake on a P4 @ SA. Keyed in the wrong horse at a low level mdn. Won @ 65-1. I can’t remember the last time I messed up a ticket. All long shots the next 3 legs. Not life changing, but it paid for business class tickets to Australia for a vacation & a new roof.

Cheers

[comet52]

I don't know if it's "worst ever" but I've had a horse in the stretch with a 4 length lead less than a 16th from the wire break down. Also had a jockey misread a marker pole for the finish line with a clear lead and momentum and pull the horse up, he still almost won! Tough game.

[ZippyChippy423]

This is a true story that happened to my uncle in the late 80’s at Northampton Three County Fairgrounds Massachusetts. My uncle somehow talked his priest friend to join him for a few races at the fair. The priest was no gambler nor was he suppose to be betting. He was just going with my uncle out of curiousity and check out the fair itself. My uncle decided he was betting one more race and then would leave to go home after the race. He coaxed the priest to just make a 2.00 bet for the heck of it....GOD wouldn’t mind he said.....it’s not going to kill you ...one bet then they leave. The priest he said reluctantly gave in and put 2.00 on a horse to win that was a 15-1 shot. Gates open horse shot out like a cannon ....horse kept opening up ....5 lengths....10 lengths ....the priest is excited and getting into it. At the top of stretch horse maintaining a huge advantage and coming down the lane an absolute lock...until....horse breaks down and was put down right on the track. My uncle said the priest never talked to him again . True Story.

[clocker7]

Fast iz a turtle bad beat Dec 3 2005 race 9

[Zman179]

My worst beat came at Yonkers Raceway around 1990. I went to the track with about $30 (I had no job and money was hard to come by) and studied the hell out of that Sports Eye on that night’s card. I figured that I could have a legitimate shot at the $3 Pick 4 with a $24 ticket (2x2x2x1), but I only had $30 so I tried to make something out of the earlier races.

To make a long story short I caught a really bad beat in the early double and when the $3 Pick 4 came up I had only $12 left. So I had to eliminate one horse out of my ticket, which I did, and I had no money left to play any of my horses to win. So it was either Pick 4 or go home. So instead of playing a 2x2x2x1, I wound up having a 2x2x1x1.

The winning prices in the Pick 4 were $50, $80, $100 and $60. My original $24 ticket had three out of the four winners having only missed the $80 horse....but my reduced ticket also threw out the $60 horse.

3 out of 4 in the Pick 4 paid $1800 and I went home with spare change in my pocket.