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| Churchill Downs, Kentucky Derby |
In 1987, Mark "Miami" Paul, who had been watching and betting on horse-races since his teens, tuned in to watch a race at New York's prestigious Saratoga Racetrack. He couldn't take his eyes off Winning Colors, a two-year old gray filly who was bigger than most of the colts. She broke out of the gate and never lost the lead. Transfixed, he knew if the horse ever ran in his home state, California, he and his racing pal and bookie Dino would place bets on her.
Though Miami's day job was as a real estate broker, by the time one p.m. rolled around, he'd tidied us his desk and could make the first race at Santa Anita, 30 minutes from Los Angeles, with Dino. "I only had one skill," he told US Bets, "and that was knowing Dino Matteo, my best friend since I was 16 years old and the guy who introduced me to horse racing."
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| Mark "Miami" Paul circa 1988 |
"I know a special horse when I see one, but Dino's brilliant. He figured the odds. He studied racing forms and the horse's performance. He'd stay up late at night and watch replays. He might not place a bet for a while but when he had an edge, he'd double down. He was the best I'd ever seen. I learned to bet like Dino."
Winning Colors did make it to California. She was scheduled to run at Santa Anita Park later on that year. Watching her beat out all the colts in numerous run-up races energized both Miami and Dino and fanned the flames of their obsession with the filly. She was kicking the stuffing out of every contender in race after race. The spell was cast: Maybe she could run in the Kentucky Derby.
THE KENTUCKY DERBY?
Their unlikely enterprise began to take shape. But planning six months in advance that an unknown soon to be three-year old filly could make the entrance requirements to the 114-year old Kentucky Derby sounded Pollyanna-like in the extreme. First off, only two fillies had won the Derby in the entirety of the race's history. And secondly, once entered, she'd have to beat out 19 other horses to bring home the bacon. The odds against Winning Colors were high.
But they held onto hope. One morning, Dino called Miami at 6:30. He was agitated, Miami said, and talking fast. "Listen, I was up all night running stats on her. She's so incredible she's starting to get noticed. They did a news article about her yesterday. Soon the odds on her will change. We've got to go to Tijuana, today."
Miami pushed back. "Vegas is closer and no border crossing."
UNBELIEVABLE ODDS
"She's 12 to 1 in the future book betting in Vegas," Dino said. "But down in TJ, she's 50 to 1 at Agua Caliente. This is a chance of a lifetime! Pick me up and bring all the money you have. I'd like us to bet 2500 each. At 50 to 1 odds that gives us a payday of 250 grand."
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| Historic Agua Caliente |
Even as semi-professional gamblers, Miami wrote in The Greatest Gambling Story Ever Told, they'd had wins in the past, but closer to five thousand dollars. He was skeptical. What were the chances an unknown filly could get entered in and win the Kentucky Derby? Plus at the time, 2500 was a lot of cash. Dino pushed back. "Just do it," he said.
After the four hour drive to the track they went to the gaming window and explained they wanted to play their future book—Winning Colors for the 1988 Kentucky Derby, 50 to 1 odds. Dino asked the guy to confirm it.
"The teller's eyes lit up," Miami said. "He stared at Dino and asked, 'You want to bet 2500 dollars that a filly will win the Kentucky Derby?'
"Dino answered, 'Yeah, I know it's crazy but I still want to place the bet on her.'" The last thing Miami remembered was Dino counting out 50 hundred dollar bills.
THE PLOT THICKENS
Now they had to wait five months hoping Winning Colors could win races that would earn her a spot to qualify for the Derby. One day Miami ran into a friend and he told him about his and Dino's bet.
The friend said, "Dude, do you know who owns Agua Caliente? A member of the Arellano-Felix drug cartel. The track owner, Jorge Hank Rhon, uses it to launder money. It's going out of business fast. Even if they had that much money, what makes you think they're gonna hand over 250 thousand and let you waltz out of there alive? You guys are out of your minds."
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| Jorge Hank Rhon, Owner Agua Caliente |
Miami said he worried about it for a minute then thought, what are the actual chances of Winning Colors even getting into the Derby? First she has to run and win a series of stakes races. And she'd have to run against Goodbye Halo, an up and coming champion in the initial qualifier at Las Virgenes.
GOODBYE HALO
The Las Virgenes Stakes Race day came and Winning Colors lost to Goodbye Halo by a head. Dino was devastated. He was worried she had to go up against 19 colts and win come Derby day. She had one final shot to make it into the Derby and that was winning at Santa Anita Oakes Derby in April where she'd be trotted out against the best colts on the West Coast. If she could come through that, she might have a shot at the Derby.
Santa Anita Racetrack exuded a typical sunny southern California vibe the day of the race and there was an expectant energy in the air. Miami and Dino were amazed at the crowd of seventy thousand—the stands were filled with women and girls who had come out to watch the filly run against the boys. She had a fan following."Girl Power"and "Go Girl Go" signs were everywhere.
FILLY POWER
"It was a cult scene. There was an electric energy," Miami told an interviewer for Snap Judgment. "Winning Colors had gained a following. We just hoped she could remain calm."
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| Jockey Gary Stevens on Winning Colors at Santa Anita, 1988 |
She was known to be bothered by loud noises; they rattled her nerves. The fellow gamblers settled in to watch the race, hoping the fans' screams wouldn't affect their filly's sense of well being.
"The other three-year olds were stirring and moving around in the cages, but Winning Colors was undisturbed. Then the race starts, and she breaks perfect like a waterfall out of a dam," Miami said. "She takes the lead from the beginning and she wins! By eight lengths! We're yelling, on to Kentucky!"
JOURNALIST DOWN
But cloud nine didn't last long. Two days later Dino called and told Miami that a Mexican journalist named El Gato from a Tijuana magazine, Zeta, had been writing negative pieces about the owner of the Agua Caliente track, Jorge Hank Rhon. The journalist had been assasinated in his car, blown away with a shotgun on his way to work. The head of Agua Caliente security had been arrested for his murder along with Jorge Rohn's personal bodyguard.
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| El Gato, Hector Felix Miranda |
Fear stuck its ugly head smack dab in the middle of their dream. Miami started to fear for both his and Dino's lives more so than cashing in on a bet. Now they're killing journalists who write stuff? Dino however was not content to walk away as the filly's star rose higher and higher. He decided they should go to TJ and watch the race at Agua Caliente on simulcast, the day of the Derby. They figured with thousands of people at the track that day, it was safer than going back a week later to collect a quarter of a million dollars with no one around.
The TJ race track was electrified on Derby day, mariachi bands mingled with merry revelers and street vendors. This Kentucky Derby in Louisville had attracted 135,000—the largest sports crowd in all the world. It was the toughest derby field in the last 30 years, and included an undefeated champion along with 16 notable colts as well as other Derby winners. Winning Colors was the sole female entry.
SERENE ON SIMULCAST
Miami and Dino spotted Winning Colors on one of the simulcast screens. She looked serene and calm. This was it: the 114th Kentucky Derby. The starter gun sounded and they were off. Within a quarter mile, their filly was running away from the others. Right from the start Winning Colors led the way. Turning towards home, she shortened her stride— she was tiring out, but she kept going. Down to the stretch, she hung on, and the photo finish proved her win by a neck. She won!
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| Photo Finish |
After initial exhaltation, they knew they had work to do. They let the crowds settle before heading to the window to collect their earnings from the teller. "Oh, a big one," he said.
He had to get a supervisor. After a delay, he returned with his boss. "Hmm, that's a big ticket. No, not today. You'll have to come back."
Dino looked at the guy and said, "What do you mean, not today. It says Winning Colors to win the Kentucky Derby, 250 thousand dollars. You have to pay us."
RAINCHECK?
The guy shook his head. "No, you gotta come back."
Miami said, "You mean come back on Tuesday when nobody's here?" He looked over his shoulder and saw guards standing behind them, rifles slung over their shoulders.
He said to Dino, "We gotta get out of here. Not good."
At first Dino resisted but then he went along with Miami. They headed for the staircase; the guards were following. Miami said to Dino, "Run!"
They clambered down the staircase. Five guards clacked along behind them—they flew into the parking lot and jumped into Miami's car. He hit the gas doing 70 mph even before hitting the street. As they roared up the boulevard he shouted, "Look behind. Is anyone following us?"
THE CODE
With no one on their tail, they headed for the border. Dino was ticked off and kept yelling, "They broke the code. You always pay your gambling debts first."
They met the next morning for breakfast to talk. It came down to the gamblers' code. Since Dino had engineered the stats on Winning Colors and had essentially given them the win, Miami felt it was his job to bring home the bacon and get them back safe. Time to step up. Dino's job was done.
Their next move had to be orchestrated just so. Dino knew three professional fighters with martial arts skills. They decided to hire them for backup at the track that Tuesday. They'd bought six backpacks to carry the loot.
EL JEFE
After parking at the track Tuesday, Dino, Miami and their fighters passed three armed guards en route to the window. They handed the ticket to the teller; she immediately called for a supervisor once she saw what the ticket was worth. A well-dressed man in a suit appeared ten minutes later. He said, "Follow me. Gotta talk to el jefe. Only you two."
Dino frowned. "I don't like this," he said, as he motioned to their muscle to stand down.
Miami shrugged. "What can we do?"
They followed him down a flight of stairs and through two sets of oak doors plus a third with a set of bars. It began to feel like a dungeon, Miami wrote. The guy opened another door. Inside it was dark. Through a cloud of smoke they could see a heavy set man sitting at a table in back, cigar in hand. He waved them in, indicating they should take a seat.
Without preamble he said, "We know who you are."
That spooked Miami, but he was quick with a response. "Yeah, we're good customers and we're here to cash our tickets."
"Wait a minute," the cigar smoker said. "We just want to be fair."
Rattled, Dino said, "Well then just give us our money. We won our bet. She won the Derby 50 to 1. Pay us, godamm it."
"Calm your little friend down."
THE CON
Things were spinning out of control. Dino spoke again, "Listen, we know all about you, too. We know all about Jorge Rohn. We know about your cartel connections. And before we came down today, we went to the LA Times and talked to a friend of mine who's a reporter. We told him about our tickets, we told him about Rohn. We told him about Winning Colors. We told him about winning our bets and we gave him a copy of our tickets. And if you guys don't pay us, you and your boss, Rohn, are going to be on the front page of every newspaper in LA tomorrow. They're going to know who he is, what you did to us, how you stole from us and it's not going to go away."
El jefe seemed taken aback. "Give me a minute." He left the room.
After he left, Miami looked at Dino in total disbelief. "Where did that come from? That was brilliant, man."
He said, "I don't know, it just came to me. What do I have? I can't threaten him. But publicity? We're still gonna die, but it was a good idea."
Miami and Dino waited. Five minutes, ten minutes. Finally el jefe returned. "Come with me," he said.
They all marched back upstairs and at the counter, the teller proceeded to count out 250 thousand dollars. El jefe looked at them, gave a short nod and said, "We don't ever want to see you back here again."
Miami nodded back. "Agreed."
As they filled up the final backpack, Dino took out three hundred dollar bills and handed one to each of the guards before they walked down the hallway, the fighters trailing behind. Everyone got into their cars and booked it for the border.
THE FINISH LINE
As they got to the border, Dino looked right, Miami looked left, and were waved through on the Mexican side. At the US border they crossed without incident, and it was done. They'd just made 250 thousand dollars for a winning on Winning Colors at the Kentucky Derby.
By the time Miami arrived at Dino's house, they were too tired to celebrate. "I felt like we ran the Kentucky Derby ourselves," he said.
He gave Dino a hug and drove home. He climbed out of his car, walked inside, went straight to his bedroom and opened the backpacks. He spilled all the cash from their winnings onto his bed and called it a night.
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| Kentucky Derby 1988 Winner |
Mark Paul wrote about his and Dino's adventure in The Greatest Gambling Story Ever Told-A True Tale of Three Gamblers, the Kentucky Derby and the Mexican Cartel. When pitching it to film studios, he billed it as "Seasbiscuit" meets "Narcos." And there's a real possibility it may make it to the silver screen. Stay tuned.
