ARCADIA , Calif. (May 7, 2012)\u2014I\u2019ll Have Another, who parlayed victory in the Grade I Santa Anita Derby on April 7 to victory in America\u2019s most famous race, the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, not only brought home a winning purse of $1.2 million, he made 32-year-old Pasadena resident Greg Politano $16,300 as a result of a $1,000 win wager made by Santa Anita on his behalf.<\/p>\n
Polatano, who works in supply team management for a medical company in nearby Irwindale, entered Santa Anita\u2019s free \u201cDerby Owner for the Day\u201d contest on April 7 and as a result, he participated in the \u201cowner experience\u201d–without the bills.\u00a0 Accordingly, on Santa Anita Derby Day, he went to the paddock and watched up-close as jockey Mario Gutierrez, trainer Doug O\u2019Neill and owners Paul and Zilla Reddam discussed pre-race strategy.<\/p>\n
Politano then watched I\u2019ll Have Another win the Santa Anita Derby from the winner\u2019s circle and most importantly, he won the opportunity to have a $1,000 win wager placed on him in the Kentucky Derby.<\/p>\n
When Gutierrez and I\u2019ll Have Another hit the finish line at Churchill Downs, 1 \u00bd lengths in front of favored Bodemeister, Politano knew he\u2019d hit a jackpot, as the horse paid $32.60 on a $2.00 win ticket.<\/p>\n
\u201cI watched the race from New Jersey with my family,\u201d said Politano, 32.\u00a0 \u201cMy parents were visiting out here in April and at the last minute, we decided to go to Santa Anita and I entered in the Derby contest.\u00a0 My parents had never been to Santa Anita and we had a great day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was planning on watching the Kentucky Derby from home, but at the last minute, my work took me to Jersey , so I was able to watch the race with my family there.\u00a0 My mom was very optimistic, but I never win anything and I told her, \u2018He\u2019s 15 to 1.\u00a0 He\u2019s not going to win.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he (I\u2019ll Have Another) pulled into second, I was still pessimistic.\u00a0 I was convinced there wasn\u2019t enough track left to catch Bodemeister.\u00a0 I was still preparing myself for heartbreak, but when he caught him, it was just joy, disbelief and I turned to my family and screamed \u2018He won!!\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cI ran to my stepfather, who also bet on him and we hugged and just started jumping up and down like two little kids and then I lifted my mom up off the ground and we were all just on cloud nine for the rest of the night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Santa Anita\u2019s \u201cDerby Owner for the Day\u201d was the brainchild of Santa Anita C.E.O. Mark Verge, who coincidentally, is a lifelong friend of winning trainer O\u2019Neill.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is wonderful, absolutely wonderful,\u201d said Verge.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re so happy for Greg and we hope he follows I\u2019ll Have Another in his next race, the Preakness Stakes, on May 19.\u00a0 Our \u2018Derby Owner\u2019 contest couldn\u2019t have gotten off to a better start.\u00a0 Doug\u2019s a great friend, but more importantly, it\u2019s great to have a Southern California-based horse win the Derby and be in the national spotlight.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great for Santa Anita and it\u2019s great for our entire circuit here.\u00a0 We\u2019ve got great weather, great purses and great facilities.\u00a0 We need new fans and new horses and it looks like we\u2019re on our way.\u00a0 Hats-off to Greg and we hope to see him more often here at The Great Race Place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Palitano said he intends to \u201cput my money in the bank and I\u2019ll try not to blow it.\u00a0 My mom and dad were so instrumental in me entering in the contest and winning it so I\u2019m going to take them on a vacation to Hawaii when the time is right.\u201d<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll Have Another became the 16th<\/sup>\u00a0horse to exit the Santa Anita Derby and win Churchill Downs\u2019 Run for the Roses.\u00a0 He became the first Santa Anita Derby winner since Sunday Silence in 1989 to win the Kentucky Derby.<\/p>\n Live racing will return to Santa Anita in late September, as the Breeders\u2019 Cup World Championships will highlight the Autumn Meet on Nov. 2 and 3.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ARCADIA , Calif. (May 7, 2012)—I’ll Have Another, who parlayed victory in the Grade I Santa Anita Derby on April 7 to victory in America’s most famous race, the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, not only brought home a winning purse of $1.2 million, he made 32-year-old Pasadena resident Greg Politano $16,300 as a result of a $1,000 win wager made by Santa Anita on his behalf.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1188,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[97,52,2044],"tags":[266,109,261,267,265],"class_list":["post-1141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english-events-magazine","category-events-magazine","category-magazine","tag-churchill-downs","tag-equestrian-events","tag-ill-have-another","tag-run-for-the-roses","tag-santa-anita-derby"],"yoast_head":"\n