0:05

Ain't judgment studio.

0:12

So go to my buddy,

0:14

Simon. And Simon

0:16

tells me that lottery

0:18

tickets Our cats are the stupid.

0:22

Right. Okay.

0:24

So why are we

0:26

standing in line to buy lottery tickets? No.

0:29

No. No. He says, we're not

0:31

buying lottery tickets. We're

0:33

not. No. What

0:36

we're buying is a little taste of

0:38

hope, a little taste of

0:40

what if, a little taste of magic that

0:42

we can put in our pockets distract

0:44

us from the drudgery and the agonies of

0:46

everyday life. That's what we're buying

0:49

at this gas station. Wow.

0:54

All that for the price of a losing ticket,

0:56

what a bargain, but But

1:02

I can't help but think, what

1:04

if we could tip the scales?

1:07

What if we

1:09

knew a guy? Who knew a

1:12

guy? What if just once

1:14

we could make it so that this wasn't a

1:16

losing piece of paper after

1:18

aw. Wow.

1:21

Then stamp judgment.

1:23

The fix is in.

1:27

That probably presents winning

1:30

colors. Knows

1:33

the watch and I don't care what Simon

1:36

says. Stupid bats

1:38

are the best kinds of bats to make

1:41

when you're listening. To

1:44

snap judgement. Now

1:50

then, Mark Paul.

1:53

Susan's early twenties when folks started calling

1:56

him Miami. Dressed

1:58

in pastel colored shirts, living

2:00

slacks and white tennis shoes, no socks, most

2:03

days. Man made hop in

2:05

his Mercedes convertible and head to

2:07

Miami's favorite place. The

2:10

racetrack, and Miami.

2:13

Miami knows the special horse when

2:15

he sees what. Incentive

2:17

listeners shit note. This story does

2:19

include descriptions of gambling money

2:21

away on the pony. That

2:23

producer, Bowl Walsh, brings

2:26

us the story. Sound

2:28

catchment.

2:30

One day, Mark Paul, AKA

2:33

Miami, was at home in Los Angeles.

2:36

August thirteenth nineteen eighty seven,

2:38

I remember. Driving action

2:40

on the most exciting track in the world is

2:42

Saratoga Raceway on live TV,

2:45

get a better run for your

2:46

money. When

2:47

he tuned in on TV to watch a horse

2:49

race. He was at Saratoga race

2:51

track in New York, Sarutoga

2:53

race track is the biggest race

2:56

track, the finest race track, the best horses,

2:59

and they debut a lot

3:01

of the best young horses, the two

3:03

year old horses that are racing for the first time.

3:06

I wasn't really paying a lot of attention to

3:08

it. But this gray Philly who

3:10

is just huge. I see

3:12

you're going to the gate. She's

3:14

just bigger than a two year old Philly

3:16

be is the fact that she's gray. She's

3:19

shining like a metallic sports car

3:21

just caught my attention. And there

3:25

Bam. She breaks like a bullet out

3:27

of the gate, and she's merely in front

3:29

of all the other eight horses. Just

3:32

digging in, just cruising, I'm

3:34

going, wow, that's that's a really interesting horse.

3:37

As they turn into the turn, she

3:40

starts opening up on them. And

3:42

and she's coming for home, I'm watching this

3:44

horse, and I'm going, who the

3:46

hell was that? And

3:48

I I looked down at the racing form, I

3:50

see her name is winning colors. Winning

3:55

colors. I thought to myself. Man,

3:58

if that horse ever comes to LA, I

4:01

wanna be there for her next race so

4:03

we could bet on her.

4:06

Miami had been betting on horses since he

4:08

was fifteen. Now as a bachelor

4:10

in his twenties, he kept a day job

4:12

as a real estate

4:13

broker. To pay the bills and

4:15

set his own schedule. By the time, you know,

4:17

twelve thirty, one o'clock ran along,

4:19

I could get in my car and still make

4:22

the first second race at Santa Anita

4:24

with Dino.

4:28

Dino, there was no Miami without

4:31

Dino. I really only had one

4:33

skill, and that's what I was friends with Dino

4:35

Mateo. Dino was Miami's partner

4:37

in Croda. They've been best friend since

4:39

fifteen years old. Dino was

4:41

the one who introduced Miami horse race.

4:44

Dino was brilliant, and Dino had

4:46

always had an angle and he'd always figured out the

4:49

odds. When he would study

4:51

the racing form in the past performance of

4:53

the horses, he literally might stay

4:55

up 567 hours at

4:57

night, and he would watch replays,

4:59

making careful notes. He might not

5:02

bid for five, six races in a

5:04

row, but when he saw bet that

5:06

he thought had an edge, he would load up

5:08

and he would bet with both hands. Do

5:10

you know what's the best I'd ever met?

5:13

I'd ever seen? And I

5:15

learned just bet with Dino

5:17

bets, and I'm probably gonna be

5:19

okay. So

5:21

the two of them kept an eye out. For when and

5:23

where winning colors next race would be.

5:25

And then on Christmas day, they

5:27

got an unexpected gift when

5:29

they learned winning colors was slated to run

5:32

it. Santa Anita race track near LA

5:34

the very following day. Winning

5:36

colors, going against Philly's

5:40

her own age, just

5:41

girls, we said, man,

5:44

we've gotta be

5:44

there.

5:47

We were at the track. We went

5:49

down to see her. And my

5:51

god, when this horse was led

5:53

to be saddled, she had grown

5:56

up to his magnificent just

5:58

ginormous and prancing and

6:01

towering over the other horses. She looked like

6:03

she outweighed all the other horses, all the other

6:05

fillies by maybe two hundred

6:07

three hundred pounds. I also

6:09

noticed that she would come up and try to

6:11

put her head over the other fillies. Trying

6:14

to show her dominance, and she

6:16

would try to bite the other horses. When

6:18

it

6:19

came time to place bets on the race,

6:21

Dino and Miami went all in on

6:23

winning colors. We could win fifteen

6:25

hundred dollars each on that race.

6:31

They put her in the gate, and she's only running

6:33

against four other fillies. She

6:37

breaks. I just don't

6:39

think I've ever seen anything like it. I mean,

6:42

my god. She just when those

6:44

gay it's open. Within

6:46

like yards, she's

6:49

two, three lengths in front of the other

6:51

horses. It's like they haven't even gotten out of the

6:53

gate yet, and she just pulling the ground

6:55

forward with her hoes and it's like

6:57

a lightning

6:58

bolt. She just

7:00

opens up on

7:01

them. The other horses don't even look

7:03

like they're competitive like they're even in

7:05

the race with her. And she just wins off

7:07

by three and a half lengths geared down.

7:10

And Dino and I just look at each other like,

7:13

Oh my god. And we run

7:15

down and we get on the TVs and we

7:17

watch her replay again and

7:20

again. And

7:23

Dino gets very, very quiet on

7:25

me. And he says, that's

7:28

Philly. She's something very special.

7:30

She might even be a derby

7:31

horse. This

7:34

was a big statement for Dino to make,

7:36

especially considering this was a Philly

7:38

he was talking about. In the Kentucky

7:40

Derby, typically, it's

7:43

only males running against

7:45

males. At this time, only

7:48

thirty four Phili's had

7:50

ever even entered, and only two

7:52

of them had ever won, and the race had

7:54

been run since eighteen

7:56

seventy

7:57

five. So the odds against winning

7:59

colors were high, but Miami and

8:01

Dino had seen enough. At the end

8:03

of their racing day, we usually just took

8:05

our programs. We throw them in the trash.

8:08

I remember both Dino and I

8:10

kept our programs, and

8:12

we just circled

8:13

her. We knew that this might

8:15

be some special we're

8:17

really, really looking forward to her coming

8:20

back because we thought we were onto something here.

8:24

A couple of days after winning colors victory.

8:27

Miami got a call from Dino at six

8:29

thirty AM that Sunday

8:31

morning. I pick up the phone and he's

8:33

all agitated. He's hyper. He says, Miami,

8:35

wake up wake up wake up wake up. I

8:37

said Dino, what's going on,

8:39

man? He says, Miami, I was up

8:41

all night long with charts studying

8:44

her. I looked at how fast she ran.

8:46

I looked at the times that every

8:48

other cold in the United States it's been

8:50

running in prep races. I'm

8:53

telling you winning colors is just faster

8:55

than these cults. And the

8:57

words getting out on her, everybody's talking

8:59

about her, There's an article in the newspaper

9:02

about her. If we don't take this

9:04

opportunity and do it soon, the

9:06

odds are gonna be gone because everybody's gonna

9:08

be betting on her. We're going down to tier

9:10

one. We have to bet on winning colors.

9:12

We have to do it today. I wanna do it this morning.

9:14

You know, Dina, why in the hell are we going to tier

9:16

one? This is go to Vegas. I love Vegas, man. You

9:18

can bet on a horse to win the Kentucky Derby

9:21

at casinos in Vegas, a sports

9:23

book in Manila, or in

9:25

Tijuana. Each place has different

9:27

odds on the same race. He says,

9:29

she's twelve to one in the future book bedding.

9:32

In Vegas, But down

9:34

in Tijuana at this race drive, they're

9:36

offering her fifty to one

9:39

at Agua Caliente in Mexico.

9:41

Fifty to one This is a chance of

9:43

a lifetime man. Pick me up.

9:46

And Adidas

9:46

says, oh, one last thing. Bring

9:48

all the money you have.

9:51

Dino tells Miami that he wants each

9:53

of them to bet twenty five hundred dollars

9:55

on winning colors. At fifty

9:57

to one odds, that would earn them a winning

9:59

payday of two hundred and fifty grand.

10:02

For some,

10:03

her, you know, tell me I could win

10:05

two hundred and fifty thousand dollars with them

10:08

on this Philly. I couldn't

10:10

even understand how that was possible.

10:13

We were some of our professional gamblers. We

10:15

had big losses and big wins.

10:18

In the past, a

10:20

big win for me, probably

10:22

my biggest win ever -- Mhmm. --

10:24

at that time was maybe to win five

10:26

thousand dollars in a day.

10:28

To win two hundred and fifty thousand

10:30

dollars in a day is a completely

10:33

different animal. It's something that I almost I

10:35

couldn't even wrap my head around. was still

10:37

very very skeptical. I

10:41

loved winning colors and I believed in winning

10:43

colors. But it seemed like quite

10:45

a stretch of the imagination. When two Philly's

10:47

have won the Kentucky Derby in a hundred

10:49

and fourteen years, You

10:51

know, man, I'm not making any money.

10:54

I haven't cashed a deal in nine

10:56

months. That's a lot of money for me

10:58

right now. He says, Don't

11:00

hesitate, man. You're gonna regret it if you

11:02

do. Miami already made this mistake

11:05

once. My biggest fear was

11:07

that Dino would cash some

11:09

huge bet, and I wouldn't be

11:11

with him because it had happened before. I

11:14

had been in Vegas one time with him. We got in

11:16

our ass kicked for two days and I

11:18

left him. I went and I played Blackjack for

11:20

about three minutes and I come back

11:22

and he hit some horse at twenty

11:25

eight to one and he's standing in line with

11:27

thirteen thousand dollars in cash on him. I

11:29

go, well, why didn't you tell me? And he said,

11:31

well, why did you leave? If Dina

11:33

was betting, I was going with him.

11:35

And I know that Dino absolutely believed

11:38

that she was going to win this

11:40

race. And if Dino believes it,

11:42

then I believed it too. That

11:45

same day, Dino in Miami drove

11:48

the four hours down to Tijuana to

11:50

the Agua Caliente race track to place

11:52

their

11:52

bet. Dina walks up to the window

11:54

and he goes up

11:56

and he tells the teller. He

11:58

says, I'd like to bet

12:02

the future book, nineteen

12:04

eighty eight Kentucky Derby, winning

12:07

colors to win the Kentucky

12:09

Derby, Fifty to one.

12:11

Please confirm the odds. Now,

12:13

remember the teller his eyes go up and he

12:15

looks at Dino and he says, You

12:18

want a bet on a

12:20

Philly to win the Kentucky Derby.

12:23

And Dino says, yeah, I know I'm probably

12:26

crazy, but I'd still like to do it.

12:28

I remember watching Dino count out

12:31

fifty one hundred dollar bills. And

12:34

I I thought that money was gone. Now

12:38

they had to wait five months and hope that

12:41

winning colors would win the next couple of

12:43

races to earn our spot at the Kentucky

12:45

Derby. I was going to work every day and

12:47

I was doing my usual stuff, cold

12:50

calling and talking to investors in

12:52

the way home might go. Alright. Well, you got

12:54

your ass kicked again today and you didn't make

12:56

any money today. But

12:58

you got winning colors, baby. Just

13:01

keep the faith. Keep the faith. And

13:03

I would think about her all

13:05

the

13:05

time. One day, Miami ran into

13:07

a friend and told him about his Indino's

13:10

recent bet. And he starts

13:11

laughing. He says, do

13:14

you know who owns Agua Cali

13:16

any racetrack? It's

13:19

owned by a member of the Felix

13:21

Ariano drug cartel, Jorge

13:24

Roan. Apparently,

13:27

they use that place to launder money, and

13:29

that race track probably won't even be

13:31

around after a few more months. It's going

13:33

out of business fast. You

13:36

think you're gonna go down there and pick up two

13:38

hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and they're

13:40

gonna let you leave their racetrack. Live.

13:43

You're not getting out of Tijuana with quarter

13:45

of a million dollars. You guys are out of your

13:47

minds. I

13:49

didn't sleep well that night because this

13:52

was not something I ever expected to have

13:54

to worry about dealing with.

13:56

But after I slap down, I says, don't

13:59

worry about what's the chances that winning colors

14:01

even makes it into the Kentucky Derby,

14:04

and I I let it go. I

14:07

think I blocked it out

14:09

mostly because I was like,

14:12

I'll deal with that when she gets into

14:14

the damn Derby. Until she's in the

14:16

derby, why should I stress about something that

14:18

may not even happen? In

14:22

order to qualify for the Kentucky Derby

14:24

field, Winning colors would need to run-in

14:27

a series of stakes

14:28

races. And in February, it

14:30

was announced that her next race would also

14:32

feature goodbye halo. The top

14:35

filling from the east coast. Dino

14:37

and I were really afraid of goodbye

14:39

halo. This is the first time that winning colors

14:41

had to face a horse who was actually

14:44

more experienced, had accomplished

14:46

more had won more money than she

14:48

had. On race

14:50

day, Dino and Miami were there to

14:52

catch the action. There was a lot riding

14:55

on this race. A victory would establish

14:57

winning colors as the top Philly. And

14:59

bring her one step closer to the Kentucky

15:01

Derby. But as Miami and Dino

15:04

watched her being saddled in warmups, they

15:06

could see she looked a bit off.

15:09

She's rearing and wheeling and

15:12

she's just acting really, really

15:14

nervous. She even has sweat between her

15:16

legs, which never seen before. And

15:18

goodbye halo just looks calm

15:20

as a cucumber. And I noticed

15:23

something too that the other

15:25

jockeys are snapping their whips

15:27

on their boots just bam bam

15:30

making noise doing that intentionally

15:33

scare winning colors, and they're

15:35

trying to do everything in their power to get

15:37

her out of her comfort zone. So

15:40

they load her into the gate, and the crowd

15:42

is wild. The crowd is really

15:44

pumped up for this race. And

15:47

we're watching winning colors. And

15:49

she's agitated. She's jumping around.

15:51

She's banging her head on both sides of the gate.

15:54

And we've never senior like this, and

15:56

I'm thinking to myself, this

15:59

doesn't look good. I just spent three

16:01

thousand dollars I don't have and I can't afford

16:03

to

16:03

lose. Oh, man. I don't know

16:05

about this. No. No. Way they

16:07

go. The five bellies coming away in

16:09

a perfect life. A lot

16:11

of speed on as they go for

16:13

lead, winning colors on the outside. Within

16:15

strides out of the gate, she's just out

16:17

there wing, and she's going

16:20

too fast, too early.

16:22

And Dino yelled to me. She's going

16:24

too damn fast. She can't do

16:26

that. She cannot go that fast and hang

16:28

on. Goodbye halo is gonna

16:30

come for her. They hand now of

16:32

the three eights goal. Winning colors, Gary

16:35

Stevens, trying to slow them down, but yeah,

16:37

down is good by

16:38

halo, not gonna allow that. Winning

16:40

color is just screaming on the front end.

16:42

She is flying out there, and

16:45

she turns into the back stretch. And

16:48

for the first time another horse comes up on

16:50

her and doesn't catch

16:51

her, but is within just ahead of her.

16:54

Goodbye. Hello on the outside puts

16:56

their pressure on winning colors on their two

16:58

favorites. Now start to pull off my

17:00

front. As they hit the wire, she just

17:02

cannot shake goodbye,

17:05

hey, GOOD BY HALO DRAWS EVEN

17:07

WITH HER. THEY'RE RUNNING FOR ANOTHER one hundred

17:09

yards.

17:13

Sixteen ball. When it colors

17:15

what made it? Goodbye. Hello.

17:17

Bye. To when it colors. Goodbye.

17:21

In right at the end, Goodbye halo

17:23

just pulls ahead and

17:25

beats her by a half length. I

17:29

knew we were in trouble. I knew we were

17:31

in trouble Not just because

17:33

she'd lost, but because

17:36

the way Dino was responding, his

17:38

head drops into his

17:40

hands. Dino was devastated. And

17:43

I don't think he was as devastated about

17:45

losing three thousand dollars as

17:47

he was that his

17:50

belief in her had somehow been let

17:52

down if Dino was

17:54

this depressed and this sad

17:57

about what he just seen, that

17:59

the chances of us catching

18:01

this bat had probably just gone

18:03

down the drain. I mean,

18:05

she probably wouldn't even make

18:07

the Kentucky Derby Field, you'd alone be

18:09

able to beat the Kentucky Derby cults.

18:12

I thought it was probably over. I

18:14

thought very, very

18:16

little chance we could win this

18:18

bet. I was crushed.

18:29

When we return, it's

18:31

the agony of defeat. Nappas.

18:33

Is winning colors really the horse Miami and

18:36

Dino thought she was? They

18:38

too. Stephens

18:45

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19:14

back to Snap Judgment. The winning colors

19:16

episode. The last we left,

19:19

Miami and its pal Dino they placed

19:21

a big bet on a long shot horse

19:24

named winning colors to win

19:26

the Kentucky Derby. But

19:28

after losing her last race, I

19:31

wonder if opportunity is closing

19:33

fast. Sam touchment.

19:37

Winning colors had one final shot at

19:39

making it to Kentucky. When it was

19:41

announced that she would run-in the Santa Anita

19:43

derby that April. If she doesn't

19:45

win the Santa Anita derby, She's

19:49

not going to the Kentucky

19:50

Derby. No

19:51

way. Not particularly religious guy,

19:54

but but I'm pretty damn sure I prayed

19:57

to please god let her get in the gate.

19:59

Let us have a shot in immortality.

20:02

Let her have a shot to prove to the

20:04

world that she's maybe the greatest

20:06

Philly that ever

20:07

lived. So that's

20:10

what I prayed for and hoped for the most

20:12

was just get

20:13

her in the gate. It was now or never.

20:16

This would be the first time that winning colors

20:18

would be asked to run against some of the best

20:20

cults on the West Coast. And nobody

20:22

knew whether or not she could do that

20:25

against these bigger, tougher,

20:28

faster cults. We

20:30

could not wait for this

20:32

race.

20:33

A lot has been made, of course, Dave, about

20:35

the fact that it's the Philly against

20:37

the boys winning colors.

20:39

By race day, women colors had built

20:41

a fan following of women and young

20:43

girls who came out in droves

20:45

to Santa Anita to watch her take on the

20:47

boys. At Saturday, when we

20:50

got to the racetrack, we couldn't believe

20:52

it. There was seventy

20:55

thousand people there.

20:57

And probably seventy percent of them

20:59

were women and girls. They were coming

21:02

out early and they were carrying

21:04

signs go girl, girl power,

21:07

beat the boys. They had an

21:09

energy that I don't think I've ever seen

21:11

at the

21:11

racetrack. It was electric. It

21:13

was exciting. Dino

21:16

in Miami could only hope that their gray

21:18

Philly would remain calm after

21:20

her nerves had gotten the best over last

21:23

time. We didn't

21:25

doubt her physical ability. We

21:27

always worried about whether she could

21:29

keep her head in the race. And as

21:31

the leader in the tunnel and the leader out of the

21:33

grandstand to walk in front of the fans

21:35

before she warms up, she just

21:38

looked fantastic. She just looked calm.

21:40

She just looked within herself. She

21:42

warmed up just beautifully.

21:44

Santa Anita, Derby, an outstanding

21:46

field of nine, three year olds, They include

21:49

the Philly winning colors. Winning colors

21:51

is actually the fan's choice in here at

21:53

five to two. She's taking on eight coats

21:55

in here.

21:56

They load them in the gate. The people are

21:59

yelling. The girls are yelling. They're

22:01

screaming for this filling to beat

22:03

the cults. And she breaks.

22:06

And she breaks. Perfect.

22:08

Just comes and charging out of the gate

22:11

like a waterfall out of a

22:13

dam.

22:14

In colors came away beautifully and

22:16

goes straight to the lane, joined by b

22:18

Revere. And on the turn, she

22:21

opens up by born. She's

22:23

running away from the courts. They've

22:25

passed the three eights ball and winning

22:27

colors. Still doing it here, but

22:29

as they are totally winning She

22:35

digs in and she just

22:37

keeps pulling away. They

22:39

can't touch her.

22:40

Fully willing color turning

22:42

in and absolutely outstanding

22:45

road woman.

22:47

She wins by eight lengths

22:49

eased up at the wire. And

22:51

Dino and I are screaming. We're

22:53

standing up. We're yelling. We're

22:55

going to Kentucky. We're going to

22:57

Kentucky. The whole world

23:00

is now aware of who this

23:02

Philly is and that she's coming

23:04

for

23:04

him. She's coming for the boys and they'd

23:07

better be ready. We're looking

23:09

at one exceptional city.

23:11

We'll be carrying the host of California

23:14

all the way to the Kentucky Derby.

23:17

What are what are that one was. Winning

23:19

colors magnificent.

23:22

Dino and Miami continued to ride the

23:24

wave of happiness following winning colors

23:26

qualifying victory. But the

23:28

celebration didn't last long. When

23:31

days later, Miami got a call

23:33

from a frantic

23:34

Dino. And

23:36

Dino says to me, Miami, I

23:38

got terrible news. It's about the owner

23:40

of the racetrack. There's this famous

23:43

journalist down there that he goes by the

23:45

Penn named Elgato. So this journalist

23:48

has been writing negative stories about

23:51

Jorge Roan. And today,

23:55

the journalist was assassinated in

23:57

his car. They blew him

23:59

apart with a shotgun, The

24:03

head of security for

24:05

Agua Caliente Racetrack has been

24:07

arrested for the murder of the journalist along

24:10

with Jorge Rowan's personal

24:13

bodyguard. Oh

24:15

my god. They're killing

24:17

journalists just for writing bad stories. This

24:21

is not something that I expected.

24:23

I wanna cash a bet on a horse race

24:26

I don't wanna have crap like this.

24:29

That was pretty much it for

24:31

me. I was like, do you know, I'm

24:32

out. I just didn't sleep that night. I

24:35

I was a lot more scared for my life

24:37

in Dino's life than it was about

24:39

cash in any bet. But

24:42

with the chances of winning colors taking the

24:44

Kentucky Derby becoming more and more

24:46

of a reality, Dino was

24:48

not about to walk away. Not

24:50

only was he convinced she would win. He

24:52

was intent on going to Tijuana to

24:55

watch the Kentucky Derby from the Agua

24:57

Caliente race

24:58

track. And cashing in his winds

25:00

then and there. He convinced

25:02

me that being there, that

25:04

day was important because that was the day

25:07

that there were gonna be thousands and thousands

25:09

and thousands of people at that race track,

25:11

and it would be a lot safer for

25:13

us to be surrounded by thousands of

25:16

people if she wins the derby, then

25:18

us having to go back a

25:20

week later, all alone and

25:22

collect quarter million dollars from

25:25

a racetrack owned by the

25:26

cartel, and I kinda had to say,

25:28

Dino, you're right. So

25:30

when the first Saturday in May arrived, the

25:33

day of the Kentucky Derby, Miami

25:35

showed up at Dino's house for their trip to Tijuana.

25:38

But before they could get on the road, Miami

25:41

noticed his friend's carry on luggage. He

25:43

brought a large suitcase with him.

25:47

A large pink suitcase. I said,

25:49

deal, what the hell is that? He says

25:51

it's my mother others. She gave it to me.

25:53

I think we can put a lot of the money in there.

25:55

It's full of the trash bags. As a trash

25:57

bag. Yeah. He said, eat on the garden trash bags. I

25:59

got a bunch of them. You're telling me

26:01

we're gonna drive down to Mexico with

26:05

plastic trash bags and

26:07

fill them up with cash. You

26:10

cross the border. That's the plan.

26:16

Driving down that morning, Dino

26:19

was very, very quiet.

26:22

I didn't usually see him like that. And,

26:24

you know, my nature was always market gregarious

26:26

and talkative, but

26:28

even I was kind of aware of the heaviness

26:31

of the moment.

26:32

And so it was a fairly quiet

26:35

quiet drive on the way down for us.

26:37

Aku

26:41

Caliente had once been like Las Vegas

26:43

before Las Vegas. With

26:45

hotels, spas, and restaurants,

26:47

and grand ballrooms, with soaring staircases.

26:51

And it was kinda

26:52

sad, but kinda eerie. So

26:54

at the racetrack, there's

26:57

TVs hanging everywhere,

27:00

but they're not big great TVs. They're

27:03

shitty little TVs. They're

27:07

not supposed to be black and white, but I think half

27:09

of them look like they're black and white. But

27:12

it didn't matter. The place was

27:15

alive, man. There's

27:17

three Marriottchy bands playing. There

27:20

are cocktails flown. There

27:22

are street vendors and there's

27:24

cocktail waitresses and short skirts running

27:27

around and there's a lot of American gamblers

27:30

It was just a wild energetic

27:32

scene, but I'd never seen Dino so

27:34

focused. Dino's

27:37

eyes were fixed on the nearest screen, where

27:40

the grainy footage showed the horses beginning

27:42

to warm

27:42

up. The crowds against us well

27:45

and also the anticipation around the paddock

27:47

as we await the Kentucky

27:49

Derby. The only places alive is Tijuana

27:51

that day, which Churchill Downs race track

27:53

in Louisville, Kentucky at self where

27:56

the actual race was being

27:57

held. This crowd now officially estimated

27:59

at a hundred and thirty five thousand, one

28:01

of the largest one day sports crowds

28:03

in all the world. The

28:06

place is so overrun with people that

28:09

that amount of noise can actually

28:11

spook and frighten the horses. Especially

28:14

a horse, his headstrong, his

28:17

winning colors. And that was one

28:19

of our biggest

28:19

fears. Sixteen of the top

28:21

cults in the country were running in the nineteen

28:24

eighty eight Kentucky Derby. This

28:26

is the toughest, derby field in

28:28

the last thirty years. There's

28:31

an undefeated champion. There's

28:34

other derby winners from around the country

28:37

This is a field full of champions.

28:40

Winning colors was the sole female entry.

28:43

It's a very deep field, and as usual, a

28:45

big field. So you can make a decent

28:47

case for just about every horse.

28:51

Back in Tijuana watching on small

28:53

fuzzy televisions, Miami

28:55

and Dino spotted their gray Philly on the

28:57

screen. She seemed calm.

29:01

She seemed very within herself. We

29:03

watched her be led in front of

29:05

the grandstand. We watched

29:07

as they sung My Old Kentucky

29:10

Home, The Famous Song. And

29:12

she just looked absolutely resolute

29:15

and calm.

29:17

And we were really hopeful that she would

29:19

stay that way.

29:22

The sun has never shown brighter

29:25

on the Kentucky Derby than the old Kentucky

29:27

home than it does

29:28

today. And as they entered into

29:31

the gate, I

29:33

looked at Dino. He looked at me and we

29:35

smiled. We said, man,

29:37

this is it. This is the moment. This

29:40

is what we've been waiting for. And

29:42

we just felt happy because

29:45

we'd gotten to this moment. We got our

29:46

chance. And that's all we could ask

29:48

for. And as these three year olds

29:51

load into the starting gate as they move into

29:53

line for this one hundred and fourteen running

29:55

of the Kentucky

29:55

Derby. And

29:58

there off.

30:00

The bell rings, the gate crashes

30:02

open, and she

30:04

breaks

30:05

perfect fluidously, never

30:08

better in her life. There goes their own feeling

30:10

winning colors grabbing the lead right from

30:12

the start, taking command by a link

30:14

on the far outside.

30:16

We can see her because

30:18

she's gray and she's in front.

30:21

Within a quarter mile, She's running

30:24

away from all of these cults,

30:26

and she has to go into the first

30:28

turn. They

30:28

go to the fire turn, and it's still getting

30:30

colors showing away, and no one has

30:32

was true yet. She entered

30:35

the far turn leading

30:37

into home by three lengths,

30:41

and she accelerated. She she continued

30:43

to just put away the colts.

30:46

She went up by three, three and a half,

30:49

four legs, and she came

30:51

out of the turn, just flying,

30:53

just digging in. And even

30:55

in that little television, I could see

30:58

this

30:58

gray, silly, just

31:01

running away and embarrassing the cults.

31:03

She's went from the start every poll of running

31:06

and it's winning colors.

31:13

Turning for home, I could see her

31:16

shorten her stride. She had

31:18

gotten tired. You could

31:20

just see there's no way she was gonna make to the water.

31:23

She was all out, and we can see

31:25

if she was gonna get caught. But

31:27

she just kept going. She just gave everything

31:30

she had in an all out run for

31:32

the wire. Let's

31:33

go nuts, stretch they come. Twenty

31:35

colors in front. Hit comes forty nine

31:37

here on the outside. Twenty colors

31:40

by your

31:40

hand. And she hung on. By

31:43

a photo, by his short neck,

31:46

I could tell she'd

31:46

won, and declared a photo finish.

31:50

Well, there she is only the third Philly

31:53

in one hundred fourteen years to win

31:55

the Kentucky Derby winning

31:56

colors. You know, it just could B.

31:58

Chelsea, she is a good one.

32:00

We were screaming and high fiving

32:03

and dancing, but Shortly

32:07

thereafter, a calm came over

32:09

me that I didn't expect.

32:12

It was like, my brain couldn't

32:14

really process that

32:16

our dream and our belief had

32:19

been done and that she had actually been able

32:21

to get in the derby and

32:24

beat the best cults and win

32:26

a photo finish, and it

32:28

had happened. And I

32:30

needed to just sit and

32:32

I needed to just think for

32:34

five or ten minutes. Dino

32:40

had this stupid pink suitcase and

32:42

he was dancing around the suitcase. And

32:45

Dino sat down and

32:48

he was calm and quiet himself. And

32:51

It went from super joy

32:54

to alright. We

32:56

have we have work to do here.

33:00

You know, said to me, we gotta let this place

33:02

calm down. Let it clear out just a little

33:04

bit. It's too crazy right

33:06

now. A cocktail waitress who

33:09

Miami knew from his previous visit

33:11

suddenly appeared. She whispers in

33:13

my ear. She says,

33:15

be

33:15

careful. They

33:17

know who you are. And

33:22

my mouth dropped she

33:24

left. They know

33:27

who we are. What does that mean? We

33:29

get up. We go to the window.

33:33

We present a two hundred and fifty thousand

33:35

dollar ticket to the

33:37

teller. And

33:39

his eyes light up, He

33:41

says, oh, a big one, and he

33:43

calls for his supervisor. Couple

33:47

minutes later, seemed like a year.

33:50

A supervisor comes up and

33:53

says, that's a big ticket.

33:56

It says, no. Not today.

33:59

You'll have to come back. Dino

34:02

looks at him, leans forward, says,

34:04

what do you mean not today? Look at

34:06

the ticket. It says, winning

34:08

colors. The win in Kentucky Derby.

34:12

Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. She

34:15

just won the Kentucky Derby pay us.

34:18

He says, no. We're not prepared. Not

34:20

today. You need to come back. And

34:24

I look at the guy and I say, you mean, like,

34:26

come back on a Tuesday when nobody's here?

34:29

You're in your mind. Pay us now. We

34:32

look over our shoulder and

34:35

guards are now standing behind us,

34:37

five feet away from

34:38

us. With rifles slung over their

34:40

shoulders.

34:41

And

34:41

I'm thinking this is really not good.

34:43

This is really dangerous.

34:46

And I whispered Dino Dino We

34:49

gotta get out of here. We gotta get out of here

34:51

now, and I grab my heart. He's

34:53

resisting. He's yelling. But

34:55

he comes with me.

34:57

We started heading out, heading

34:59

for the staircase.

35:02

And I noticed the guards are following right

35:04

behind us. As

35:07

Edena run, we

35:09

start running down the stairs. And

35:12

I can hear the footsteps of the guards. Five

35:15

of them clacking behind us.

35:18

Start running down the stairs. In

35:21

to the parking lot and sprinting

35:23

towards my car. I

35:25

fire up my car, I

35:27

hit the gas, We're doing

35:30

sixty, seventy, seventy

35:32

five miles an hour in the damn parking lot.

35:35

By the time we hit the main street, I go over

35:37

the curb because I don't wanna wait. We're

35:41

screaming up the boulevard in I yelled at Dino.

35:43

Man, just look behind us. Look behind us.

35:45

Tell me if anybody's coming. I need

35:47

to know See if you see any cars,

35:50

anybody following us, and

35:53

I head for the border. We

35:56

were angry, furious, Dino's

35:58

face was red. He just felt so

36:01

cheated. He was yelling to me. They broke

36:03

the code, man. They broke the code. You always

36:05

pay. You're gambling debts first.

36:08

I was exhausted. I just

36:10

had to drive.

36:24

After the break is

36:26

two hundred and fifty grand worth it.

36:29

Find out as we hit the home

36:31

stretch, snap touch.

36:38

Welcome

36:44

back to step judgment. The winning

36:46

colors episode. My

36:48

name is from Washington, and before

36:50

the break, Our gamblers were

36:53

denying their huge payday after

36:55

picking winning colors five months

36:57

earlier to win the biggest race of

36:59

the mall. Kentucky Derby.

37:02

So what will Miami and

37:04

Dino do now? Will

37:06

they walk away or

37:08

they risk it all? Snap

37:11

judgment. It

37:14

was nighttime when Miami dropped Dino

37:16

off at his home. They agreed to meet

37:18

the next morning for breakfast. Miami

37:21

couldn't sleep. He knew there was nothing

37:23

that could keep Dino from going back to collect

37:25

the biggest score of his

37:26

life. It was the gamblers code.

37:29

The

37:30

money was due him and he was gonna go get it.

37:32

I was positive of

37:32

that. can't say that I was willing

37:35

to die for this money. It was just

37:37

money to me. But I also

37:39

knew there was no way that I could not accompany

37:41

and back up Dino going. I

37:43

felt responsibility as

37:47

kinda like Dino had done his part.

37:50

He he'd he'd given me the winner

37:52

of the Kentucky Derby. A Philly six

37:54

months before the dam race. And

37:57

it was my job to collect the money, and

37:59

it was my job to get Dino home

38:01

safe and it was my job to get

38:04

me home alive and that weighed

38:06

on me really heavily and it became

38:09

you're the leader of this group now.

38:12

Dino was your leader. He did his job.

38:14

Now it's your job to get him

38:15

home. Dino and Miami thought

38:17

long and hard at Breck us the following day

38:20

about what their next move would be. When

38:22

Dino

38:22

mentioned, he might know where to hire some muscle.

38:25

Dino told me that he had buddy of his that

38:27

knew these three guys that were

38:29

professional fighters. They

38:31

do jujitsu and karate,

38:33

and they would go all the way down to

38:36

Tijuana and back with us. They would drive

38:38

their own car, but when we needed them, they would

38:40

be with us, they would surround us.

38:43

Miami and Dino didn't have time to waste.

38:46

So two days later, that Tuesday,

38:48

they prepared to drive right back down to

38:50

Agua

38:51

Caliente. But first, they

38:53

had to meet their newly hired protection. The

38:56

fighters pull up in this green little

38:58

zu zu with a antenna

39:01

that was hanging off the side. And

39:03

they get out of their car, and

39:06

can't believe it. The biggest

39:08

one of them is five foot five, maybe.

39:11

The other two are five three

39:13

and 52I

39:16

said the

39:16

this is supposed to be the fighters. This

39:18

is the muscle.

39:20

How are how are these guys gonna scare anybody?

39:22

This is not bodyguards. Apparently,

39:25

I pissed one of them off because he came up to

39:27

me the the leader of the bunch and looked

39:29

at me and said, you think I can't

39:31

fight? I'll kick your ass right now. It's

39:34

okay. I believe you in

39:37

we hightailed it for the border. When

39:39

they

39:39

arrived, the Agua Caliente race

39:41

track was as quiet as they feared.

39:44

We backed our cars in, so that we

39:46

could get out of there as fast as humanly possible.

39:49

We've been able to purchase six

39:51

backpacks. Do you know I

39:53

had three of them? I had three of them over my

39:55

shoulder? The fighters fanned

39:57

out around us and behind us,

39:59

and we headed right into the main office.

40:02

As Miami Dino and the fighters approached

40:04

the front steps to go

40:06

inside. They walked past a series

40:08

of several more armed guards on their way

40:10

to the betting window. When we first presented

40:12

the ticket, Teller's

40:15

eyes lit up because

40:17

she immediately saw the amount two hundred

40:19

and fifty thousand dollars. And

40:23

when she called for the

40:26

supervisor to come over,

40:29

almost immediately another guard appeared

40:32

I

40:32

can remember sweat running down the back of my

40:34

neck. Dino, Miami, and the fighters

40:37

waited for the supervisor surrounded

40:39

by the armed cards until a

40:41

man in the suit appeared. He looked at

40:43

us

40:44

really, really sternly and

40:46

said, I need to talk to

40:48

Albert. Stay here.

40:51

In about ten minutes later,

40:54

the well dressed man in the suit came

40:57

back. He said, follow me. So

41:00

I motioned for the fighters

41:02

to follow us, and he put up his hand. He said,

41:04

no. Only

41:06

you too.

41:09

Dinos looked at me and said, I don't like this.

41:11

I I looked at him and said, what can we

41:13

do?

41:15

So we followed him. We

41:17

go down one

41:20

flight of stairs. We

41:22

go through two big giant

41:24

oak doors. In another

41:26

door that was set up with

41:28

bars. My first thought was,

41:31

Jesus Christ, where are we going? Are we going down to,

41:33

like, a jail, a prison, what

41:35

the hell is down here. He

41:38

opens a door, and

41:41

it's very dark. There's one

41:43

light bulb hanging in the

41:46

back of the ceiling, and the place

41:48

is full of cigar smoke,

41:50

heavy heavy smoke. It

41:53

took a minute for our eyes to adjust and

41:56

then we could see there was a a

41:58

big heavy set man

42:01

kind of a grimy suit stained

42:05

in the back smoking a big

42:08

cigar. And

42:11

the first thing he said to me really

42:14

frightened me because he said, we

42:16

know who you are. I said,

42:19

yeah, we're good customers. We're here to

42:21

cash a small ticket. He looked at

42:23

me, says, you think

42:25

two hundred and fifty thousand dollars is

42:27

a small ticket. He said,

42:30

we just wanna be fair. That

42:33

set Dino off. Dino

42:36

said, you wanna be fair? You wanna be fair?

42:38

Fucking pay us. We

42:40

made our bet. She won the Kentucky

42:42

Derby.

42:44

Fifty to one, quit screwing

42:46

around and pay us goddamn

42:48

it. The big

42:50

man, El Heffy, sitting behind the desk,

42:52

looked at me and told me,

42:54

calm your little friend down. This

42:58

was rapidly spinning out of control. I

43:00

was getting more and more and more uncomfortable.

43:04

I told Dino just calm down, man. Just

43:06

calm down. And

43:08

then Dino looked at El Hefe and he said

43:10

to him. Listen.

43:14

We know who you are too. We

43:16

know all about Jorge Roan.

43:19

We know all about your cartel connections.

43:23

And

43:23

before we came down today, we went to the LA

43:25

Times. We talked to a friend of mine who's a reporter.

43:28

We gave him a copy of our tickets. We

43:31

told him where we're going. We told him

43:33

about Roan. We told him about winning

43:35

colors. We told him about winning the bet.

43:37

We gave him a photocopy of our tickets.

43:41

And if you guys don't pay us,

43:44

you and your boss Roan

43:47

is gonna be on the front of every newspaper

43:50

in LA tomorrow. They're gonna know

43:52

who he

43:52

is, what you did to us,

43:54

how you stole from us, and

43:57

it's not gonna go away.

44:03

El Hefe seemed

44:05

a bit taken aback. And

44:07

he said, give me a minute. I'll

44:09

be back. And

44:12

he left the room. When

44:14

El Hefe left the room, I

44:17

looked at Dino and, like, total disbelief.

44:19

I man, where did you think of that? That

44:21

was brilliant, man. And Dan said,

44:23

I don't know. It just came into

44:24

me. I thought, you

44:26

know, what do I have? I I can't threaten

44:28

them, but publicity. That

44:30

was great. We're still gonna

44:32

die, but it was this really good idea.

44:34

Miami and Dino sat there

44:36

waiting for five in ten minutes.

44:39

We're like, this

44:41

is not good. We're pacing. He

44:44

comes back and he says,

44:47

come with me. Yeah.

44:49

We march back upstairs where we were, and

44:54

they proceed to count out. Two

44:57

hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

45:00

He looked right at us. And

45:03

he said,

45:06

We don't ever ever

45:09

wanna see you guys back here. Never.

45:13

I looked him. I nodded. said,

45:15

agreed. We filled

45:17

up the last remaining backpack. Dino

45:21

reached down.

45:22

And he

45:23

grabbed three one hundred dollar bills,

45:26

and he handed them to the guards. We

45:29

headed for the door the

45:31

fighters fanned out behind us, and

45:35

we calmly walked

45:37

down the hallway down the

45:39

front steps, out the front

45:41

door cars. Dino

45:44

and Miami hopped into the car with the fighters

45:47

right behind them and booked it for the border.

45:50

As we're driving, Dino

45:53

and I had a row, you look right, I look left,

45:55

I look on the rearview mirror, I'm looking for

45:57

anything and they

45:59

waved us through the Mexican side. And

46:02

we got to the US side, and

46:05

they waved us on through with

46:08

two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Until

46:12

Dino, I felt like we ran in the Kentucky

46:14

Derby ourselves

46:17

When we got to LA, we didn't feel like celebrating.

46:19

We were just too spent. I

46:22

dropped him in his car. I gave him

46:24

a big hug. He gave me a big

46:26

smile. And I headed home.

46:29

I went into the bedroom. I

46:31

took two backpacks. And I emptied

46:33

a hundred and twenty five thousand dollars on the

46:35

bed, and I called it a

46:37

night.

46:46

Four months later, Miami and Dino were

46:48

still savoring their victory. When

46:51

they did something that they hadn't done for any

46:53

other

46:53

horse. They went to visit winning

46:55

colors that are stable in Southern California.

46:58

She had just gotten if

47:01

possible bigger and filled

47:03

out even more muscular. She

47:06

was just beautiful. She

47:08

was just dynamic,

47:10

and she was unique. It's like,

47:13

I wouldn't say pain in their respects because she

47:15

was very much alive. We wanted

47:17

to honor her and just be in her presence.

47:20

Choose greatness.

47:38

A huge huge thank you to

47:41

Mark Miami Paul for

47:43

sharing a story with a snap If

47:45

gambling has become problem for you

47:47

or someone you know, you can call

47:49

one eight hundred gambler, 4262537

47:54

to seek free confidential twenty

47:56

four seven problem gambling assistance.

47:59

I know. That you must be wondering

48:02

what happened to winning colors after

48:04

her nineteen eighty eight Kentucky Derby

48:06

Crown. The Big Gray Philly

48:08

retired the following year with

48:10

eight career wins. And in two thousand,

48:13

she was inducted into the US National

48:15

Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. In

48:18

two thousand eight, at the age of

48:20

twenty three, winning colors

48:22

was light to rest at Lexington,

48:24

Kentucky. To

48:27

find out more about Miami and William

48:29

Color's story, check out Miami's book,

48:31

The Greatest Gambling story ever told.

48:34

The original score for that piece was

48:36

done by Rynzel Gorio, who

48:38

was produced by Bow

48:41

Walsh. Oh,

48:47

I know. I understand. But

48:50

you're glad you say I need more stories,

48:52

more I'm moving to the mine, watching them on

48:54

sound, Well, that's

48:57

why. There is so much more

48:59

snap where this came from. Available

49:02

at your fingertips wherever you get your

49:04

podcast. Steps on Twitter,

49:06

on Instagram, on Facebook that was brought

49:08

to you, and a team that knows

49:10

to hedge their bets. Except

49:12

for the Uber looser, mister Mark Ristitch.

49:15

He always puts the rent money on

49:17

whatever that shouting man says on

49:19

TV. His Nancy Lopez

49:22

Pat Mercedes Miller, and a subsequent rental

49:24

goryo, John Fafiel, Sheena

49:27

Shealy tailed the cat, Rissa Dodge,

49:29

Bullwalls, Snow Wiley, David

49:31

XMA, Eugenio Bariaco, and Wynn,

49:34

Tsada Norbach. And

49:37

this is not the news. No

49:39

way as a nuisance. In fact, you could decide

49:42

that you're not gonna fool with the mafia

49:44

anymore. Never ever

49:47

again. Right after

49:50

one last bet, and

49:52

you would still. Still, not

49:55

just far away from the news as this

49:57

is. But this is

50:00

PRX.