Taking a Plunge: Huge Last-Minute Derby Wager Drops Odds on Candy Boy

As the field for the 140th Kentucky Derby began to enter the starting gate, several sharp viewers – both on track and at home – noticed that the odds on G2 Robert B. Lewis winner Candy Boy dropped sharply just before the race. The betting odds on the colt went from 16-1 down to 9-1 rather suddenly.

The cause of the sudden drop was “a very large bet,” according to Churchill Downs spokesman, John Asher. Asher told the Louisville Courier-Journal that the wager was placed off-site, just as the horses were being loaded into the gate.

“As for details — where it came from, how much it was — I know it was large,” Asher told the Courier-Journal. “I've heard the number one million tossed around, but I'm not sure. It would take a large bet to move the needle that much.”

The last-minute bet caused California Chrome to go from 2-1 to 5-2.

Candy Boy, after a rough trip in the Derby, eventually finished thirteenth.

Read more in the Louisville Courier-Journal