They actually had a similar promotion during NBC's telecast of the Blue Grass, where some guy was given $10,000 cash to make a win bet on the horse of his choice. He sent it in on Paddy O'Prado just a few minutes before post time, and of course the odds on that horse suddenly dipped, while the odds on the other contenders received a nice jolt. TONS more money will be in the Derby win pool, of course, but a $100,000 win bet still figures to leave a mark. Just cross your fingers and hope this guy doesn't bet on your horse, lol.

from KentuckyDerby.com:

If you had the chance to make a $100,000 wager on one horse to win the 136th Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands, who would you pick? That’s the lucky dilemma facing Glen Fullerton of the Houston, Texas, area, as the winner of the first-ever “Call the Close” $100,000 Kentucky Derby DreamBet Sweepstakes sponsored by Churchill Downs Incorporated and presented in partnership with the financial news network CNBC.

Individuals had the chance to enter the “Call the Close” $100,000 Kentucky Derby DreamBet sweepstakes by guessing the daily close of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and entering that information at CNBC Mobile Home. Each guess was an entry into the sweepstakes that concluded on April 21.

Fullerton’s name was drawn from more than 67,000 entries. He won a VIP trip to Kentucky Derby 136, including the opportunity for a free $100,000 “win” wager on one horse in the Kentucky Derby race.

Fullerton was ecstatic when told he was coming to Kentucky with the chance to make a life-changing wager on America’s premier horse race.

“This VIP trip to the Kentucky Derby is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me,” Fullerton said. “Everybody keeps asking me who I’m going to bet on, long-shot or favorite. I’m just thrilled to be heading to Louisville where my mom lives, and while I haven’t made up my mind yet about which horse to bet the $100,000 on, I’m sure I’ll get lots of advice.”

The “Call the Close” $100,000 Kentucky Derby DreamBet promotion was the featured wagering promotion within Churchill Downs Incorporated’s and NBC Universal’s “Road to the Kentucky Derby” television series. The three-part series provided live coverage of six important Kentucky Derby prep races where the equine winners earned a coveted spot in the Derby’s 20-horse starting gate. During each telecast, a DreamBet winner chosen at the broadcast host site and was given the chance for a free $10,000 “win” wager on the featured Derby prep race of the telecast.

“Churchill Downs Incorporated wanted to reach out to new viewers through the ‘Road to the Kentucky Derby’ television series, and as part of that outreach, we developed a new, easy-to-follow wagering promotion that was built into each show and that also extended to the national television audience through CNBC’s $100,000 ‘Call the Close’ DreamBet promotion,” said Tom Jenkins, vice president of corporate marketing for Churchill Downs Incorporated. “Wagering on horses can be intimidating for newcomers to the sport, but the DreamBet concept is very simple and has the potential to offer the sweepstakes winner an enormous payout if he chooses correctly on the ‘Run for the Roses’.”

Based on final odds for Kentucky Derby 135 on May 2, 2009, a $100,000 DreamBet placed on 2009 winner Mine That Bird would have returned more than $5 million.

A national television audience will watch Fullerton make his pick and have his $100,000 DreamBet placed on one horse to win in the Derby during NBC Sports’ live coverage of Kentucky Derby 136 on Saturday, May 1, from 4-7 p.m. (EDT).

i remember cause they also had a bet like that on lookin at lucky....wow i would take that 100,000 and jolt...but if you had that chance who would you put it on...

All to show on Dublin

lol...soon as i saw you posted i knew what you were going to say mike....good luck with that mike....

The guy won...

$100,000 on Super Saver @ $18.00

yea and maybe he can buy a new hair piece....that thing looked horrible on top of his head...lol

Something i was wondering about, and i forgot to ask yesterday. Does anyone know what kind of odds drop that Super Saver took after this guy made the $100,000 bet? And how long before the race did it happen?

I doubt if they put $100,000 in the pool that was just a promotion, they pay him what it would have payed and now they pay.

I doubt that very much. I didn't see the Derby bet, but i did see the Blue Grass play and they went right up to the windows with the $10k and the guy with the money called out the bet to t he teller and handed her the money. I also read an article about the $100k bet yesterday, and the guy who won said that there were some big security guys guarding the money (he said that when they asked him if it entered his mind to grab the $100k and start running, lol).

Did't see it they more than likely didn't if you seen a $10,000 one you sure should have seen a $100,000 one. All they did was show you the money, I kinda doubt it.

well soon after he dropped it he went from 8-1 to 7-1 but it took a lot more to move it..

They put the money in the pool and showed the 40 tickets during the broadcast. He had 40 tickets with $500 to win on the 4 horse, 5 times on each ticket. Also Steven Crist at DRF did an article on it. The $100,000 lowered the win payout by 60 cents.

Daily Racing Form: Community: Crist Blog with Steven Crist

the extra $100,000 in the win pool cost the other backers of Super Saver 60 cents. The win payoff would have been $18.60 without it.

Didn't read the last part of your post, bbixler. Sorry for repeating.