$364,000 Twin Trifecta Under Inquiry

The Ohio State Racing Commission is investigating Thistledown’s Dec. 11 twin trifecta, which produced a record $364,690 pool, two winning tickets paying $145,421.60 each and a thrown jockey.

To win the twin trifecta, a bettor must pick the top three finishers in two races.

“We have had people asking questions,” said Cliff Nelson, executive director of the commission. “We are definitely looking into the matter.”

Nelson declined to specify what the commission is investigating in the twin trifecta’s fifth and seven races.

In the seventh race, Mike Rowland, whose mount Gee Rusha was running second and making a challenge for the lead, fell from his saddle when the 5-year-old mare hit the inside railing.

“I was going to win the race,” Rowland said on the night of the race. “I guess we got too close to the rail.”

The commission has obtained videotapes of the race from the track.

No one had won the twin trifecta in 13 racing dates and, under Ohio racing regulations, the track arranged a must-win wagering proposal for its closing race date. If no one had correctly picked the three top finishers in the two races, the next closest bettors would have shared the pool.

A total of 562 bettors correctly picked the top three finishers of the first race and were still in contention to win the twin trifecta.

Mike Mackey, the track’s general manager, said in a telephone interview from Florida that the track was cooperating with the investigation.

Mackey declined to publicly identify the two winning bettors but said both had come forward to claim their winnings and sign federal tax statements.