Enquirer news services

Was it a betting scam or just extraordinary picking? This is what Breeders' Cup officials have asked the New York State Racing and Wagering Board to determine in the case of a Maryland man who holds all six winning tickets worth more than $2.5 million from the lucrative Ultra Pick Six wager offered Saturday at Arlington Park.

The state of New York will investigate after it discovered the six winning tickets were made through the Catskill Off-Track Betting Corp. by a single bettor, identified as 29-year-old Derrick Davis, who owns a computer service business.

In a statement released Monday, Breeders' Cup officials cited the "unusual nature of the winning wagers" and concern about the possibility that the wagering data may have been manipulated electronically. The racing and wagering board has held up payment on the winning tickets.

"It could be as simple as someone getting lucky, or there were some shenanigans involved," said Ed Martin, executive director of the racing and wagering board, New York's regulatory and enforcement arm for horse racing.

What attracted the attention of industry officials and investigators was the configuration of the winning tickets and the fact they belonged to a single bettor who called in by phone.

The winning tickets featured "singles," or races with only one horse selected, in the first four legs of the ticket and then "all," or the entire fields, in the final two races.

Because the ticket had every horse in the field in the final two races, the Maryland man was guaranteed to win six of six. Volponi (43-1), the longest price on the board, pulled a shocking upset in the Classic to finish out the six picks.

On a $2 ticket, those combinations and strategy cost $192. What raised suspicions, according to sources close to the investigation, was that the Maryland man bet a $12 pick-six ticket or played that exact combination six separate times at a cost of $1,152.

In addition, by including every horse in the last two races, the bettor collected 108 of the 186 consolation payoffs for hitting five of six winners each worth $4,606.20.

"It raises the possibility that he already knew the outcome of one or more of the races and, either by computer or accomplice, got a bet in late that he was sure to win," said one industry executive who requested anonymity and has seen the raw data from the computer that tracks wagering activity.

Davis told Thoroughbred Times that he was unaware he was under scrutiny. And he offered this explanation for the $12 pick-six ticket.

"The bet was supposed to be $2," adding that he made a mistake "with their phone system."

"It was a $12 ticket that was the winning one. It was too late to cancel. I couldn't get back to them," Davis said.

Donald Groth, president of Catskill OTB, believes that the bettor had a career day betting. He said phone bets are recorded and monitored.

"Everything we have points to the legitimacy," Groth said. "If some technological event happened as it left here, I don't know what it would be. I hope that the investigation is concluded swiftly, so our customer can go out and buy a Mercedes or two. Isn't that what you would do?"