by John Manzi, publicity director, Monticello Raceway

Monticello, NY — When announcer Howard Oil gave his last call in Monticello Raceway’s ninth race on Thursday (Oct. 30) he shouted “bombs away” to describe Edgar’s trotting victory. His odds on the board were 99-1, which are the biggest numbers that are abled be posted on the Mighty M tote board.

However, after the mutuel room computations were completed, the horse’s actual odds were 146-1, which produced a $294.50 payoff for every two dollar wager.

Driven by Jimmy Marohn Jr., Edgar was third at the top of the stretch and rallied to a one length victory over 27-1 Montana Steel (Jim Taggart Jr.) in the 2:02.1 mile. That 6-1 exacta combination paid a whopping $1,374.

Of course, odds of that magnitude aren’t normal. In this case they were precipitated by 1-9 shot Catman Dude’s inability to get away trotting.

Owned by Robert Dineman and trained by Delores Basilone, it marked Edgar’s first victory of the season after 18 previous starts.

As big as the payoff was it still wasn’t the biggest ever here at the Mighty M. That honor belongs to Cam Can Kadandy and driver Greg Annaloro when they won and paid $377 on Sept. 26, 2012.