Horse owner and accountant has right numbers for big score

On weekdays in real life, David Atwell is a mild-mannered certified public account in Northern California. On weekends, Atwell dons a Superman cape, flies to Southern California racetracks, and chases his second calling as a high-stakes horseplayer and owner.

Exactly one week after he won the Santa Anita closing-day pick six for a paltry $601, Atwell hit a home run Sunday at Del Mar. His $1,152 combination wager included the only winning pick six ticket, good for a single-ticket jackpot payoff of $138,889.

“That’s the biggest pick six I’ve ever hit,” Atwell said this week from his office in Pleasanton. “It’s my favorite bet, and I’ve hit a few for 10 grand. But nothing like this. I haven’t been a single-ticket jackpot person.”

Atwell, who is 60 and married with two adult children, could be accused of trading on inside information. After all, he is a co-owner of Fast Cotton, the $4.20 maiden-claiming winner of race 6. Fast Cotton was the only single on the winning $2 pick six ticket.

“Fast Cotton was the key,” Atwell said. “I watched his works on XBTV, liked the way he was training, and [trainer Brian Koriner] said he should win by 10 lengths.” The margin was 3 1/4.

He was only halfway home in the pick six, but for Atwell, the day was made.

“I’ve owned a few racehorses, but Fast Cotton was the first time I’ve ever made it to the winner’s circle.”

Atwell was three or four deep in every other race. Redesign paid $10.60 in the first leg, race 4, Rumpus Cat paid $7.80 in race 5, Fast Cotton was even-money, and Souter paid $7.20 in race 7.

Horseplayers often lean on specific trainers in multirace wagers, which was easy for Atwell. Following the win by Fast Cotton, Koriner had three runners over the last two races. Atwell did not have an ownership interest in any.

“Every horse Brian runs, I use,” he said.

The Koriner-trained Spiced Perfection was on Atwell’s ticket. She paid $10.60 in race 8. The runners Atwell used in race 9, the final leg, included even-money favorite Operandi, trained by Andrew Lerner. Atwell recalls the pick six will-pay to her was about $5,000.

The ticket also included Koriner-trained contender Shylock Eddie, whose will-pay was more than $20,000, and Gypsy Blu, a recent acquisition by Koriner that appeared to have little chance. Gypsy Blu was 30-1.

Atwell watched longshot Gypsy Blu partway and gave up.

“She wasn’t where she was supposed to be, and [Shylock Eddie] was just loaded,” he said.

The problem was that Shylock Eddie was bottled inside with nowhere to run. Gypsy Blu was outside in the clear.

Shylock Eddie finished an unlucky fourth, while Gypsy Blu blew up the sequence. She paid $63.60 after defeating Operandi by a neck. Atwell was holding the only winning ticket.

Days later, he was still in awe.

“Except for closing day at Santa Anita, I haven’t played the pick six in six weeks,” he said. “To show up at Del Mar and play the pick six . . . the headline should be ‘Owner’s first win leads to single-ticket jackpot.’ ”

The jackpot score will be tough to top, but Atwell will try. He plans to return to Del Mar on Friday to cash his winnings and spend the day with his red-hot trainer. Koriner, with five wins from his last seven races, entered three on Friday – in races 4, 6, and 7.

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