From time to time, we all find ourselves talking big mouth. Sometimes it can be attributed to alcohol, and other times to raw emotions. But, in Thoroughbred racing, we back up our opinions with cold hard cash.

Think about if you were asked to put up $100,000 to run your own horse in a daunting race. Your charge was not the overwhelming favorite, or was it a short field. Hell, it wasn’t even the only track you have ran or trained on. So, do you get out the checkbook?

If you are owner Ken Kinakin, the offer was put on the table. If he wanted to play in the $2 million Sprint, he had to pony up the jack. So, do you get out your checkbook yet?

His answer was yes…. If he wanted in, he had to pay. Dancing in Silks would be supplemented to run in this six furlong dash. There was no guarantee, and that didn’t stop his check…

He believed in his horse.. He wanted to play, and thought he had enough steam to go for the wall. Well, sometimes gut feelings and last minute calls are the maker of true competitors. On this day, it turned out to be the right move.

Dancing in Silks won in a four horse photo finish. Heavily favored Zensational was in this field, and taking a great deal of the public money. Dancing in Silks was ridden by Breeders’ Cup first timer winner Joel Rosario. She was 15-1, and paid her backers at the windows sweetly.

Trainer Carla Gaines tried to talk Kinakin out of the move, but he would have no part of that and said, “Let’s go.”

We all like to see ourselves as go-get-em types. But the truth is short and sweet. “Fortune favors the bold.”