RB Wild Promise triumphs at Ohio track as 206-to-1 long shot

One of the biggest long shots in horse racing history came through Monday afternoon, as a horse with 206-to-1 odds prevailed in a race at Mahoning Valley Race Track.

The horse, RB Wild Promise, triggered a $415.20 payout for a $2 win ticket, which is a record at the track in Austintown, Ohio. The horse was such a long shot that the board at the track showed 99-1 because it is not built for a three-digit display, track announcer John McGary said.

The horse became the property of 23-year-old Gwendolyn Crosser this summer via a trainer at a track in West Virginia.

"He didn't really like him that much," Crosser said of the previous owner.

For Crosser, who exercises horses at the track and dreamed of developing a training clientele, it was a dream come true. On Monday, she rode the pony beside RB Wild Promise to the gate in the seventh race. Minutes later, she said she cried when word spread that the horse crossed the finish line first among the 12-horse race.

Crosser describes her horse as an average race horse who hasn't fared well to date because "he's not really a fan of dirt being kicked in his face."

"He had a pretty clean trip this time," she said.

As the owner, Crosser won $8,600 for winning the race, of which she says she'll net around $5,000. She was readying to cash in her $5 bet, worth $1,352.50.The payout, she said, will pay for her horse's expenses for the next couple months.

Said Crosser: "The last time I went to cash a ticket, they asked for my ID because they didn't believe I was old enough."

Three winning trifecta tickets sold. Each 50-cent bet paid out $7,049.05 before taxes, the second-highest trifecta payout ever at the track.