Backers of disqualified Maximum Security cry, ‘Horsefeathers!’

Bettors who backed Maximum Security in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, only to see the chestnut colt disqualified for interference with other horses, lost approximately $9 million, according to statistics provided by online horse racing site TwinSpires.com and reported by David Perdum of ESPN.com.

There was more than $6.2 million bet on Maximum Security to win and only $520,907 on Country House, the 65-1 long shot that benefited from Maximum Security’s interference and was declared the winner. The largest win bet reported by TwinSpires on Maximum Security was $8,000, which would have paid a net $36,000. The largest win bet on Country House, according to TwinSpires, was $2,500, which paid a net $162,500.

Maximum Security also had $1,495,408 bet to place and $1,272,082 to show.

At the Westgate sportsbook, the disqualification caused a mid-five-figure swing against the house in its Kentucky Derby futures odds market, which is separate from the national parimutuel pool.

“We went from a good-sized win to a good-sized loss,” Westgate sportsbook director John Murray told ESPN in a text message. “The SuperBook animal racing trade team is annoyed by the decision.”

As of Friday at William Hill sportsbooks in Nevada, according to ESPN.com, only 2 percent of the money bet on the odds to win the Kentucky Derby was on Country House.

The surprising flip threw bettors at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, into a frenzy, too. Some who had wagered on Country House to win immediately tossed away their tickets at the finish, only to then scramble to the ground, frantically searching for their betting slips. Review-Journal wire services