TwinSpires Player Sharp Is World's Hottest Gambler Right Now

How did R. F. Sharp celebrate the one-month anniversary of winning $188,491.40 on a Pick 6 at Santa Anita Park? By winning $1,078,668.22 on the Rainbow^6 at Gulfstream Park.

That’s right; the same guy who celebrated this score a month ago is celebrating an even bigger one today. And he’s doing it in style, as Sharp was in Key West with his wife when he landed the big one.

“Now we’re going shopping,” said Sharp, a retired attorney who now works as an artist, author, and handicapper. “I’ve been trying to hit that one at Gulfstream, and I did last week for about $10,000, but I had to share it. I wanted the pool all to myself.”

Sharp played two tickets, one for $440 plus the winning $336 play that began by singling 5-to-2 Hellenistic in the opening leg, race 6. Other than that single, Sharp’s biggest stand came in leg 5, race 10 when he went six deep in a field of 10 but did not use 13-to-10 favorite Seeking Fame, who ended up finishing second to runaway 25-to-1 winner Renombre.

Sharp was live to four horses in the last leg, and all of them were paying the jackpot, and as an added oomph to his handicapping prowess those four horses completed the superfecta with 11-to-5 favorite Forest Funds edging 10.2-to-1 Shiloh by a neck to cap the seven-figure score.

“It was close there at the end, but I had it either way so I wasn’t worried,” Sharp said. “Eliminating the favorite in race 10 gave me more to play with, and I was able to use the longshot in the previous race [19.30-to-1 Silver Lucky Q] as well.”

Sharp, 67, said that he will continue to play racing’s biggest pools—especially when carryovers are involved. He even throws a few bucks into the TwinSpires.com Players Pool from time to time but admitted that he indulges in some schadenfreude when he hits a ticket on his own that the players pool doesn’t.

“I’ve done this a lot; it’s definitely like having a job,” Sharp said. “I spend 3-4 hours on a Pick 6. It’s pretty much a part-time job. Fortunately yesterday it was pretty well paying.

“I’ve been doing pretty good the past year after a rough couple of years. I’m not doing anything differently. I just stayed the course and now things are working out.”

Speaking of working, Sharp has a $68,004 jackpot at Golden Gate Fields to chase.