Big Score: Thomas Nanni carves out $34,690 at Santa Anita

Betting the exacta, trifecta and daily double into the last race at Santa Anita on Father’s Day night, studied horseplayer Thomas Nanni turned a $420 investment into $34,690. His ticket structure is fantastic and worth studying.

Tom, at far right in photo above with, from left, Jimmy the Chalk, Jason Saetta and announcer Tom Durkin, offers the story of his big score, his secrets of his success, his South Philly background and details about his sports-betting podcast, Broad Street Hustle, @BroadStHustle. Follow Tom on Twitter @Idontwaitinline.

Two kids, Father’s Day –did you spend the day living the Father’s Day dream of playing horses to your heart’s content?

We did breakfast here with my wife’s father and her side. The kids went down for a nap. Then we went to my parents and did the rest. I had printed the PPs for Santa Anita and handicapped for the Pick 6, but I never settled on a ticket. Didn't put anything in. It was a stress-free day – you know, I didn't have to fake going to the bathroom to watch a race on my phone.

I’ve been there.

Yeah, the eternal struggle of family life and horse-playing life. And I’m a weekend guy of course because I work so I don’t have a chance to play during the week. You get the dirty looks from the wife when you are on your phone sideways in portrait view and she knows you are looking at PPs. But we got back home around 6, and by the time the kids went down it was 7:30, and I thought “well, I already handicapped,” so I looked back and figured I’ll play something these last few races. So it went from there.

Looking at your trifecta tickets for The American (G3), it’s so clear what your opinions were on the race – Hong Kong Harry was going to win, Tarantino was going to run third, and if that happens, no matter what, you win. But you liked the two Neil Drysdale horses best and pressed this opinion.

Looking back at it, I should have had an exacta with Tarantino in second because if he does hang on, then I don't get paid. But sometimes I get a little bullheaded and refuse to allow for any other possibilities. My tickets all look like that. Always something singled or keyed and weighted. My bigger scores have been structured that way, where I have keys in first and second or first and third. And my multis always have a single or I don't play it. On Thorograph, to me the pattern of Hong Kong Harry fit the best, also cutting back from 1 1/18 miles, and obviously with the tactical speed he was going to have the first jump on anybody that was close. At Santa Anita I’ve noticed there are tactical horses who are close to the pace coming around that final turn; they open up on the closers and it's hard to catch them at times. They weren’t going to run him down. Not usually when you envision a race does it unfold that way, but that one if I could have wrote out the chart beforehand it would have looked exactly how it unfolded.

How did it unfold?

Looking through the race, I didn't see much speed. I saw the 6 was probably going to the lead. I had the Tarantino running close and Hong Kong Harry sitting right off the two or three leaders. And then I had Tarantino as the one who would make the first move and then just fade, that's why I had him singled in third. I am a believer that horses who tend to run second are going to run second. Horses who tend to run third are going to run third. That's not just because they’re unlucky. They are hangers or they run in that herd-dynamic path. Homer Screen I had coming from behind – Van Dyke typically on the turf likes to make that one run, and Drysdale already had two wins on the card. I thought Hong Kong was going to get that first jump. And I used the 10 because he has finished second nine times. If I didn’t keep him, I could've pressed my opinion, more but I can't complain. Another reason I played it was I was very against Vanzzy, who was the favorite at times in the win pool. So I played stuff without him in it.

What was the moment like when you saw your horses cruising home?

When a horse caught Tarantino, I was thinking “oh, I crushed his race.” I hit my double and the tri. Then I heard Frank Mirahmadi say Homer Screen, the name of my A horses who came in for second. Then it set in that I crushed this race. There is nothing better than winning, but to me I love the thrill of being alive to will pays that are phenomenal. Or knowing you just hit a race but you don’t know the payouts yet. I saw the exacta payouts were $86, so I’m thinking the trifecta will be $400 or $500. Then I looked at the odds and the final odds were lower than when i put my bet in at 28-1 and 22-1 and I thought this might be really, really good. Then I saw the $1,480 payout on the dollar tri and I said 10 times 14, that’s $14,000. My kids are sleeping and my wife is sleeping, I’m trying to be quiet. But then I remembered I had it 20 times. After that, all hell broke loose. I was quiet still, but I didn't sleep much last night.

Did you wake them up?

Waking the kids or waking my wife up is not worth 35k. It would have to be “we can retire money” for that. And part of me was like I didn't finish handicapping the Pick 4 at Los Alamitos so I can’t celebrate too much, I gotta get right back to it. One of the things I enjoy is the Saturday and Sunday night Los Al card, everyone is in bed and it's the one time I have to myself so I can watch it on TV, not on my phone. So I put a couple tickets in.

Tell me about the podcast you do, Broad Street Hustle.

We started six weeks ago. I do it with my cousin, Jason Saetta, and our friend Jimmy the Chalk has been a special guest; more so, we just do it for ourselves. Something around our gambling, making bets. I live in Delaware now but we’re all from Philadelphia. We revolve around Philly sports, but we do everything, whatever sport is the hot topic, and we incorporate the horses too, but not go crazy with it because our friends who listen aren’t into the horses like we are. We do it once a week. It’s fun, a way to shoot the shit when we are talking about sports. For the Belmont, we gave out the trifecta. For the U.S. Open we gave out the first and second-place guys.

People want to talk sports betting like a +500 team to win is a big upset, but finding a 5-1 in horse racing is not a problem, you can sniff those out in no time. Sports betting is four hours of entertainment so I get that part of it, but from a value perspective, I’ve lost interest in sports betting because of what horse racing offers.

What other podcasts do you listen to?

I listen to Steve Byk every day. In the Money, you know PTF, Kinchen those guys. Sport of Kings. I listen to Ron Flatter. I’ll listen when I’m driving or when I’m mowing the lawn – we have a nice pice of land but I have a push mower, so it takes me three hours and I’ll put podcasts on.

Who taught you how to gamble and handicap?

I don't know, I just think it's in you. My grandfather was a big gambler. He would go play cards every Saturday. We’re from South Philly, an Italian neighborhood. It’s just there, a part of our culture, I don't know, so we’ve always been around it. In high school me and my buddy would take bets from kids and we had a guy that we would turn them over to. So we were kinda always around it. Like I said, I think it's just in you.

But I also research. I’ve been doing horse racing since Smarty Jones. After Smarty, we would go to the Turf Club, just like an OTB. I hit the superfecta in the Preakness which paid $400 and I was like I kinda wanna know what I’m doing. So I went out and bought Davidowitz and Beyer, all the books. Now I have a collection. In the last five or six years, I’ve gotten into it pretty heavily. The kids go to bed at 7 and I’ll be up until 10, and I make notes and read. Reading, watching, picking brains, tracking angles I am successful with. Don't get me wrong – I’ll throw 20 bucks at a race I haven't researched. I have the gamble in me. But I like to research. I’m a big reader and learner before I try to tackle stuff.

Is this your biggest payday playing the horses?

This is my biggest single score. I’ve been alive to some crazy stuff. But this was the biggest one-race, one-ticket score. I’ve been alive a few times to nonlogical horses for over hundreds of thousands, but I’ve never had this happen.

I won $15,000 on Belmont Day. That 15-1 came in the first race and I was up 4k, and I was at Belmont at the track. So after that, I was like, now I gotta fire, but nothing crazy, just played the horses I thought had a chance. Jack Christopher. Tribhuvan. And as I said in the podcast, Nest and Mo Donegal are definitely going to finish in the top 2. I was alive to all in the Pick 5 going into the last race, and I had it multiple times, but the favorite won.

Me and my buddies hit for $23,000 when Queen’s Trust beat Lady Eli in the Breeders’ Cup, we hit the Pick 5; Champagne Room was part of it. I have independently hit for $10,000 or had other days when I hit for $15000.

What are your secrets to success?

Formulator, TimeForm for the Pace, but I also use Thorograph. I do trip notes in Formulator, but a lot of times I just remember. When it comes to horse racing I’m an idiot savant remembering exact days and races, who rode the horse, saddlecloths. It’s hard to explain where it comes from. I still like to print and use different colored pens. Highlighters. There's a time when I handicap and will sit out. Honestly, I like to handicap. I can just do that and watch the race. But if I have an opinion, I'm not afraid to fire away.

I’m good at losing and moving on, which I wasn't always good at. I had to learn to do it. If I lose a race, I don't let it stick; I just move to the next race. And that helps me construct my tickets. I won't just throw favorites in because they're the favorite. I like to find an opinion, single an opinion, key and build off that stuff. Bet against favorites. If I play a Pick 5 and lose to a favorite, so be it; I just move on to the next race.

What have you got planned to do with the money?

This money is for my bankroll, which is completely separate from my wife and I’s account, so it will go in there. If one day it gets too big I’ll move some out to retirement, but it's for the horses and golf bets and football season. I scaled back on any type of sports betting, and I don’t go to casinos too much; it’s mainly just horse racing. The money goes into the bankroll, and next Saturday I’ll be right back at it.

Big Score celebrates the good days in horse racing. Kevin Kilroy is an author, handicapper and two-time NHC qualifier who cashed in 2021. Serving as the Publicity Specialist for Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots and a free-lance writer, you may find him on Twitter @trustyourluck.