Jim O'Donnell: 20 years later, Arlington's 'Fix Six" Breeders' Cup scandal still resonates

The 2022 Breeders' Cup was held at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky. On NBC, the races were watched by 1 million people. The national Nielsen was near 988,000. It was on a Saturday when Georgia-Tennessee pigskins were drawing close to 12 million viewers and Penn State-Indiana attracted 2.2 million. The 20th anniversary of the 2002 Breeder's Cup at Arlington Park recently passed.

Jeff Hummel was the main suspect in the 2002 Breeders' Cup scandal. He was fired by Arlington and sold used cars in Crystal Lake for 13 months. Jim O'Donnell and his friends were set to roll on BC Day 2002. They had every winning possibility six times, but they lost out on the final two legs. They were short-handed. The 43-1 Volponi won the Classic. It was a longshot. In the end, the scandal was settled for them. Their friends won $40,000. For more information, visit the AP/BC website.

Jim O'Donnell's sports and media column appears Sunday and Thursday. He is proud of his college education.