The Associated Press
12/22/03 4:13 PM
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Imagine cashing a $2 win ticket on a Triple Crown winner at odds of more than 11,000-to-1. That's exactly what a New Orleans man hopes to do.
For the past 25 years, David Scheuermann has had an uncashed $2 win ticket on Affirmed in the Belmont Stakes. On that day in 1978, Affirmed paid $3.20 to win when he captured the Triple Crown.
The starting bid on E-Bay for Scheuermann's souvenir from a day at the races is $25,000.
"It's been in my wallet for 25 years," he said. "I've been pulling it out and showing it to people. I just decided I could use the money for my business and I thought I'd toss it out there. I don't know how many of them are out there. But it's been a long time."
In the '78 Belmont, Affirmed beat his rival Alydar by a neck to become the 11th and most recent Triple Crown winner. Affirmed beat Alydar by 1½ lengths in the Kentucky Derby and by a nose in the Preakness.
Scheuermann, who sells bowling supplies on the Internet, said he's not really a racing fan, but "more of a Triple Crown fan." He wound up at Belmont Park for the big day on a whim. A 23-year-old Navy pilot at the time, he flew his private plane to Atlantic City to see the casinos open in 1978, then decided to fly to New York "because it looked like Affirmed had a good chance of winning the Triple Crown."
Scheuermann, not a heavy hitter at the betting windows, cashed a few other $2 win tickets on Affirmed and stuck one in his wallet.
He went back to Belmont Park this year to watch Funny Cide's Triple Crown try, but the gelding finished third in the Belmont.
Back in 1978, betting tickets were printed on regular paper. Today, they are spit out of the pari-mutuel machines on a fax-like paper that fades quickly.
"If Funny Cide had won, the ticket could not have been preserved," Scheuermann said. "This may be the last ticket from a Triple Crown winner that can be preserved."
Scheuermann said there is no doubt about the authenticity. However, any buyer can have the ticket put into escrow if they want to check it out, he said.
"To me, it's self-authenticating. That's what's neat about it. All of the material is on the ticket and it's the old-style paper," he said.
Dick Hamilton, a spokesman for the National Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., said the ticket looks real.
"It's the right date, it's the right denomination, and it's the right race number," and the correct number for Affirmed on that day, Hamilton said after looking at a picture of the ticket. "It looks like it."
What kind of buyer is Scheuermann looking for? "Someone with some money who wants to buy a special gift for a horse racing fan," he said.
12/22/03 4:13 PM
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Imagine cashing a $2 win ticket on a Triple Crown winner at odds of more than 11,000-to-1. That's exactly what a New Orleans man hopes to do.
For the past 25 years, David Scheuermann has had an uncashed $2 win ticket on Affirmed in the Belmont Stakes. On that day in 1978, Affirmed paid $3.20 to win when he captured the Triple Crown.
The starting bid on E-Bay for Scheuermann's souvenir from a day at the races is $25,000.
"It's been in my wallet for 25 years," he said. "I've been pulling it out and showing it to people. I just decided I could use the money for my business and I thought I'd toss it out there. I don't know how many of them are out there. But it's been a long time."
In the '78 Belmont, Affirmed beat his rival Alydar by a neck to become the 11th and most recent Triple Crown winner. Affirmed beat Alydar by 1½ lengths in the Kentucky Derby and by a nose in the Preakness.
Scheuermann, who sells bowling supplies on the Internet, said he's not really a racing fan, but "more of a Triple Crown fan." He wound up at Belmont Park for the big day on a whim. A 23-year-old Navy pilot at the time, he flew his private plane to Atlantic City to see the casinos open in 1978, then decided to fly to New York "because it looked like Affirmed had a good chance of winning the Triple Crown."
Scheuermann, not a heavy hitter at the betting windows, cashed a few other $2 win tickets on Affirmed and stuck one in his wallet.
He went back to Belmont Park this year to watch Funny Cide's Triple Crown try, but the gelding finished third in the Belmont.
Back in 1978, betting tickets were printed on regular paper. Today, they are spit out of the pari-mutuel machines on a fax-like paper that fades quickly.
"If Funny Cide had won, the ticket could not have been preserved," Scheuermann said. "This may be the last ticket from a Triple Crown winner that can be preserved."
Scheuermann said there is no doubt about the authenticity. However, any buyer can have the ticket put into escrow if they want to check it out, he said.
"To me, it's self-authenticating. That's what's neat about it. All of the material is on the ticket and it's the old-style paper," he said.
Dick Hamilton, a spokesman for the National Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., said the ticket looks real.
"It's the right date, it's the right denomination, and it's the right race number," and the correct number for Affirmed on that day, Hamilton said after looking at a picture of the ticket. "It looks like it."
What kind of buyer is Scheuermann looking for? "Someone with some money who wants to buy a special gift for a horse racing fan," he said.
