They say money is the root of all evil, and at the racetrack, where money talks and horses run, money can be a source of dispute.
Trainer Paul Aguirre says he’s still friends with horse owner and horseplayer Scott McKeever, who won the more than $1 million Pick Six at Del Mar on July 27, but Aquirre confirmed Sunday that there is “a dispute” over the tip McKeever offered Aguirre’s barn and jockey Alonso Quinonez.
As a matter of review, McKeever, 45, of Huntington Beach, the founder of myhorseplayer.com, won $1,109,920.80 for being the only person to pick the third through the eighth races at Del Mar in the Pick Six on July 27. He also had 20 of the 85 consolation tickets, five of six winners, with each worth $4,386 for another $87,720. His total haul was $1,197,646, and after a visit to the track’s IRS window, McKeever walked out with a check for $900,000 and $770 in cash.
After the races, McKeever and his wife, Vanessa, and Aquirre and his wife, Lisa, celebrated at Jake’s at Del Mar. The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club even bought their celebratory dinner. McKeever was reached that night by the Union-Tribune, and he confirmed he was the big winner of the Pick Six, the fourth-largest in Del Mar history. He added that Lisa Aquirre talked him into picking the Aguirre-trained filly, January Miss, who won the last leg of the Pick Six and paid $49.40.
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