Framed on a wall in Lance Gasaway's home is a $100 bill.
It's not the first Benjamin Franklin he earned, nor is it a token for achieving an important goal. Instead, it's a reminder of winning bet between friends.
"He had Wells Bayou, a really good horse with Derby potential," recalled trainer Kenny McPeek May 5. "We had a side bet, 'I bet you a hundred that I beat you in this race.' So I ran a horse (My Man Flintstone) and he ran Wells Bayou. I ran second, he won the race."
After winning that maiden special weight Oct. 26, 2019, at Keeneland, Gasaway had McPeek sign the C-note before having it framed.
"When I walk into his house, I can see my $100," McPeek said.
After Mystik Dan won the $5 million Kentucky Derby (G1) May 4 at Churchill Downs, there are plenty of hundred-dollar bills between them now.
To think, it almost didn't happen.
Gasaway, who co-owns the Goldencents colt with his cousin Brent Gasaway and his wife Sharilyn Gasaway—4G Racing—as well as Daniel Hamby III, and Valley View Farm, had initially planned to retire Mystik Dan's mare, Ma'am.
McPeek, who helped Lance Gasaway acquire her along with his father Clint and brother Greg, convinced him to instead breed her. When his father and brother bowed out of the business, Lance Gasaway turned to his current partners to take the next steps.
Relying heavily on McPeek's expertise, the trainer suggested pairing Ma'am with Goldencents. This produced Mystik Dan.
"Lance and Sharilyn have been wonderful people to have involved here," McPeek said. "They came in and decided to absorb it all and enjoy it. I just believe in mojo. I believe in positive energy. And we had a lot of that."
Said Sharilyn Gasaway, "We feel like we are just ordinary people and we have got just an amazing horse that God gave us."
Bred by Lance Gasaway, Hamby, and 4G Racing, Mystik Dan is now 3-1-1 from seven starts and has banked $3,741,360.
He's also the gift that keeps on giving. Sunday morning at the barn, Lance and Sharilyn Gasaway were presented with replica World Wrestling Entertainment championship belts with plates customized to honor the 150th Kentucky Derby. One belt was made in the traditional style, while the other was made with a horse's bridle.
Thinking about how far they've come, Lance Gasaway was awestruck.
"Just pinching myself. You just wonder if this is real," he said after the race. "You just won the biggest horse race in America. I mean, who would have ever dreamed that a little horse Ma'am, a little filly we had, and run her, and didn't breed her to a $10,000 stud fee, and win the Kentucky Derby? It's just really surreal."
