The event - the 140th running of the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park on Long Island (June 7, 2008). The goal - meet at former LR football star Joe Shaughnessy's place on the upper east side of Manhattan, take a train out to the Park, and perhaps witness a Triple Crown clinching win by Big Brown, a horse that had snared impressive wins at both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. The 6 attendees, Andrew and Sean Williamson, Ryan Child, along with LR alumni Reid Whiting, Matt Weinman, and Joe Shaughnessy, decided to each select a horse in the race. Reid and Andrew decided to combo a $30 wager on the entrant Da'Tara who went off at staggering 39:1 odds. There were 1170 reasons why this pick was a great one. That's how many dollars Reid and Andrew won when Da'Tara stunned the horse racing world with a wire to wire win as Big Brown astonishly finished dead last in the field, a first for any Triple Crown hopeful.

After the exciting race, what better way to take in the night than to purchase shirts and cigars and of course, inform all of those around the world of the windfall. The 6 took to the actual ESPN broadcast booth at the site and reported the group's good fortune to all watching around the world (well, maybe the cameras were not actually powered on). ESPN funnyman anchor Kenny Mayne met up with the group and gave his seal of approval to the day's proceedings!
The day ended with a train ride back to Manhattan, but of course, the night was young for these gents.

NOTE: Weinman, Andrew Williamson and Ryan Child were frat brothers at SigmaChi at West Virginia University. Andrew also made it to the LeRoy Oatka Festival about a month after the Belmont and found downtown LeRoy to be very similar to the Manhattan skyline! Sean Williamson is Andrew's older brother who went to the University of Florida.

Check out the college performances of four
LeRoy all-state selections from the 2002 Oatkan Knights