Pellini took a shot and won

For 81 year-old Fred Pelini, a night out with his buddies, and a twist of fate, led to a handicapping championship at Hawthorne, and an experience he’ll cherish forever.

“I had a hip replacement last August, and just when I was ready to go home, they told me I needed surgery on my colon,” Pelini explained. “After the surgeries and all the rehab, I was in the hospital for five months. I finally came home in January, and this is really my first big night out.”

And it certainly paid off.

Pelini, who has been playing the horses all his life, called on a lifetime of handicapping experience, and a fateful hunch, to outlast more than 270 contestants in Hawthorne’s second handicapping satellite tournament of the spring harness season.

Pelini made his big move in Sunday night’s ninth race, maxing out $384 across the board on the 22-1 shot Iron Bullet. How did he come up with that unlikely longshot?

“I knew he was in the war, so I asked him if he ever got shot,” said Pelini’s friend Bill Grass. “He told me he did, so I steered him toward Iron Bullet. Then he tells me he got shot with a needle, not a bullet.”

Either way, Pelini took another “shot”, and this one paid off.

For his efforts, Pelini received $500, and along with the rest of the top ten, a berth into the $10,000 Club Hawthorne Handicapping Invitational, to be held on Sunday, June 11.

So what’s Pelini going to do with his winnings?

“Take my friends out to dinner,” he said. “They’re just great people, and without them, I wouldn’t have been here tonight.”

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