Maybe a Churchill Downs official should tried to approach Wes Welker 150 times on Kentucky Derby Day.
The Louisville Courier-Journal reported Friday that Churchill Downs sent a letter to Denver Broncos wide receiver Wes Welker, who won more than $57,000 bets made during the Kentucky Derby, saying that the racetrack overpaid Welker by almost $15,000 and wanted to "resolve the matter."
The Courier-Journal reported that it wants the money back but that Welker is under no obligation to pay back the money.
Curiously, Churchill Downs spokesman Darren Rogers later told the Courier-Journal that it wasn't gung-ho about getting the money back.
"At the end of the day, it's our mistake and we're not worried about the recovery," Rogers told the Courier-Journal. "We just hope they come back to Churchill Downs for next year's Derby with an extra $14,000 to burn."
Which begs the question, why send out the letter in the first place?
So far, that question has gone unanswered.
Rogers won $57,193.90 on the Derby, in which he bet on 37-1 shot Commanding Curve in several exacta, trifecta and superfecta wagers along with winner California Chrome.
The Courier-Journal reported that Welker should have won 42,395.38. Under Kentucky Horse Racing Commission statutes, Churchill Downs is responsible for the overpayment.
Rogers told the Courier-Journal that while a member of Welker's party went to cash in the tickets, the tote machine malfunctioned and went blank. When the screen came back on, a tote technician assumed that all work was lost in the meantime. It wasn't, and so tickets were re-run through the system.
"It became very clear that the mistake occurred on our end when the patron was cashing several winning tickets after the Derby," Rogers said.
Welker went on the Dan Patrick Show earlier in the day and said he wasn't about to give back the money.
"Yeah, get in line," Welker said. "...I've heard about that. I've never heard of it actually happening, and supposedly my group got that. But we had no clue. They could have under-paid us and we wouldn't have known."
After collecting his winnings, Welker was photographed handing out $100 bills to random people at the track. Perhaps, Churchill Downs is using surveillance cameras to seek out those people to ask for the money back.
Why do you think Churchill Downs sent Wes Welker a letter if it wasn't "worried about the recovery?" Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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