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Ace Rogers bets big at the 2025 Breeders’ Cup
"Watch what I do next.”
Bob Baffert-trained horses Nysos and Citizen Bull go nose to nose in The Dirt Mile.
For the second straight year, Del Mar hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. The global event brought royalty, celebrities, and high-stakes gamblers to the grounds over the Halloween weekend. According to the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club website, a total handle of $180,036,799 was gambled worldwide over the two days racing. However, it was one local professional sports gambler who found himself going viral after winning nearly $300,000 after the first day.
Ajay Thakore, aka Ace Rogers, is no stranger to internet controversy. In 2024, a video surfaced of him getting into an altercation with a dock worker after he tried to park his Lamborghini yacht at the Marriott Marina. In the video, he could be heard yelling obscenities and seen throwing hundred-dollar bills in the water before dropping trou. Thanks to that, he was treated to both an indecent exposure charge and a thorough roasting from the online mob.
Speaking of mobs: on Halloween, the internet found Ace again, this time as he returned home from the first day of the Breeders’ Cup, cradling stacks of cash in his arms. In a widely shared video, trick or treaters can be seen packed outside of his house. Rogers proceeds to give each of them hundred-dollar bills as he playfully tells them to get off his property. That's Ace. You're tempted to hate him for his brash bearing and bravado; then you see him giving away cash to kids — or to homeless people and animal shelters, as seen in other online videos — and you aren’t sure what to think.
In the wake of the video, Mr. Rogers refused interviews with mainstream media outlets. So I was pleased when the the local businessman allowed me into his gambling habitat during the second day of the Breeders’ Cup. I was there to find out what a lot of the local community wants to know: who is Ace Rogers?
“Ace Rogers is a family man, serial entrepreneur, and professional gambler,” he told me. Also, a dog lover. “All my dogs, except the last two, are handi-capable mixed breeds. I’ve had every dog I’ve ever owned tattooed on my arm. They bring you so much luck. I don’t care what religion you are; if you take care of God’s creatures, whether it’s an animal or a plant, God will bless you.” As he said this, sitting on the table in front of us was $300,000 in cash. “Poor people money,” Rogers quipped.
Professional sports gambler Ace Rogers. “I live life on the wire, man.”
He has been a horse race gambler for over thirty years. He said that part of his strategy is to “follow the money. Men and women lie; money doesn’t. You’ll find that in 60 to 70 percent of auto racing and horse racing, one of the top two favorites is the winner. The thing is, people don’t have the money to bet like I do. Eighty percent of my money [is made] in a minute and forty-five seconds (the length of a horse race). That is fuckin’ good money. Where else do you make that much money in a minute and forty-five seconds? Time versus money. I know where I stand gambling. You can’t do that in any other investment.”
Then there’s the matter of when to put the bet in. “I’m not going first, I’m going last,” he explained,” because there could be some shark money that comes in last. That means somebody knows something I don’t know. The money doesn’t lie.”
He lost $75,000 on one of the races, and I asked if he ever had any fear while gambling. “I have no fear of anything,” he said. “You’re never going to know when I lose, but you’re going to know when I fucking win. Watch what I do next.”
The Dirt Mile was the eleventh race of the day, featuring three of hall of fame horse trainer Bob Baffert’s horses — Goal Oriented, Citizen Bull, and the favorite, Nysos. Rogers went all in on Nysos, betting a cold $300,000. It would be his biggest bet of the day.
In the race, Citizen Bull busted out of the gate with an early lead. Nysos trailed close behind. Coming down the final stretch, the two horses charged stride by stride to a photo finish. The result was too close for the announcer to declare a winner. For Rogers, it was a difference between losing $300,000 or going home a quarter of a million dollars richer. After the review, it was announced that Nysos had won by a nose.
“I live life on the wire, man," said Ace Rogers. "And my wire is gambling. I buy these cars, they get old. A house gets old. The money gets old. The yachts get old. My daughter never gets old to me, and my son never gets old to me. And winning never gets old. That’s why I keep doing it.”
Here's something you might be interested in.
Ace Rogers bets big at the 2025 Breeders’ Cup
"Watch what I do next.”
Ace Rogers bets big at the 2025 Breeders’ Cup
"Watch what I do next.”
Bob Baffert-trained horses Nysos and Citizen Bull go nose to nose in The Dirt Mile.
For the second straight year, Del Mar hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. The global event brought royalty, celebrities, and high-stakes gamblers to the grounds over the Halloween weekend. According to the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club website, a total handle of $180,036,799 was gambled worldwide over the two days racing. However, it was one local professional sports gambler who found himself going viral after winning nearly $300,000 after the first day.
Ajay Thakore, aka Ace Rogers, is no stranger to internet controversy. In 2024, a video surfaced of him getting into an altercation with a dock worker after he tried to park his Lamborghini yacht at the Marriott Marina. In the video, he could be heard yelling obscenities and seen throwing hundred-dollar bills in the water before dropping trou. Thanks to that, he was treated to both an indecent exposure charge and a thorough roasting from the online mob.
Speaking of mobs: on Halloween, the internet found Ace again, this time as he returned home from the first day of the Breeders’ Cup, cradling stacks of cash in his arms. In a widely shared video, trick or treaters can be seen packed outside of his house. Rogers proceeds to give each of them hundred-dollar bills as he playfully tells them to get off his property. That's Ace. You're tempted to hate him for his brash bearing and bravado; then you see him giving away cash to kids — or to homeless people and animal shelters, as seen in other online videos — and you aren’t sure what to think.
In the wake of the video, Mr. Rogers refused interviews with mainstream media outlets. So I was pleased when the the local businessman allowed me into his gambling habitat during the second day of the Breeders’ Cup. I was there to find out what a lot of the local community wants to know: who is Ace Rogers?
“Ace Rogers is a family man, serial entrepreneur, and professional gambler,” he told me. Also, a dog lover. “All my dogs, except the last two, are handi-capable mixed breeds. I’ve had every dog I’ve ever owned tattooed on my arm. They bring you so much luck. I don’t care what religion you are; if you take care of God’s creatures, whether it’s an animal or a plant, God will bless you.” As he said this, sitting on the table in front of us was $300,000 in cash. “Poor people money,” Rogers quipped.
Professional sports gambler Ace Rogers. “I live life on the wire, man.”
He has been a horse race gambler for over thirty years. He said that part of his strategy is to “follow the money. Men and women lie; money doesn’t. You’ll find that in 60 to 70 percent of auto racing and horse racing, one of the top two favorites is the winner. The thing is, people don’t have the money to bet like I do. Eighty percent of my money [is made] in a minute and forty-five seconds (the length of a horse race). That is fuckin’ good money. Where else do you make that much money in a minute and forty-five seconds? Time versus money. I know where I stand gambling. You can’t do that in any other investment.”
Then there’s the matter of when to put the bet in. “I’m not going first, I’m going last,” he explained,” because there could be some shark money that comes in last. That means somebody knows something I don’t know. The money doesn’t lie.”
He lost $75,000 on one of the races, and I asked if he ever had any fear while gambling. “I have no fear of anything,” he said. “You’re never going to know when I lose, but you’re going to know when I fucking win. Watch what I do next.”
The Dirt Mile was the eleventh race of the day, featuring three of hall of fame horse trainer Bob Baffert’s horses — Goal Oriented, Citizen Bull, and the favorite, Nysos. Rogers went all in on Nysos, betting a cold $300,000. It would be his biggest bet of the day.
In the race, Citizen Bull busted out of the gate with an early lead. Nysos trailed close behind. Coming down the final stretch, the two horses charged stride by stride to a photo finish. The result was too close for the announcer to declare a winner. For Rogers, it was a difference between losing $300,000 or going home a quarter of a million dollars richer. After the review, it was announced that Nysos had won by a nose.
“I live life on the wire, man," said Ace Rogers. "And my wire is gambling. I buy these cars, they get old. A house gets old. The money gets old. The yachts get old. My daughter never gets old to me, and my son never gets old to me. And winning never gets old. That’s why I keep doing it.”
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