“Doesn’t always happen, but sometimes you get lucky,” Luna says about his long-shot success. “It has been going good and the horses make me look good.” – Press Pros Feature Photos by Sonny Fulks)
Unless lightning strikes, there’s been no better driver to deliver on a long shot in the past year than Lexington, Ky. resident Marvin Luna. Nicknamed the ‘Little Flea’, he’s showing a knack for delivering on the big odds.
Dayton, OH — There are those who say when Marvin Luna drives a standardbred long-shot he often catches lightning in a bottle.
It is as if bettors are not yet confident in the soon-to-be 25-year-old’s driving ability or if they believe the tote board odds that his horse is outclassed.
Nevertheless, time and time again Luna steers a long shot across the finish line first and it pays $22.40…or more. A lot more.
How about $67.40 for a $2 wager? On Friday night at Dayton Raceway, driving Violence Muscle in the seventh race, a horse most bettors would say, “You have to be a Luna-tic to wager on that one,” he won and it paid the monstrous $67.40.
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Then in the 12th race, he nearly did it again. Driving Killer Dance in the 12th race, the longest shot in the field, he brought it home second and the place money paid $19.20.
Those, though, were only the preliminaries. Fast forward to Saturday night at Dayton. In the sixth race, driving Mockingbird As, Luna steered a 50 to 1 shot to victory, a $102.60 payoff for a $2 wager.
All in a few long days of work, long shot days of work, which is Luna’s modus operandi from a guy nicknamed ‘Little Flea.’
And speaking of catching lightning in a bottle, Luna was involved in a real-life lightning bolt last week.
His pick-up truck was parked in a lot near the paddock of the magnificent Red Mile track in Lexington, Ky.
A thunderstorm hovered over the track and a lightning struck. It was a direct hit on Luna’s pick-up truck, turning into melted scrap metal.
Fortunately, Luna was not inside it.
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He was alive enough to steer Fear No Lou in the first race on Opening Day last Monday at Dayton Raceway. And he won.
There are, though, ups and downs for all drivers and still things to learn, especially young drivers like Luna, in his fourth year as a professional driver.
For example, last Wednesday at Dayton he was driving Lady Panera in the second race and finished third behind winner Harmonist, driven by Austin Hanners and runner-up Euphoria Rising steered by Jeremy Smith.
But an inquiry was announced and it was judged that Luna went outside the pylons coming down the lane. He was disqualified and placed seventh.
Of his propensity of winning when the odds are long: “I just love making people happy. It makes me feel like I’m doing something meaningful.”
And there was the time last year at Indiana’s Hoosier Downs when he was suspended five days and fined $500 for violating the use of his whip.
Learning experiences and Luna knows he is still learning.
After the disqualification, Luna grabbed three second-places during the 14-race program — Morning Miracle in the 11th, Kountry Carrots in the 13th and A Special Dance in the 14th.
While he is currently populating the entry sheets at Dayton, his favorite track is the Red Mile, even after lightning forced him to buy a new truck.
Luna lives near the Red Mile, which next year will host the prestigious Breeder’s Crown. That event will be held this month at Scioto Downs in Columbus.
And proximity isn’t the only reason to love the clay track at Red Mile. In 2024, Luna won six races there in one day.
“Yeah, that was a highlight, a good day, a good day,” he said. He should have said it was great day because it definitely was.
“OK, yes, it was a fun day, a fun day,” he said with a laugh. “Honestly, as the day went along it didn’t feel like I was winning six races, until it was all over.”
That’s more than enough reason to become enamored with the track, but he said, “I live five miles from the track and I’m making Lexington my forever home.
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“The clay track is so nice — the horses love it, drivers love it, the atmosphere is so good it is just a great place to be and race,” he said.
And he has a few of his own horses that he stables and trains at the Red Mile.
In addition to the six wins in one day, Luna’s memory bank vividly conjures up a win early in his career, a $100,000 event at Oak Grove (Ky), driving Hung Over for owner Bob Stewart.
And about those long shots he constantly drives across ahead of the pack? He shrugged it off as he sat in the Dayton Raceway paddock in his light blue and white colors.
For example, Luna was in the bike last Thursday for Race 6 on the Red Mile’s Grand Circuit Opening Day. Driving long-shot Nights In Miami, he nearly stole the race, losing by a neck with a surge on the rail. He finished second and place money paid $21.48.
Asked if driving in the Little Brown Jug is a goal: “My dream race would be the Meadowlands Pace, that’s the race I really want to win. But, yes, I’d be happy if I was in the Jug.”
Then Luna hopped into his truck and drove the 145 miles up Interstate 75 to Dayton Raceway for the same day program.
“Doesn’t always happen, but sometimes you get lucky,” he said modestly about his long-shot success. “It has been going good and the horses make me look good.”
While he is good with most numbers — odds, position behind the starter’s wings, purse money, lengths ahead or behind other horses, age is another thing.
“I believe I am. . .I don’t know, I always have to ask my girl friend how old I am,” he said. “I think I’ll be 25 next week.”
The sport is dominated by older drivers and is looking for the younger generation to step in and Luna is one of the younger ones and growing in experience with every race. And that experience tells him, “Be patient in a race.”
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It wasn’t that long ago when he was impatient, working toward becoming an accomplished driver.
“I’ve always been around horses with my family, but I didn’t know anything about standardbreds until I was about 16,” he said.
“A couple of guys in the business got me started and when I was 16 I trained my very first horse and on that first day I was hooked and I said, ‘Ah, yes. This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.
“And here we are now,” he said with a sweeping gesture toward down the long passageway toward the Dayton track. “A few little bumps along the road but here we are now.”
What does he like about being here now?
“The money isn’t bad,” he said with a laught. “But I just love making people happy. It makes me feel like I’m doing something meaningful.”
He makes a lot of people who wager on him when he drives a long shot to victory very happy and stuffs some wallets.
And when he leaves the field behind him while driving a long shot, ‘The Little Flea’ becomes ‘The Little Flee.’
Asked if driving in the Little Brown Jug is a goal, he said shockingly, “No, my dream race would be the Meadowlands Pace, that’s the race I really want to win. But, yes, I’d be happy if I was in the Jug.”
Nothing like setting high goals and, uh, maybe lightning will strike on the positive side for him.
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