Hyatts and Lows

After the agony of losing her Montecito home in the January mudslides, realtor Houghton Hyatt felt the ecstasy of victory when her father Ted Nixon‘s horse, Justify, won the 144th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

“It was the most incredible feeling after what we had been through,” says Houghton, who is married to her entrepreneur husband, Ben.

“My father is involved in a syndicate, Starlight Racing, which had an interest in Justify, but also the third placed horse, Audible. To have one winner is incredible, but to have two is absolutely amazing. I’m still on Cloud Nine!”

Houghton, who hails from Louisville, Kentucky, and works at Sotheby’s Realty, tells me Justify was the 5-2 favorite and won by two-and-a-half lengths in torrential rain, the first horse in 136 years to win after not running as a two-year-old.

The colt earned a hefty $1.24 million for its owners – 62 percent of the $2-million purse.

A nice payday for two minutes work!