On the same day, Georgia upset Kentucky and Miss. State to reach the SEC Tournament finals, the U.S. Olympic soccer team surprised Honduras, defeating the Central American squad 1-0 on a penalty kick in extra time. Yet neither of these games were the upset of the day. In Oldsmar, Fla., northwest of Tampa, a 1-to-20 favorite lost the Tampa Bay Derby.

Before the first race began at Tampa Bay Downs, the favorite, War Pass, was already tabbed the Kentucky Derby front-runner. He had won his first race of the year easily, a one-mile allowance race at Gulfstream in February, not to mention four races the previous year including the Breeders Cup Juvenile. The Tampa Bay Derby was merely the next step in veteran trainer Nick Zito's plan.

"This race will be tougher than the last, although I wouldn't want too hard a race in Tampa," Zito told The Daily Racing Form. "When we get to the Wood [Memorial], it will be a different story, although right now I'm not looking past Saturday, since I've learned in this business you never know what can happen from day to day."

Not many of the 13,000 fans who came to see War Pass expected anything but a win for the monster three-year old. Four out of the six horses started at 99-to-1 odds and though there were other races and many participated in the betting, there was only one race that captivated the attention of the record-crowd that day.

"I saw Secretariat at Saratoga and Arlington," said a race fan at Tampa Bay Downs. "Not since then have I seen so much hoopla for a horse."

As the 12th race approached, fans inched closer to the railing separating them from the dirt track. War Pass, led by jockey Cornelio Valesquez, walked in front of the grandstand on the way to the gate. Cameras captured the moment and fans loudly cheered for the two-year-old Breeders Cup champion.

At the same time a less decorated but equally gifted horse trotted by the same group in quiet anonymity. In mid-February, Big Truck finished second in the Sam F. Davis Stakes to Zito-trained Fierce Wind on the same course. Bettors acknowledged Big Truck as the only horse in the field with any chance. For the same reason saps play the lottery every week, bettors shrunk Big Trucks odds to 8-to-1.

Before the horses reached the gate, an entourage including Zito walked through the winner's circle and settled on a private patio next to the track. War Pass's crew expected a victory and this was the closest spot.

Then the bell sounded. Out of the gate, War Pass was third – an unfamiliar spot for a horse who had won its last four races wire-to-wire. At first, this was unsettling, but you expected War Pass would soon capture the lead.

After the slow start, he was bumped and slowly faded back to last place. That's where he finished.

At the front, Big Truck edged Atoned for the win. The owner Eric Fein, his family and trainer Barclay Tagg moved past Zito’s group on their way to the winner’s circle. They were surprised as everyone else.

“We were running for second place,” Tagg said. “We thought we had no chance against War Pass.”

While Zito stood stunned with a group of War Pass supporters, the horse’s owner Robert LaPenta watched the race replay from the track. He leaned against the outside railing, his shoes in the dirt, just shaking his head. He couldn’t believe what he just witnessed.

Neither could I, having just witnessed the upset of the day, perhaps the upset of a lifetime.