SACRAMENTO – Amos Hilton, a retired World War II Navy veteran, is the Daily Derby grand prize winner, winning the second highest grand prize ever in Daily Derby history, $974,678. Hilton’s winning Daily Derby number combination was 02-Lucky Star, 08-Gorgeous George, 12-Lucky Charms and a race time of 1:40:32. The ticket for Saturday, October 20, 2007 draw was purchased in Los Angeles.
Hilton went back to Kim’s Union 76 station yesterday after church to check his numbers. He was excited when he found out he won $13 on Fantasy 5. “When I found out I won the Daily Derby grand prize, I got weak in the knees,” explained Hilton. Regarding any other times he has won anything, Hilton explained, “The only other thing I have ever won was when I was in Shanghai, China, I played the Chinese Lottery and won $1 million yuan, which was only about $5 in American money, that was in 1946.” With this prize, Hilton plans on paying off debt and helping his granddaughter with a new car.
This game has not had a grand prize this high since October 2002 when it was at $1,007,712 and a lucky man from Sacramento was crowned a champion! The average jackpot amount for Daily Derby is $305,366 and the odds for winning the Grand Prize are 1 in 1,320,000.
The California Lottery also wants to remind players to sign the back of their tickets and if players find they are a winner, please put the ticket in a safe place and contact Lottery officials or visit the local Lottery District Office http://www.calottery.com/AboutUs/Locations/. Winners have 180 days from the date of the draw to claim their prize.
Local businesses win too! As a Lottery retailer, Kim’s Union 76 Self Serve located at 14216 Avalon Boulevard in Los Angeles will receive a bonus of $4,873 for selling the winning ticket.
The California State Lottery contributes at least 34 cents of every dollar that players spend on Lottery products to public education and returns more than 50 percent of sales to players in the form of prizes. Since its inception in 1985, the Lottery has contributed more than $20 billion to California schools out of total sales of more than $53 billion. Retailers win too, earning $3.4 billion in compensation since 1985.