If you are gathering coins for yourself without a campaign and giveaways and such your odds of winning 1st or 2nd are next to none. You'd be better off backing one of the 3 top horses because numbers are projected to be in the several thousands. But that's up to you of course :) If you have coins you could also check out the giveaway Shady is doing... you could win a mayor package!

A "Shady" Encounter