The Most Ridiculous Horse Racing Bets of All Time
Gambling is all about the thrill of the risk, but sometimes punters can get carried away with the excitement of an upcoming event. These are some of the most ridiculous wagers in horse racing, with some luckier than others on the day.
A Big Grand National Win
In 2003, Blackpool-born Mike Futter placed a bet on his own horse in the 2003 Grand National. Futter, who owns three bingo halls in Dublin and seven around Northern Ireland, netted well over £1 million along with his four co-owners through a variety of bets when he bet on Monty’s Pass. These included £5,000 each-way at 33-1 and a whopping £10,000 each-way at 20-1, proving that sometimes betting big has its rewards. If you need any help with odds there are many places you can go to help.
The Yellow Sam Betting Coup
In horse racing history, the Yellow Sam betting coup goes down as one of the largest victories. Coordinated by Barney Curley, a legendary gambler, Irish betters took advantage of a lack of communication between the Bellewstown racing course and the off-course bookmakers surrounding an under-handicapped horse. Many people thought they were crazy to bet on the slow and steady horse, named Yellow Sam, until they went home with a cool 1.7 million.
A Dream Come True for Craggs
In 2008, Fred Craggs decided to celebrate his 60th birthday with an eight-horse accumulator bet. Of the horses he selected, Isn’t That Lucky and A Dream Come True were among the names. In addition to the similarly themed names, they also had extremely long odds in common, but that didn’t deter Craggs as he was only placing a 50-pence bet. Despite the 2 million in odds that the bookmakers offered him, it was the best 50p he’d ever spend though, as it netted him a £1 million pay-out as every horse came in as Craggs predicted.
A Big Win for Findlay
While every horse owner is delighted when their horse wins a race, none was more so than Harry Findlay at the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2008, when his horse Denham’s victory saw Findlay take home £600,000. Findlay was no stranger to success, having won nearly £1 million in bets at the County Hurdle and was a professional gambler, but none of those bets were as satisfying as that on his own horse.
A Big Chance on Kicking King
Despite Kicking King being one of the favourites to win the 2005 Cheltenham Gold Cup, trading 6-1, its owner claimed just before the race that the horse was unlikely to run due to an infection. With the course of antibiotics due to last a week and just 17 days until race day, so there was a good chance that Kicking King wouldn’t be well enough, but Chris Trinder from Newbury figured it was worth a shot and placed a £25 bet with the hope that the horse would recover in time. This seemingly pointless bet paid off, as the horse did indeed win the Gold Cup and Trinder bagged £25,000 for his hopeful prediction.
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