A punter is celebrating after scooping more than £280,000 from a bet which included a 150-1 winner.
The horse racing fan picked out huge longshot Alchemystique among their selections – and the filly struck on hurdles debut for trainer Steph Hollinshead.
Sent off slightly shorter in the betting at 125-1, the jumps newcomer finished the Southwell race strongly under Charlie Hammond to prevail by three-quarters of a length.
Hollinshead told the Racing Post : "We knew if she could string everything together that she's shown us at home she could run a perfectly creditable race, but was there confidence to say we could win? Absolutely not."
Incredibly the bet with William Hill also featured 66-1 winner Irish Sovereign, which continued the recent run of shock results in the sport.
In first-time blinkers, Nick Scholfield's mount took the lead after the final hurdle and scored by a length-and-a-half.
The trainer's representative told the stewards afterwards that the gelding benefited from the first-time application of the headgear.
Like a visor, or cheekpieces which can also be used, blinkers help a racehorse concentrate through the race.
All of the selections in the bet ran at Southwell – and 25-1 shot Tiquer was the third longshot to do the business.
A 13-year-old veteran of 30 races, the chaser jumped well and was quite impressive landing his nine length triumph.
The trainer reported that the gelding jumped more fluently as a result of being ridden prominently, a reason for the big improvement on his recent form.
Fourth to go in the bet was Schiaparannie – and she was the surprise package.
The punter took 8-1 about Jane Makin's charge, who was very well backed before the race and went off the 11-4 joint favourite.
Held up last by Aaron Anderson, she made stealthy headway and charged home to win by more than four lengths.
The customer placed a series of multiples totalling £7 on seven horses and although the other three were beaten, they collected the massive payout.
Overall it amounted to £281,246.23 and Rupert Adams, spokesperson for William Hill, offered his congratulations to them.
“It’s fair to say one punter had his crystal ball out this morning as he managed to pick winners at 8/1, 25/1, 66/1 and 150/1 over the jumps at Southwell," he said yesterday.
“Having staked just £7 on multiples before racing got underway, the customer surely couldn’t have believed his luck when Irish Sovereign won the finale at 66/1 netting them £281,246.23 in the process.”
