Punter's £2 bet scoops £878,939
A punter has become the biggest single winner in British betting history after winning £878,939 on a £2 bet. The 51-year-old man correctly predicted the winners of six horse races at overall odds of 105,729-1.
Just one of his six horses was the favourite, and one was 20-1 in a 27-horse race.
Simon Clare, a spokesman for Coral, where the bet was made, said: "This is immense. We have looked through the records and we think this guy is the biggest single winner in betting shop history.
"Although a syndicate has won a bigger amount before, we are sure this is the biggest single win for a punter.
"It is every punter's dream. He has had some phenomenal luck because, apart from one race, he didn't pick horses that were outright favourites.
"There are many professional and serious punters that go in for this bet but it would appear this guy has rode his luck with a lot of outsiders."
The winner, who works in a hotel, made his accumulative bet at a shop in Poole, Dorset, in the Tote Scoop Six, a nationwide bet in which takings are shared between all winners, in his case only one.
His first race was the 1.40pm at Newbury on Saturday in which he correctly picked Dubai Success as winner at 10-1 out of 17 in the race.
In the second, he picked winner Keltic Bard, the 9-4 second favourite, in the 2pm at Ayr. His next race was the 2.15pm at Newbury, in which he picked El Coto at 20-1 to win the 27 horse race.
In the fourth race, the 2.40pm Scottish Grand National at Ayr, he won with 14-1 Grey Abbey. In the 3.15pm at Newbury, his fifth race, he picked his only favourite of the afternoon, Majestic Desert, ridden by Kieren Fallon, at odds of 6-4.
The final race was the 3.45pm at Newbury, in which his horse, Salford City, won at odds of 100-30.
And it may not end there. He could win a bonus of £983,495 next Saturday in a designated race, the Betfred Gold Cup at Sandown Park, in which the winner of the Scoop Six is automatically entered. This would take his total winnings to £1,862,434.
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