Notwithstanding the significant increase in the number of runners that are sent off at triple-figure prices in recent years, in British horse racing winners at odds of 150/1 are still hardly an everyday occurrence. However, one such ‘shock’ winner, The Meter, a once-raced juvenile trained by Mohamed Moubarak, did pop up in a small fillies’ novice stakes race at Chelmsford on the evening of October 25, 2018.
From a betting perspective, The Meter was all the more remarkable for being the first selection of an anonymous Newcastle punter, who placed a permed accumulator bet, known as a ‘Lucky 63’ – which comprises singles, doubles, trebles, four-folds, five-folds and a six-fold – on six selections at the Essex track. He managed to couple his initial 150/1 with Dollar Value at 14/1 and Full Intention at 12/1 before his fourth selection, Rampant Lion, beat only one home in the mile handicap. Nevertheless, his winning streak resumed with It’s Not Unusual at 8/1 in the next race and rounded off with Victoria Drummond at 14/1, for five winners from six selections.
The five-fold alone paid cumulative odds of 3,975,074/1 and, for a modest total stake of £6.30, the bet, which was placed in a Coral betting shop in Throckley, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, returned a mammoth £544,767.90. Coral spokesman David Stevens, speaking before the unidentified punter had returned to the shop to collect his winnings, hailed the selection of long-priced winners as ‘one of the most spectacular winning bets we have ever seen’.