A Paddy Power punter cashed out for £50,000 off a £1 each-way accumulator at Cheltenham on Thursday - just before Luccia would've wiped out the bet.
A Paddy Power customer landed a £50k windfall off the back of a £1 each way 5-fold accumulator bet on Thursday when he bravely cashed out before hot-favourite Luccia lost to You Wear It Well in the Jack De Bromhead Mares Novices Hurdle at Cheltenham.
The UK-based punter had backed the first four winners of the day, with Stage Star, Good Time Jonny, Envoi Allen and Sire Du Berlais all clicking.
He skipped the Magners Plate at 4.10, and had Luccia won the sixth race of the day, the punter would have netted a whopping £283,672.
However, the shrewd customer cashed out on the final leg of his bet before Luccia ran, and he had the last laugh when the hot favourite was beaten by You Wear It Well.
Paddy Power spokesperson Rachael Kane said: “This punter must have been clairvoyant to pick the first four winners, suddenly avoid a race, assess the situation and decide to cash out for a brilliant £47,823.27. The backer has enjoyed an excellent day and sure he could have won a cool quarter of a million, but he came the right side of the result.”
Paddy Power spokesman Paul Binfield said: “We won today after getting the three shorties beat which was obviously massive.
“Funnily enough we took a battering from Sire Du Berlais despite the fact he went of at 33/1 due to a tipster going for it and it was one of the worst results of the week so far.”
Meanwhile, a Sky Bet punter won just over £23,000 from a total stake of £3 when four of his five big-priced selections that had been permed in each-way four-folds triumphed.
Stage Star got the ball rolling in the Turners Novices' Stakes and although Wakool could finish only 13th of the 23 runners at 33/1 in the Pertemps Network Final, Sire Du Berlais struck gold at the same odds in the Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle before Seddon (25/1) landed the Magners Plate Handicap Chase for Irish trainer John McConnell.
The final leg of the multiples was the Jamie Snowden-trained You Wear It Well who faced a daunting task against a battalion of Irish raiders in the Mares' Novices' Hurdle. She set out to make the running under Gavin Sheehan and didn't see another rival en route to an impressive success for the home team.
Sky Bet's Head of Sports PR Michael Shinners said: "Hats off to the customer who can win such a significant sum of money from a small outlay.
"Overall, Thursday was a much better day for the bookmakers with some big-priced winners and short priced defeats.
"The two main results of the day that went against Sky Bet customers both involved Nicky Henderson runners. Shiskin was in a number of multiple bets throughout the festival and Luccia was another who went under the 'banker' material for many.
"With Friday to come honours are pretty much even between customer and bookmaker. It would come as no surprise if there was real momentum behind A Plus Tard in the Boodles Gold Cup. However, Galopin Des Champs is still very much the favourite for the big race of the Festival."
On a good day for small-staking punters, one lucky Betfair customer landed over £21,000 for a £1 Lucky 15 on the same card.
The picks were in each of the first four races with Value Bet selection Stage Star getting the ball rolling when landed the opener at 7/1.
Then it was the turn of Good Time Jonny to come good at 15/2.
The third leg was brought home by Rachael Blackmore in the Ryanair with Envoi Allen obliging at 10/1.
The fourth and final leg was Sire Du Berlais in the Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle who came in at 20/1, meaning a total win of £21,115 for a total £30 stake.
Betfair Spokesman Barry Orr said: "To back four winners in Cheltenham is a great achievement but to do it in consecutive races is truly inspired. That’s some picking."
It’s one of those phrases you’re likely to hear during the Cheltenham Festival, so we thought it would be a good idea to explain exactly what a Lucky 15 means and how easy it is to place such a bet.
In short, the Lucky 15 is an acca including four elements, although all four bets don’t have to win to produce a profit/return. The selections are combined into one four-fold accumulator, trebles, doubles and individual singles.
So, the Lucky 15 can be summed up as follows: 1 accumulator, 4 trebles, 6 double, 4 singles = 15 bets
An each-way Lucky 15 is therefore 30 bets, and you will get a return of some kind if only one horse places.
It is very simple to place a Lucky 15 with Sky Bet. All you have to do is add each selection to your bet slip, click ‘Show all multiples’ under the ‘Multiples’ tab at the top of ‘My Bet Slip’, then input your stake under ‘Lucky 15’.
Remember, the bet will cost 15x your individual stake, so for example a 20p each-way Lucky 15 will amount to a £6.00 stake. A £2 win Lucky 15 will cost £30 in total.
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org