A 59 year old property surveyor from Cwmbran, Gwent, beat odds of 95,385/1 when he won £695,911 on the Scoop6.
Afryn ‘Archie’ Evans placed a £2.00 wager at his local Ladbrokes shop in Cwmbran where he had been a customer for more than 14 years, and it was only due to his choice of the largely unfancied Swaythe, in race six, that he walked away with the cash.
Ladbrokes said it was their largest ever payout in Wales, and invited Archie to Cheltenham on Gold Cup day as a VIP guest. What’s more, when he took his ticket back to the shop to claim his winnings, the shop assistant asked if he wanted to marry her when she saw how much he had won!
Speaking of his win, Mr Evans said:
“I’ve been betting on the horses for 40 years and the most I’ve ever won before now is £631 from a £1.65 stake. I was pinching myself then but this is completely unreal – I can’t get my head around it.”
Back in 2007, that £695k had the same purchasing power of more than £1.1 million today, and Archie had the chance to boost his winnings by £330k with a shot at the bonus fund the week after his big win.
However, the horse he picked in the bonus race was pulled up half way through, so Archie didn’t manage to break through 7 figures, but no doubt he was delighted with his win regardless.
How the Bet was Won
All races for the Scoop6 were run at either Wolverhampton or Sandown, with the first being the 2:05 at Sandown.
Albertas Run was Archie’s first successful horse, priced at 6/1 and in a field of 16 runners, but with AP McCoy in the saddle and trained by Jonjo O’Neill, so it was a solid selection.
In race two it was Border Music he was cheering on, and with odds of 15/2 it was another slightly ballsy selection that paid off, and although race 3 was only a 5 horse race, Reflected Glory, the horse that Archie chose, only just managed to nab the win.
So it was on to race 4, the only race in which Mr Evans had selected the favourite, and rightly so, since that horse managed to pass the post first despite a tricky start.
By this point, Archie was aware how close he was to winning a fortune, and was watching the races live on television along with his wife and “bouncing off the sofa”.
He was relying on Orchard Supreme at 9/1 in race 5, who gained the lead at the final furlong in the 3:30 at Wolverhampton… and kept it.
So now it was all down to Swaythe, a horse that had only ever raced twice before (although it won and came second), and was priced at 11/2. No one knew this at the time, but this would also be Swaythe’s final race.
The horse was held in the middle of the 14 strong field until 4 furlongs out, when it began to gain ground, albeit under pressure, and eventually took the lead over 1 furlong out and managed to hold on long enough to secure the win.
Archie Evans celebrated with a McDonalds of all things, and planned to retire early.