Warwick Racecourse by David Dixon, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
On the 23rd of September 2002, a 4 year old filly named Beechy Bank became the longest priced winner in horse racing since Equinoctial’s 250/1 upset in 1990.
Beechy Bank had raced on four occasions previously, with some pretty shocking results:
- 13th of 16
- 13th of 16
- 6th of 11
- 11th of 11
With a record like that, I’m surprised the odds weren’t longer. Then again, there were only 9 runners this time, at a random Monday meeting at Warwick.
Nevertheless, two punters won big on Beechy Bank that day, although neither of the bets could be classed as deserved winners. One punter bet on the horse because he was fond of Beachy Head and liked the name, the other wrote the wrong number on his betslip.
Incredibly, both punter backed the horse as part of a double, both chose Legal Approach as the other horse in the bet, and both punters placed their bets with Ladbrokes. Quite a coincidence.
The first won £6,030 from a £6 bet, and the second won £10,050 from a £10 bet. The punter who backed the horse by mistake even tried to get his bet changed after realising his error, but it was too late. I bet he’s glad of that now, though!
A spokesman from Ladbrokes said:
“It is staggering that both clients backed the same two horses as part of their double selections,”
“Certainly the gentleman who unintentionally backed Beechy Bank will no doubt be thanking his lucky stars but good luck to him.”
During the race, Beechy Bank chased the leaders before taking the lead 1 furlong out. Mary Cambro, the filly’s trainer, said she may have benefitted from the step up in trip, since this was the longest race she had run.
Beechy Bank did win one more race in her relatively short career, and it was at an even longer distance, so maybe there was something to it.