In the recent round of earnings calls and annual financial reports, many betting brands have bemoaned their luck over ‘customer friendly’ sports results hitting their bottom lines.
Well, there was more bad news to come on day one of the Cheltenham Festival, with the bookies losing a reported £1 million on the outcome of the first race alone.
Old Park Star was the big gamble in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, and his victory for Nicky Henderson ensured an almighty headache for the bookmakers.
He’s a Star
It was an emotional victory for Henderson in the Supreme, with an injury to Sir Gino and the jumps retirement of Constitution Hill hitting his team hard.
But Old Park Star was on hand to get his festival off to the best possible start, with punters backing in the six-year-old from prices of 6/4 to an SP of 15/8.
| Position | Horse | Trainer | Start Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Old Park Star | Nicky Henderson | 15/8 Fav |
| 2nd | Sober Glory | Philip Hobbs & Johnson White | 9/2 |
| 3rd | Mydaddypaddy | Dan Skelton | 6/1 |
At a run of the mill UK race meeting, that price change wouldn’t come with too much of a liability. But this is the Cheltenham Festival, the biggest punting meeting of the year, and bookmakers were hit for a seven-figure sum courtesy of Old Park Star’s one-and-a-half length victory.
He wasn’t travelling all that well, in truth, but Nico De Boinville sparked him into life over the final obstacle and held on as his horse found extra on the long run-in to land a Grade 1 triumph.
William Hill, who ran a promotion paying out evens on any day one race being won by a favourite, were hit particularly hard. Their spokesperson, Lee Phelps, admitted:
“He was a very well-backed favourite, and with our Epic Boost paying EVS for any favourite to win on Day One of the Festival, this has been a shocking result.
“In total, Old Park Star’s win has cost us north of £1 million, and we’re already well on the back foot this week.”
It was a strong result too for former darts world champion Luke Humphries, who was in attendance on day one alongside current world champ Luke Littler and former UK Open winner Nathan Aspinall.
Humphries and a friend won more than £20,000 between them after backing Old Park Star, with ‘Cool Hand’ later taking to social media to confirm that he was donating his part of the winnings to charity.
Zero Sum Game
The annual battle between punter and layer at the Prestbury Park showpiece is a zero sum game: if one party wins, the other has to lose.
That was in evidence on the Betfair Exchange, where bookmakers often turn to lay their liabilities. According to Racing TV, more than £1 million was matched on Kopek Des Bordes – one of two joint-favourites for the Arkle.
| Position | Horse | Trainer | Start Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Kargese | Willie Mullins | 7/1 |
| 2nd | Kopek Des Bordes | Willie Mullins | 11/8 |
| 3rd | Lulamba | Nicky Henderson | 11/10 Fav |
A chunk of that came in-running, with Willie Mullins’ horse travelling ominously up the hill and in good order heading to the final flights.
He did not jump the last well, however, and with fellow co-favourite Lulamba out of it, it was left to the mare – Kargese – to land a huge coup for Mullins. She’s only the second mare in nearly 50 years to win the Arkle.
At 7/1 and with two well-backed in front of her, needless to say the bookies recouped some of their Supreme losses there.
Having a Mare
But worse was to come for the odds compilers.
Another mare, Lossiemouth, was to take her chance against the boys in the Champion Hurdle, having dominated against her fellow mares at the festival in recent years.
| Position | Horse | Trainer | Start Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Lossiemouth | Willie Mullins | 7/5 Fav |
| 2nd | Brighterdaysahead | Gordon Elliott | 7/2 |
| 3rd | The New Lion | Dan Skelton | 3/1 |
That feel-good story seemed to galvanise punters, who tucked into the fearless grey in their number – more than £1 million was matched on a Lossiemouth victory on the Betfair Exchange, as well as millions more online, in betting shops and with the on-course bookmakers.
This time, it was the backers that would have their moment in the weak but pleasing nonetheless Cheltenham sun.
She had been backed into 7/5 from an opening 3/1, and looked every inch of it: schooling the likes of The New Lion and Brightdaysahead to land a fourth festival victory.
For owner Rich Ricci, who bemoaned having to pay ‘stupid money’ to supplement the seven-year-old, it was worth every penny.
For the bookmakers, it was another seven-figure payout to stump up.