Coral Punter Lands Nearly £100k from £20 Bet as Ruth Carr Claims Racing Four-Timer

Horses Racing Against Blurred Turf Track

One Coral customer was cock-a-hoop after landing a £5 acca and £1 Lucky 15 on four winning horses… notching a cool £96,052 for their troubles.

Each of the quartet was saddled by trainer Ruth Carr, who herself celebrated with a trip to Marks & Spencer to pick up some ‘posh pizzas’ out of her prize money.

But the winning bets were not without drama, as the opening race of the coupon at Beverley was sent for a photo finish adjudication.

What a Start

Star Start was the opening selection at Beverley in the Lady Jane Bethell Memorial Handicap; a lively enough 6/1 chance in a field headlined by Tim Easterby’s Poet’s Dawn.

Race 1

Time Course Horse Odds (SP)
14:10 Beverley Start Start (Dead Heat) 6/1 (7/1)

The five-year-old hadn’t shown a great deal of form of late, but Carr’s small yard had been in pretty good form and the horse had delivered his prior win in August 2024 – fast summer ground seemingly a speciality.

The 5lb claimer and regular partner Charli Parker was back in the saddle of Star Start, and the horse certainly lived up to his name as Parker raced him prominently at the front of the field from the get-go.

As the finishing line loomed into view, Star Start was still very much in the thick of things, but with Poet’s Dawn running on strongly, a tight finish looked likely.

And they don’t get much tighter than this, Star Start just about hanging on to the lead… until Poet’s Dawn joined him on the line in a photo finish that was simply too close to call on first viewing.

A delay of what felt like an eternity ensued as the judge watched countless replays of the finish, but in the end – even with the action slowed down frame by frame – it was impossible to pick between the two horses.

And so a dead heat was called, which meant that the bookies had to pay out on both Star Start and Poet’s Dawn as winners – a remarkably rare result as confirmed by a Beverley official, who revealed that this was the first dead heat in 25 years at the track.

By our count, it was just the sixth dead heat in British racing of both codes since the start of 2020. Although, ironically, the seventh would come at Glorious Goodwood just 24 hours later in the Oak Tree Stakes.

Our punter, heart no doubt racing at this point, was still in the hunt…

Glorious Punting

It was then off to Glorious Goodwood for the second selection, with trainer Carr watching the race on her phone from the Beverley parade ring.

Race 2

Time Course Horse Odds (SP)
15:45 Goodwood Brazen Bolt 25/1 (28/1)

The pick here was Brazen Bolt, who’d been given little hope in the lucrative Class 2 handicap as a 25/1 outsider.

The eight-year-old had enjoyed a fair season, however, having followed second and third place finishes at Doncaster with a win at York earlier in July.

But that was at Class 4 level, and this Goodwood heat was a considerable step up in grade with a winner’s prize of £38,000 on the line.

With only one horse in the field carrying a lighter handicap, plus 5lb claimer Warren Fentiman in the saddle, Brazen Bolt was at least weighted to run a good race – that was confirmed as he raced prominently as the two groups of horses merged in the centre of the Goodwood track.

The 4/1 favourite, Shagraan, was well out of contention heading into the final furlong, but Brazen Bolt had begun to hang to the right – Fentiman’s cajoling just about kept him moving forward.

The 9/2 second favourite, Adrestia, was staying on supremely at the business end, but couldn’t quite get to Brazen Bolt, who clung on to win by a nose.

“The horse had been in good form, his back form was there as well. We took a valuable 5lb off, he got a straightforward ride and the old boy got the job done,” Carr said of the eight-year-old’s surprise victory.

It was back to Beverley for legs three and four, with Joanna Mason on board for the double.

Race 3

Time Course Horse Odds (SP)
17:10 Beverley Jojo Rabbit 11/1 (12/1)

First up was Jojo Rabbit, who remarkably was the most comfortable winner of the lot – despite prevailing by just a three-quarters of a length in a Class 4 handicap as a 12/1 chance.

Which left our punter sweating on King Sharja, an 11/1 outsider in a handicap renewal into which he carried an Official Rating of just 56.

Race 4

Time Course Horse SP
17:10 Beverley King Sharja 11/1 (10/1)

Once again, it went down to the wire, with King Sharja and the 3/1 favourite, Triggerman, almost inseparable on the line following a titanic late battle for the tape.

Racing TV couldn’t even call the winner in real time, but the replays showed that King Sharja just about got the nod by a short head.

The winning punter has remained anonymous, although it’s known that the bets were struck at a Coral shop in Huddersfield.

Reflecting on one of her finest days in racing, Carr said:

“I feel a bit worn out to be honest. Everyone is on top of the world and there’s an amazing vibe across the yard this morning.

“I took a trip home via Marks and Spencer, got some posh pizzas and we had a bit of a party last night!”