Coral paid out their highest ever win on horse racing back in 2017, when a Leicester based acca fan won £822,972.75 by correctly predicting the winners of 5 different races at Punchestown.
The winner, who must have been in his forties at the time, chose to remain anonymous, but wasn’t shy in talking about his big win, saying:
“I’ve been placing these accumulator bets pretty much every day for twenty years, and winning this bet is the realisation of a lifetime dream. Over the years I’ve come close landing a big return a couple of times but kept hitting the woodwork, and now I’ve done it I feel remarkably calm. I don’t know if I’ll even carry on betting after this as I feel I’ve achieved my goal”
The horses that romped home for him were:
- Das Mooser at 10/1
- Woodland Opera at 9/2
- Definite Ruby at 7/1
- Bacardys at 10/1
- Canardier at 33/1
And the bet was actually made up of:
- 5 x £3 Fourfold Accumulators
- 1 x £4 Fivefold Accumulator
Coral themselves made a statement on the win, saying that it was a ‘just reward’ for someone who had been betting with them for 20 years, adding that it was ‘the most incredible big-win story that we have ever encountered’.
Betting in the Blood
Credit: Kate Tann (Flickr) Desert Orchid Statue at Kempton Park
Perhaps it was only a matter of time before this particular lucky punter hit a big pay day. His father was a book keeper and taught him how to bet, and he placed his first ever wager on Desert Orchid in the 1986 King George Chase, winning at 16-1.
Quite a start.
He either had betting in his blood or a natural talent for spotting a winner, but he had been betting for so many years that he had become rather blasé about the whole process.
After making his bet online, the punter headed out on the town with friends, forgetting all about his wager until the next day when he logged into his Coral account to check on the results.
We don’t know if he had a hangover that morning, but he must have wondered if there was something wrong with his eyes when he looked at the results.
What’s funny is that this all occurred the year after Leicester won the Premier League at odds of 5,000/1 too, so here’s a tip: if you’re ever passing through Leicester and fancy throwing a few quid at something with silly odds, go for it.