An electrician from Southampton managed to bag a big win on the placepot by avoiding favourites and going with his gut.
Derek Jones placed the £20 bet at his local Betfred in Woolston, picking 6 horses at Ascot, 2 of which won, with the others obviously ending up in the places.
He made some pretty bold decisions, including going against a couple of huge favourites, one of which was the unbeaten Baaeed.
He said:
“I knew all about Baaeed of course, but I didn’t think the conditions were right for him so I didn’t pick him.”
It’s a good job too, because Baaeed ended his career that day, coming 4th of 9 and ending his unbeaten record in his last ever race.
Derek had actually won the placepot once before, five years previously, but on that occasion he only walked away with around £100. Not this time.
On this occasion, the lucky spark bagged £64,420, and it was his 66th birthday a few days later too. Perhaps he should have asked Betfred to top up his win to match?
When asked about how he would spend the money, Derek said:
“I celebrated with the missus over an Indian meal and a few drinks. It was my 66th birthday a few days later so it was a double celebration.”
“I will be paying off a large amount of my mortgage, then go on a cruise with the missus, probably in the Caribbean.”
Apparently some of his friends have been encouraging him to get a new car, but he likes his Ford Focus which he says is reliable and does good mileage.
He’s a sensible bloke is our Derek.
Trip of a Lifetime
As he usually does with big winners, Fred Done, Betfred’s owner, arranged for Derek to be presented with a bottle of champagne to congratulate him on his big win, but that wasn’t all.
Derek is a big Manchester United fan, but living way down South in Southampton has only ever managed to see them play once, and that was way back when Georbge Best was in the squad.
Fred Done is also a massive United fan, so he arranged for Derek to watch United vs Aston Villa in the EFL cup with full VIP treatment.
He said:
“I’m chuffed to bits for Derek who is a regular visitor to one of our shops in Southampton. He can have my tickets for the Villa match. I know they are good ‘uns.”
What a gesture, and since they were VIP seats, they probably cost about half of what Derek won in the first place, so he got some real added value there.
It was a brilliant game too, with United winning 4-2 after going 1-0 down, so loads of action.