Najidi Storm Becomes Shortest Odds Loser in British Racing Ever at Eye-Watering 1/33

Profile of Two Racehorses

There’s no such thing as a dead cert in betting… there have been countless examples of why that’s the case over the years.

But at odds of 1/33, backers of Najidi Storm on Tuesday were probably expecting a guaranteed victory – maybe they’d win enough for a nice chippy tea on the way home from Goodwood Racecourse.

As if to prove the point that dead certs don’t exist, a remarkable set of circumstances unfolded as Najidi Storm struggled to turn market dominance into a similarly authoritative performance – eventually losing out to a horse part-owned by Manchester City star Phil Foden.

In doing so, the Juddmonte owned and Harry Charlton trained three-year-old became the shortest odds loser in British racing history.

Here’s the tale of the tape as one of the most extraordinary results that UK punters will ever see unfolded…

The Hype Machine

Bred by the unstoppable Juddmonte Farm from the loins of Frankel, big things have been expected from Najidi Storm.

And the three-year-old just about lived up to the hype on debut, winning a novice stakes race at Kempton by half-a-length back in August.

Position Horse Trainer Jockey Start Price
1st Najidi Storm Harry Charlton Colin Keane 17/2
2nd Gavriel John & Thady Gosden Robert Havlin 5/2 Fav
3rd Kaindy Roger Varian Ray Dawson 4/1

His second outing, another novice stakes at Goodwood on Tuesday, was looking likely to be a procession as a wave of non-runners left Najidi Storm with just two rivals to see off: Wreck It Ronnie and Dream of Albion.

The former is part-owned by Foden and named after his son, but hadn’t shown much in his two starts to date – finishing more than ten lengths behind the winner on both occasions.

And Dream of Albion was considered an even more forlorn hope, given that he’s finished 28 lengths behind the winner on his debut at Kempton.

Najidi Storm was keen early on and took the lead, with his price dropping to a staggering 1/500 in-running as jockey Lewis Edmunds took up a strong position.

A dead cert? Like we say, there’s no such thing…

Foden Wrecks It

A lot of rain fell at Goodwood on Tuesday and the going was changed to soft accordingly.

And as the heavens continued to open and saturate the ground, Najidi Storm was starting to weaken.

The three-year-old began to weaken and that allowed Wreck It Ronnie to take up the running with about eight furlongs left to run.

Most watching on expected Edmunds to be able to find another gear from his well-bred charge, but a concerted effort never quite materialised.

Wreck It Ronnie, on the other hand, seemed to thrive in the conditions, and as Najidi Storm was switched first left and then right, he just couldn’t make inroads into the lead held by Kieren Fox and his mount.

Position Horse Trainer Jockey Start Price
1st Wreck It Ronnie Charlie Pike Kieren Fox 10/1
2nd Najidi Storm Harry Charlton Lewis Edmunds 1/33 Fav
3rd Dream Of Albion Amanda Perrett David Probert 33/1

You could have heard a pin drop as Wreck It Ronnie took the line… aside from the cheers of those that had backed the plucky underdog at 10/1, that is.

“We were positive but we weren’t sure about winning the race. It just shows that’s horse racing for you,” said Charlie Pike, the trainer of Wreck It Ronnie.

The horse’s co-owner, Gary Gillies, revealed that Foden was ‘absolutely buzzing in the group chat – this is his first racehorse.’

The victory was well celebrated by anybody that hadn’t backed the favourite; presumably most at Goodwood realised they were witnessing a unique slice of history.

There was bad news for the bookies too, with Najidi Storm so short in the market that punters decided to chance their arm with the underdogs. Brian O’Keeffe, of Boyle Sports, revealed:

“Najidi Storm might have been an ‘acca’ buster for a number of punters, but when one is put in that short they’re often keen to look elsewhere. This time, their eye was drawn to the winner, Wreck It Ronnie, who was unfortunately the biggest liability in the race in our book.”

The Shortest Odds Losers In History

As noted, Najidi Storm takes up an unwanted position in the record books.

He has outdone the previous milestone as the shortest odds loser in British racing, which was held jointly by Royal Forest and Doom at 1/25.

Royal Forest suffered a remarkable defeat in the 1948 Clarence House Stakes. He was massively odds-on given the nature of the race – only four ran – and his status as a Derby contender under the ride of Sir Gordon Richards; considered by many to be one of the greatest jockeys of all time.

It took 75 years for that 1/25 defeat to be matched by the appropriately-named Doom, who lost a two-horse race at Ripon in September 2023 after fading badly in the final furlongs – Karmology ultimately prevailing as the 9/1 outsider.