Perfect Ten: Punter Celebrates Life-Changing Day as Mammoth Ten-Fold Acca Lands £50,000

Gold Number 10 Against Blue Sky

When a punter places a ten-fold acca, they accept that their chance of winning is miniscule – that is inherent, give the odds provided by the bookmakers.

But, every once in a while, the luck of the punter is in… and an extraordinary – and incredibly unlikely – sequence of events unfolds.

May 7, 2025: that’s a day that one Coral customer will never forget. The ten horses they selected in their accumulator, at meetings at Chester, Newton Abbot, Kelso, Fontwell and Kempton, all triumphed… turning their speculative £5 stake into a payout of a cool £51,224.

Leg Time Course Selection SP
1 1:30 Chester Ali Shuffle 5/6
2 2:05 Chester Redorange 11/10
3 2:15 Newton Abbot Roxanne 2/5
4 2:45 Newton Abbot Gwennie May Jem Evens
5 3:05 Chester Lambourn 11/8
6 3:15 Newton Abbot Sweet Caryline 6/4
7 4:00 Kelso Kilmore Rock 3/1
8 4:20 Newton Abbot Al Sayah 11/8
9 6:40 Fontwell Jack Sparrow Grey Evens
10 8:00 Kempton Abbey Heights 6/5

Here’s a look at how the fairytale unfolded…

Float Like a Butterfly

In his prime, Muhammad Ali was known for his quick feet and lightning reflexes; ever the crowd-pleaser, his ‘Ali shuffle’ dance delighted audiences at some of his most famous fights.

In homage, the Nick Bradley Racing syndicate named one of their young sprinters Ali Shuffle… and the two-year-old got the Coral customer’s ten-fold up and running at Chester.

Backed into 5/6 favouritism, Karl Burke’s filly made the most of her inside draw to coast home by a length in the Lily Agnes Stakes.

The punter doubled up in the next at Chester courtesy of Redorange, who just about lived up to his 11/10 favouritism with a one-length victory in a Class 3 handicap, before attention turned to a jumps meeting at Newton Abbot.

Dan Skelton, so impressive last season in running Willie Mullins close for the trainers’ championship, landed a 2/5 winner in the 14:15 courtesy of Roxanne, with our punter doubling that up with a victory in the next for Gwennie May Jem, another Skelton horse that justified favouritism with a resounding eleven-length triumph.

It was back to the flat at Chester next, with the appropriately-named Lambourn – the Berkshire village with a rich history in racing – winning the Group 3 Chester Vase Stakes for the dynamic duo of jockey Ryan Moore and trainer Aidan O’Brien.

All of which meant that our eponymous punter was now five from five… but still a long old way away from converting their ten-fold acca, all the same.

Hitting the Heights

It was all systems go on Wednesday for a stacked schedule of racing, with attention now switching back to Newton Abbot for the sixth race.

This time, the Coral customer had sided with Sweet Caryline, a 9/4 favourite trained by Joe Tizzard. The mare had finished second in a Class 4 renewal back in February, so stepping down to Class 5 level – off a mark of 2lb lower – she seemed a wise selection.

And so it proved. Sweet Caryline made all the running, was rarely tested, and when finally pecked at the final fence, she strode clear under the ride of Brendan Powell and eased home by three lengths.

Our punter’s magical mystery tour of UK racing now took in a trip to Kelso for a handicap hurdle race, with Kilmore Rock on the docket as a 3/1 chance.

He had won his previous two starts under Nathan Moscrop, and was given a 4lb weight rise as a result. But even that wasn’t enough to prevent him from racking up a hat-trick, as despite some jumping issues Kilmore Rock made all the running and hung on gamely when chased down by those close at hand.

With a magnificent seven winners in the bag, presumably our punter was starting to get a little excited. Did they ponder cashing out at this point?

Any such doubts were assuaged by a fine run from Al Sayah in the 16:20 at Newton Abbot. Whether by accident or design, the punter’s betslip was filled with frontrunning horses – ideal in fast conditions, and Al Sayah also fit the bill under a calm ride from Conor O’Farrell.

The five-year-old, the 9/4 favourite, made all the running and, like their other picks, also had enough in the tank to stay on and make it home in first place despite pressure from the fast-finishing runner up.

The penultimate selection took to the turf at Fontwell. Jack Sparrow Grey lived up to his name with a swashbuckling display, sitting behind the leaders before asserting his dominance to win by three lengths.

It’s deep breath time: just one race now stood between our punter experiencing one of the most galling defeats of their betting career… or turning £5 into £50,000.

All hopes rested on the hooves of Abbey Heights, who would be marshalled by Jim Crowley. The good news was that our punter took odds of 15/8 and the seven-year-old went off as the 6/5 favourite, so there was plenty of market support.

And rightly so. A close finish saw Abbey Heights just about stay on better than the rest, wrapping up a tenth and final winner for the eponymous Coral customer.

Their £5 wager was converted into £51,224 in winnings… not a bad day at the office!