At Cheltenham in 2019, the biggest ever Placepot win took place when a lucky punter won £182,567.80 from a £2 stake.
His selections were:
- Klassical Dream (6/1)
- Duc Des Genievres (5/1)
- Beware The Bear (10/1)
- Melon (SP of 20/1)
- Stormy Ireland (7/1)
- A Plus Tard (5/1)
Only 10.50 units made it through to the end, with all other bettors being knocked out along the way, and many right at the start, meaning the dividend per unit was a massive £91,283.90.
Despite this massive win, it wasn’t a great year for pool bettors as every single race saw over 70% of the pool knocked out. By the third race of the day, the Ultima Handicap Chase, just 3% of the initial pool remained in the game, but none of the favourites managed to place, with Beware the Bear taking the glory.
This knocked 87% of what was left out of the pool, and when 2 time Champion Hurdle winner Buveur D’Air fell at the third, eventual winner Espoir d’Allen took his chance and romped home at 16/1. This knocked out a massive 95% of the remaining units with two races still to run.
The winners of all races were as follows:
| Race | Winner | Trainer | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Klassical Dream | Willie Mullins | 6/1 |
| 2 | Duc Des Genievres | Willie Mullins | 5/1 |
| 3 | Beware The Bear | Nicky Henderson | 10/1 |
| 4 | Espoir D’allen | Gavin Cromwell | 16/1 |
| 5 | Roksana | Dan Skelton | 10/1 |
| 6 | A Plus Tard | Henry De Bromhead | 5/1 |
This was an unusually unsuccessful year for the favourites in almost all races, but for the handful of lucky punters who had placed their bets elsewhere, it meant much bigger payouts.