If you heard of a betting group called The Squirrel Syndicate, would you want to be a part of it?
Well you should, because this particular group of punters, led by one Richard Brocklebank, managed to win an awful lot of money.
Just one of their big wins came in 2007, when they placed a large number of carefully planned bets on the Scoop6 – and won.
Prior to the first race getting underway, they calculated that they had just a 6% chance of winning, so even with their careful preparation they defied the odds.
The 16 strong group consisted of people from all walks of life, but among them were mathematicians, gamblers, and data fiends, so they knew what they were doing, combining form and maths to come up with their selections, and their winning ticket didn’t include a single favourite.
It is not known how much they spent placing their bets overall, nor how many bets they made, but it will certainly have been a drop in the ocean compared to the £1,519,301 they won that day.
It was the biggest win in Scoop6 history at the time
Celebrations in the Pub
The Three Tunnes (Robinsons Brewery)
The majority of the Squirrel Syndicate had gathered in the Three Tunnes pub in Hazel Grove, Stockport, so they could all watch the last few races together.
Earlier in the day, a 20/1 shot called Miss Lucifer had got them through leg 1 of the Scoop6, absolutely demolishing the pool of 800,000 units that had entered, with just 21,340 surviving to fight another day in leg 2.
At 4/1, their next pick, From Dawn to Dusk, was a much less risky proposition, carrying the group into leg 3 where King Orchisios, even less risky at 9/2, won the race.
Literato was their shortest priced selection at 7/2, and that horse won their race in the Champion Stakes at Newmarket, and another horse priced at 9/2, this one called Knowhere, got the syndicate the opposite of that when it won in Cheltenham.
In the final leg of the competition the group had 8 of the 52 tickets still alive, so they must have been feeling optimistic, but it was a race with a huge 34 runners, so it was far from over.
When Leg Spinner crossed the line first at 14/1, the syndicate realised they were the only ones that had won, and in their own description “drinks went everywhere”.
As incredible as this feat was, they didn’t manage to equal it with the bonus fund the week after. They did, however, manage to win the Scoop6 again the week after that, as well as tagging on the bonus.