There may have been no crowds at the 2021 Cheltenham Festival, but two punters will remember Gold Cup Day fondly as the day they won a life-changing sum.
It was a tale of two major collects for the punters as they collected six-figure returns on accumulator bets – but in very different circumstances.
One, Paul Dean from Stockton, cashed out on a bet that could have landed him more than half-a-million pounds before the last leg. He scooped £250,000 from a £5 bet that would have ultimately lost.
David Jackson, the other lucky punter, walked away with a staggering £112,854 from a £1 each-way bet placed for a bit of interest across the four-day Cheltenham Festival.
It was a day of drama for both and one that will live in the memory for many years to come as they hit bookmakers for six – or six-figures to be exact. Betfair and bet365 were the bookmakers taken to town while others like Betwinner escaped big Festival payouts.
Dean’s story was the most remarkable as his £5 five-fold accumulator boiled down to the last leg for a return of £511,000.
It all started at Royal Ascot last summer when Golden Horde won the Commonwealth Cup at 12/1, and Hello Youmzain was victorious in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at 10/1.
Ante-post bets on Shishkin (4/1) and Bob Olinger (25/1) – both of which went off as short-priced favourites – obliged at the Cheltenham Festival. That left it all down to red-hot favourite Envoi Allen to win on the final day at Cheltenham.
Having backed Envoi Allen at 9/2, Dean was offered a cash out option from Betfair. He took it with £250,000 guaranteed regardless of the result and £300,000 if Envoi Allen won. Had he risked it all, the bet would have lost as the favourite fell.
It was a much more straightforward bet for Jackson, who placed a £1 each-way accumulator on four horses running at the Cheltenham Festival in the ante-post markets in the lead up to the famous four-day race meeting.
He backed Galvin at 20-1, Sir Gerhard at 16-1 and Quilixios 20-1 and all three won their respective races. That left the bet riding on Minello Indo to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the feature race of the meeting.
When Minello Indo won the big one, leading home more fancied stablemate A Plus Tard and defending champion Al Boum Photo, the lucky punter landed a return for £112,854 from his £2 bet.
It was a memorable Gold Cup day for these two horse racing fans with two of the most impressive returns landed.
