
Racing punter wins massive sum from ‘stunning' £12 bet as beaten bookies say ‘there's nothing like it'
A RACING punter hit the bookmakers for a five-figure payday after a 'memorable' Saturday bet.
It can be pretty difficult to land even one winner on the Flat action at this time of year.
2
But it all came together for this William Hill bettor, who would land a quite remarkable four-fold across the action from Haydock.
Better yet, the decision to opt for Best Odds Guaranteed saw their returns increase by nearly 50% and enough for a once-in-a-lifetime holiday from just a £6 each-way (£12 total) punt.
However it very nearly was all over in the first, with Stressfree for Danny Tudhope and David O'Meara getting up just in time in the opener.
The 6/1 shot ran on well and needed every yard of the 1m4f contest to get up in the dying strides and deny Shane Foley aboard Kildare Legend.
The perfect start for this bettor but given the nature of the victory and this one being the joint-shortest odds of the four selections, the confidence probably wasn't sky high.
That will have changed just over half an hour later when Kodi Lion - picked at 7/1 and went off 5/1 - came home in front over 6f to make it two from two in the bet.
The Mick Appleby runner was in a group of four charging down the near side, with the front three all coming from that group, racing against a group of 12 on the opposite side of the track.
2
Those tactics worked a treat as Kodi Lion took it up with over a furlong to go and stayed on well to win by a length.
An anxious wait until the 4.08 when the excellently named Oolong Poobong was the pick at 6/1 in the 11-runner contest.
Over the Haydock seven furlongs, Connor Beasley's ride made headway 3f from home and looked to be in a battle with favourite Arabian Leopard.
Jamie Spencer's charge then bumped into another runner and was briefly outpaced, allowing Oolong Poobong to scoot ahead with 2f to go and stayed on well as Arabian Leopard rallied to score by two lengths.
It all came down to the finale, with Organ drifting out to 9/1 before the off, with nine runners at the 1m start.
William Buick was aboard the 11/10 favourite and attracted all the support and even looked like going the best with two furlongs to go.
But after wandering around with one furlong remaining, Organ - who just nosed in front when being pushed along - edged right heading into the closing stages but was plugging on.
Hot Cash at 17/2 was also staying on alongside the favourite but both would be denied by Harry Davies and Organ, who rounded off the four runner bet in style to win by half a length.
With the drifts in price and best odds on offer, the punter would scoop a monster £23,715.15 in winnings - which included £7,097.82 extra from BOG.
Spokesperson for William Hill, Lee Phelps, said: 'There's nothing like turning £12 into five figures after landing a multiple on a Saturday afternoon's racing, and this punter has done just that in style.
"All four picks went in without a hiccup at Haydock and they've walked away with a cracking payout of £23,715.15.
'And that's not all either, as thanks to having opted in to William Hill's Best Odds Guaranteed concession, the punter received a bigger price on their final pick than they'd taken when placing the bet, increasing their winnings by more than £7,000!
"It just goes to show what Best Odds Guaranteed can do and we take our hats off to this punter for landing this memorable bet.'
Remember to gamble responsibly
A responsible gambler is someone who:
For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or go to gamstop.co.uk to be excluded from all UK-regulated gambling websites.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Sky News
13 minutes ago
- Sky News
Charities welcome half a million more children being eligible for free school meals
Charities and school leaders have welcomed free school meals being opened up to more than half a million extra children. The government has announced it will make children in all households on universal credit in England eligible for free school meals from September 2026. Parents will be nearly £500 better off each year because of the change, the Department for Education said. Currently, only pupils from households with an income of less than £7,400 a year are eligible for free school meals, meaning hundreds of thousands of children living in poverty do not have access to them. The latest figures, from January 2024, show 2.1m children were eligible for free school meals - 24.6% of all pupils in England. The government has not said how it will fund another 500,000 children's school meals. It also claimed the eligibility expansion would lift 100,000 children across England completely out of poverty, but did not provide details of how. Charities broadly welcomed the change, with The Children's Society calling it a "practical, compassionate step that will make a real difference". Chief executive Mark Russell said it is a move his charity has been pushing for and would lift thousands of children out of hunger and help ease the pressure on households struggling to make ends meet. The Child Poverty Action Group said it was "fantastic news and a game-changer for children and families". "We hope this is a sign of what's to come in autumn's child poverty strategy, with government taking more action to meet its manifesto commitment to reduce child poverty in the UK," Kate Anstey, head of education policy, said. School leaders' union NAHT welcomed the change but asked for the government to introduce "auto-enrolment so no child entitled to a free meal misses out". NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman added: "It's vital that this positive extension of free school meals is backed up by other tangible measures which help lift even more children out of poverty when the government's child poverty taskforce reports back later this year." 2:37 At the end of May, the government delayed publishing its child poverty strategy until the autumn over Treasury concerns about the cost implications of ending the two-child limit on universal credit, which is expected to be part of the strategy. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch pushed Sir Keir Starmer on whether he will lift it at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday after the PM last week said the government "will look at" scrapping it, in his strongest indication yet that he will. On the free school meals announcement, Sir Keir said: "Working parents across the country are working tirelessly to provide for their families but are being held back by cost-of-living pressures. "My government is taking action to ease those pressures. Feeding more children every day, for free, is one of the biggest interventions we can make to put more money in parents' pockets, tackle the stain of poverty, and set children up to learn. "This expansion is a truly historic moment for our country, helping families who need it most and delivering our Plan for Change to give every child, no matter their background, the same chance to succeed." Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson called it a "giant step" towards ending child poverty.


Times
16 minutes ago
- Times
England stars take ‘digital pills' to measure how bodies react to heat
It is the goal of every manager to know what is going on inside their players — and Thomas Tuchel has taken his famous attention to detail to new levels by giving England's stars biometric pills to swallow which measure the internal temperatures of their bodies in extreme heat. The tablets featured in a series of tests conducted earlier in the week at a training camp near Girona in Spain, aimed at understanding how the England squad are likely to cope with the boiling conditions expected at next summer's World Cup. As The Times revealed on Monday, the FA's performance team erected special heat and humidity tents alongside the pitch where the England team has been training. Inside, players have been monitored for how they react when temperatures soar. One test involved each player sitting on an exercise bike and pedalling to the point of exhaustion, having ingested a special pill containing digital technology. After stepping off the bike, the FA sports scientists were able to remotely scan the tablet to gain a precise picture of what internal temperature that player's body reached — and how quickly they were able to cool down. 'It was tough,' Cole Palmer said. 'It was 35, 36C inside the tents and we had to get to a certain watts or something on a bike and maintain it. For 45 minutes.' Concern about the conditions likely in the USA, Mexico and Canada during the World Cup is prominent in Tuchel's thinking. The average daily temperatures during early July in Dallas and Monterrey, both tournament venues, are 35C and 34.4C respectively, while six other venues have average temperatures exceeding 30C. When the World Cup was last played in the USA, in 1994, temperatures at games regularly exceeded 37C, amid a heatwave. Tuchel has said of the 2026 tournament that 'suffering will be one of the headlines' — and he is determined to reduce the impact on players. The tests are in recognition that every individual reacts differently to heat, and the idea to create individualised plans to help players cope. Eberechi Eze also described the experience as gruelling, saying it was the first time he had ever been tested in such a way. 'It was taking those tablets on the bike, and then you had to be on the bike for about 45 minutes and you just had to keep going, they monitored your heart rate, they monitored your actual temperature and stuff like that, to get more understanding,' Eze said. 'Of course it was quite difficult and 45 minutes is a long time on a bike but it was something that was definitely helpful, and I think it was a bit of insight into yourself and how you will cope in those situations. '[The tablet] was something that they would use to actually monitor your core temperature, so they would be understanding how hot you were whilst you were doing the training, which was interesting.' Eze reflected on an extraordinary personal end to the season, when he rode a rich streak of form that began with scoring his first goal for England, against Latvia at Wembley in March. That strike raised his confidence to new levels, he said, sparking a run of goals and assists that led to him to scoring the winner for Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final. That gave Palace the first major trophy in their history and earned the club a place in the Europa League — which is now in doubt because of Uefa rules governing multi-club ownership. John Textor, who controls around 45 per cent of Palace, also owns 90 per cent of Lyon and is trying to sell his Palace stake to ensure Palace are not barred from playing in Europe. 'I don't know a lot about it but I really hope that it's not the case and I hope Palace do get the reward because of what it took to actually achieve it. It would be a huge shame if that was the case, but I'm trusting it will work out in the end,' Eze said. 'There's players who have worked to be in this position. There are fans who have been with the team throughout the season and experienced everything. 'It would be unfortunate [if Palace are barred from Europe] but I'm positive it won't be the case.'


Daily Mail
17 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
How Harry Brook got off to a flying start as England's new white-ball captain: Funky fields, empowering team-mates and going hard at the start
If the true characteristics of a captain shine through in a crisis rather than a cruise, it was midway through his maiden series whitewash of West Indies that Harry Brook revealed his approach to repairing England's damaged white-ball reputation. Between the processions to victory by the canals of Birmingham and the banks of the Thames, they were largely naff next to the Taff, Brook admitting of the Cardiff performance: 'I didn't feel we deserved to win.' Joe Root 's career-best, unbeaten 166 resuscitated a chase of 309, after half the side had been dismissed for 133, but it was in the preceding innings, when England's sloppiness resulted in four dropped catches, that Brook sent signals to both his team-mates and those assessing his credentials as Jos Buttler 's successor. There was no huffing, no puffing, no hissy fits; arm waving and finger jabbing were conspicuous by their absence. His body language was consistent with the assured character that surged from novice status to Test cricket's top-rated batsman in the space of two years. Freshness helps, of course. Captaincy is Brook's shiny new penny; his enthusiasm yet to be tested by the grind of an unforgiving international schedule, as Ben Stokes experienced in Pakistan last autumn, leading to a public apology to his team-mates for his demeanour. The comparison with Stokes is apt as Brook unashamedly views England's Test revolutionary as his role model. He also shares head coach Brendon McCullum's belief international cricketers produce their best when they are backed and feel relaxed. And his empowerment of people has already paid dividends. For Brook was instrumental in persuading Jamie Smith and Will Jacks to re-imagine themselves within England's one-day XI. There was some reluctance from Smith when, in the aftermath of a disastrous Champions Trophy at No 3, talk began of converting him into an opener. Memories of failing to pierce the field as a teenager with Surrey — 'the majority of my experiences had not been great' — came flooding back. Equally, in 34 of his first 36 limited-overs international appearances, Jacks had batted in the top three. Yet Brook saw different value in one of England's thinking cricketers, asking him to game-manage from the crucial position of seven. Jacks said earlier this week that once Brook's trust had been established, he began visualising the different challenges the new role presented. 'It's just adjusting to the situation and making good decisions,' he said, after crunching 39 from a standing start at Edgbaston, then sitting on his bat handle for 49 as Root did his thing in south Wales. 'They're both amazing players of seam and spin, so it's nice to see those boys having some time out in the middle and playing well,' was Brook's assessment of how the pair had coped in their new positions. Like Stokes, Brook might not be an academic, but he is cricket smart. While McCullum, director of cricket Rob Key and national selector Luke Wright were naturally involved, the first squad selections of the summer had Brook's fingerprints all over them. A belief that the best Twenty20 teams have a quality spin-bowling all-rounder in the middle order was instrumental to the recall of Hampshire slow left-armer Liam Dawson. And he sets funky fields, prioritising wicket-taking over containment. As Buttler said of the 26-year-old's tactical acumen while deputising last September: 'Watching him from the side against Australia, he was as positive a captain as I've ever seen.' Not since MS Dhoni has an international captain indulged such fascination with leg slip. It encourages the seamers to bowl straight, knowing that flicks off the pads are laced with jeopardy, and acts as a deterrent to sweepers when Adil Rashid's probing leg-spin is introduced. At the Oval on Tuesday, England spent a large part of their 40 overs without an extra cover — offering opponents runs in exchange for their dismissals. He also front-loads innings, ensuring his best bowlers operate at the start. Stiffer challenges than that posed by West Indies lie ahead, but early impressions are encouraging. So much so that if injury were to strike Stokes, ruling him out of Tests against India or Australia later this year, there would be an argument for Brook rather than vice-captain Ollie Pope taking over. Brook is clearly comfortable in his own skin. You would have to be to captain with Stokes in the ranks, as he did with Northern Superchargers last year. Similarly, he is managing two predecessors in Buttler and Root, when a new era might have been the right juncture to move on from the 30-somethings. When Buttler halted a game of whist, suggesting getting off the bus and switching to bikes to beat the London traffic on Tuesday, Brook fell in with the idea — but once play had started he left nobody in doubt who now holds the cards in this England side.