Happy Easter to Punter Who Won £285,000 on £17.50 Treble

With the calendar now ticked over to April, the Triple Crown of horse racing is in sight. In just a month, we will have the running of the 150th Kentucky Derby.

As hundreds of thousands prepare to place wagers on the “Greatest Two Minutes in Sports,” as the Derby is called, we can all take inspiration from what just happened at the three-day Easter Festival at Fairyhouse Racecourse. Putting £17.50 on a treble ($22 on a three-leg parlay), one very lucky punter walked away with £285,000, or about U.S. $360,000.

Bookmaker Coral confirmed that it is one of the largest single-day wins it has ever paid out. “It’s got to be right up there with the biggest payouts we’ve had,” said Coral’s head of public relations, David Stevens. “In terms of Irish racing, it definitely is.”

The Longshot that Brought it Home

The first winning horse of the day was Don Chalent, who went off at 9/1. The each-way bet hit, but that was the best horse of the day. The total win was still a long way off.

Then, an hour later, the punter’s second horse of the day took the track, Ardera Ru at 33/1. It had dropped to 18/1 by post time, but the punter had best odds guaranteed, and so the 33/1 win stuck.

Still, no one thought that the treble was going to come in. Up next was Mousey Brown, a 50/1 longshot that was moving up in class. And early in the race, it looked like the seven-year-old was severely outclassed. The 6/4 favorite, Olympic Man, was leading after the last post, and appeared to be on the way to victory.

But down the stretch and over the final hurdle, jockey Conor Maxwell got the most from his horse, and Mousey Brown was the winner.

“Never mind chocolate eggs,” quipped Coral’s Stevens. “This jackpot is more of a golden egg.

“We’re all still looking at it here and wondering how he picked them. It was absolutely tremendous punting.”

Triple Crown Coming Up

The spring is high race season in the UK and Ireland, with the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March and The Grand National at Aintree in April.

In May, the American racing season heats up, with the Kentucky Derby set for May 4, the Preakness on May 18, and the Belmont Stakes on June 8.

Famously 79/1 longshot Rich Strike won at Churchill Downs in 2022, the longest odds of a winner since 1913. The biggest longshot to win the Preakness was Master Derby at 23/1 in 1975. Sarava, at 70/1 in 2002, was the biggest longshot winner at Belmont.