Bookies breathe £50m sigh of relief
Industry avoids biggest ever pay out as Annie Power fails to complete punter-friendly Cheltenham Festival fourfold
Bookmakers narrowly avoided an historic £50m pay out on day one of the Cheltenham Festival yesterday after heavily-backed favourite Annie Power dramatically fell at the final hurdle.
Annie Power, which had gone off at 4/7, romped clear and looked on course to complete a Willie Mullins-trained and Ruby Walsh-ridden fourfold until it crashed through the final fence, much to the relief of nervous bookmakers.
“Somehow we’ve dodged the most expensive bullet in betting history and rather than being the worst day we’ve known it’s just been a pretty bad at the office,” David Williams, Ladbrokes PR manager, said.
Mullins’ short-priced trio of Douvan, Un De Sceaux and Faugheen had all obliged earlier in the day to put customers on the brink of what would have been a mega pay day, estimated to be as much as £50m.
“We flagged up the most popular acca in history long before the first winner went in and punters were shovelling on their cash all day long. It would have been worse than Dettori Day in 1996 if Annie Power hadn’t come unstuck at the final hurdle,” Williams added.
Sky Bet horseracing PR manager Michael Shinners said the fall had resulted in “the single biggest swing in Sky Bet’s horseracing history”.
“If she had jumped the last she would surely have won and in turn cost us a small fortune,” Shinners said.
William Hill told eGaming Review the Annie Power fall had saved it approximately £4m, although the operator said it had paid out just shy of £1m in free bets after 106,000 customers qualified for the operator’s money back offer on the first race.
Paddy Power said it paid out £2m in free bets after having offered customers money back on the first two races if Douvan and Un De Sceaux won.
But despite the fall, punters still had the better of the day and operators will be hoping to see that cash recycled across the next few days.
“It was pure theatre and despite a losing day there was a feeling we had dodged a bullet and we came back into the office rejuvenated and ready for day two,” Charlie McCann, BetVictor online head of PR, told eGR.
“It is round one to punters and the bookies were on the ropes yesterday, but the knock-out blow failed to land,” he added.
This year’s Cheltenham Festival is expected to generate as much as £200m in stakes across the four days.