The Biggest Betting Wins in Horse Racing History

Did you know? Ireland is one of the countries where people spend the most money on gambling, notably horse racing, but also dog racing is popular, and we even gamble a lot on Irish online casinos, like shown at onlinecasinos.net, and on other Irish casino sites. Yes we love to gamble, and some are lucky and hit the big win.

Horse racing is considered as one of the famous sports that has millions of fans worldwide. Players can stake their money on the placement of the horses and win millions of cash in accumulators. Betting on the result of these races is fun activity. 

And, you can beat the odds if you got the slightest of ideas. There are certain things you should pay attention to when placing bets. But, as you grow in experience and have a better understanding of the betting mechanics, you have a better chance of winning more.

Hence, horse racing is a common betting activity enjoyed by millions. You should know that some gamblers have won a lot in one attempt and made a living out of it. Hard to believe, but certain betting wins were so unexpected and high that it is worth mentioning.

Conor Murphy -£1.2 million

What would you do after winning £1.2 million on a bet? Some people would probably invest the amount in stocks and shares, savings account with the highest interest, or buying property. Others would have bought a fast car, or live lavishly like celebs. But, that was not the case with Conor Murphy.

For Conor Murphy, earning the 7-figure sum helped him to start a new career, from which the former stable lad turned trainer and never looked back. It was in the year 2012 at the Cheltenham Festival where Conor Murphy stuck gold. Apart from winning, there was an interesting aspect other than the massive payout.

All his winners came from Lambourn Yard, which was trained by Nicky Henderson. That's the place where Conor was working at that time. The 5-fold accumulator saw Conor land big on Riverside Theatre, Finian's Rainbow, Bob's Worth, Simonsig, and Sprinter Sacre. Even the odds aren't that bad at 64,000/1.

It seems this win paved his way to conquer a dream career move, which was to open his own training yard at Kentucky. Conor claims that he had only a handful of a bet before his historic win. Growing up around horses, Conor has always been into racing. His father had a training yard at Cork. 

In the beginning, Conor thought of becoming a jockey. But, he went down the same road as others and ended as a stable lad. He worked in many yards in England and Ireland. During his mid-twenties, he moved to America and worked with eminent personalities based in Kentucky. 

At the Cheltenham Festival, Conor took the risk and placed a 5-timer only-win at ante-post prices. Simonsig and Sprinter Sacre romped home in the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle and Arkle Chase. Whereas, Bob's Worth and Finian's Rainbow came out winners on the RSA Chase and Queen Mother Champion Chase. 

And, the last one was left to Riverside Theatre. But, he looked dusted and done in the Ryanair Chase, where the Albertas Run made all the effort. However, a rousing response from Riverside Theatre saw him charge home by half-a-length. This is how he won the staggering amount that changed his life.

It was not a very long time before the amount begins to burn a hole in his bank account. And, he did what he was thinking of doing for a long time. He returned to Kentucky and set up his own training yard. As of now, he has set up home in Goshen at the Skylight Training Center. 

Conor and his trainer Justin Curran have undertaken the task to train the new generation of thoroughbred superstars. Conor raked in over £2 million in prize money and has a win ratio of about 11%. That's because of the smart purchase of horses like Dimension, which won on the Kentucky Downs, Emmaus, and Great Wide Open

Conor Murphy is happily settled with his wife and family in the US. Given his success, you can. expect that he will bag a few victories in Kentucky and from overseas in the coming years. And, there are familiar faces around his yard. Finian's Rainbow is now retired and can be seen alongside Dimension at his Louisville yard. 

Does he dream of reproducing the achievements of fellow Irishmen Gordon Elliot, Willie Mullins, and Henderson on home soil? Henderson is considered as one of the decorated trainers in history, and a mentor to Conor. 

Although it is difficult to predict what does future holds for Murphy, so far the smart bet is concerned, the world is yet to see a few of them in the near future. 

JP McManus - £1 million

With a net worth of more than 1 billion pounds, the horse owner and property mogul JP McManus is a completely reserved man. He began his career as a bookmaker and has come a long way since to become one of the lionhearted men on the track. He isn't afraid to bet, no matter how big.

During the 2006 Cheltenham Festival, McManus won an amount of £1 million in a series of bets in a single day with the daring bookie Freddie William. McManus is renowned for his bold betting strategy. He was nicked as 'the Sundance Kid' by many bettors. He has earned a legendary status because of his braveness. 

JP McManus is a person that makes any betting ring hot whenever he enters. And, everyone gets worried about what he is going to do next. He is a well-known owner of horse racing. In 1982, McManus moved into horse racing ownership. Around that time, he and his wife purchased Martinstown Stud in Limerick. 

The first horse McManus bought was called Cill Dara. He became the largest owner at National Hunt racing and has over a hundred horses in training as of now. McManus is known for having a bargain when he sees one. He went to secure a deal for Supreme Novices' at the Cheltenham Festival. 

Green and gold hoops can be spotted in the winner's jersey plenty of times in the racecourse. McManus's first win in the Cheltenham Festival came in the form of Mister Donovan, which was over 40 years ago. This highlights the period of dominance this great man has had in horse racing. 

McManus has many champion horses over the years. But, Istabraq is arguably the best and most famous among the other horses. The horse is a 3-time winner of the famous Champion Hurdle. Tony McCoy, a 20-time champion jockey, retained as a stable jockey for a long part of his career.

However, Barry Geraghty took over after McCoy's retirement. In recent years, it is seen that many trainers keep horses that belonged to McManus in their yards. Some of them include the likes of Philip Hobbs, Paul Nicholas, and Champion Trainer Nicky Henderson. McManus won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2012 with Synchronised. 

In the same year, Synchronised went on to run on the Grand National. But, he suffered a lethal fall at Becher's Brook. In 2017, McManus celebrated his Cheltenham Festival winning for the 50th time when Buveur D'Air came out victorious on the Champion Hurdle. 

A major part of his wealth seems to have derived as a foreign exchange trader that McManus operates from an office in Geneva. McManus has a variety of investments from betting shops and leisure centers to nursing homes to pubs. He is the largest shareholder in Ladbrokes.

Darren Yeats - £550,000

It seems that Britain's Ascot Festival held in 1996 was not a pleasing moment for the bookmakers. That's because of the Italian jockey Frankie Dettori defied 25000:1 odds of winning and won all the 7 races during the event. That was one of the best winning streaks the world has seen lately. 

This record-breaking streak was made by the Italian rider with his 3-year old male horse, Wall Street. One of the participating gamblers, Darren Yeats placed an accumulator bet of £62 on each of Frankie's race, even after verbal warfare with his wife. It was nearly impossible for any jockey to win seven rounds in a row.

But, that was proved wrong, and Darren Yeats won the bet. He left the racetrack with £550,000 in his pocket. To honor this historic win, Ascot created a life-sized statue of Frankie Dettori made from bronze at the entry of the racecourse. It was an unbelievable moment and champagne were popped soon after that.

It has been over 23 years after the 'magnificent 7' delivered an amazing stroke of luck for a Lancashire man after a massive £550,000 win betting on Frankie's horse. In the beginning, Darren used to buy cheap horses in abundance. He didn't have the money to buy the nice ones. So, he gambled. 

After becoming a successful businessman, Darren made enough money so as to buy racehorses. Darren and his trainers are so good at plotting that the owner has a single bookmaker who desires to lay his bets. Darren told that a big firm once opened a VIP account in his name. 

Within a few days, the firm closed the account because Darren won about £150,000 over one weekend. However, landing 6-figure gamble may soon disappear, and hence Darren should make changes. He has shifted to jump racing, where he tried to improve his quality of horse.

But, what made Darren think that the time was perfect for expanding his expertise and placing a bet in the first place? There was a definite method in his madness, and it didn't come out of love. Darren recollected that Frankie Dettori was one of the best jockeys he met. 

Darren was able to find out that the Godolphin horses were quite ahead of the British horses because they had the sun on their backs in Dubai during the winter. Frankie was on all the four Godolphin horses, Fatefully, Mark of Esteem, Diffident, and Wall Street II. 

These horses are trained by Saeed Bin Suroor. When the other three rides didn't look like no-hopers, Darren thought of adding them as well. Back in 1996, after Darren bet £62 on Frankie's horses at Ascot, he saved his business from ruin. In fact, that was only a seed that grew into a company later.

And, that company grew so well that he sold it for a whopping amount of about £35 million after a long 23 years. Darren could have lost a contract that week and the guys working for him would have left him to begin a new career at a different company. 

If he did lose that day, he wouldn't get penniless. Although he got a couple of properties, it may have taken some time to dispose of them. But, Darren was able to use the winning money to grow his property businesses. The company is called The DY Group, which is a management and property development firm.

Darren Yeats fulfilled his dreams, as well. He bought his first racehorses that were trained by Martyn Wane and Dandy Nicholls. Darren believes that anyone can make their own luck. The company, Sandcastle Care that he bought for £1.3 million, was later sold at £35 million.

He recollects that he didn't have the entire money to buy the firm. He had half of it and borrowed the remaining. Even his wife got worried as their whole savings were at stake, and they have become debtors. Sandcastle Care remodeled Darren's property to sourcing, creating, and maintaining specific homes.

These homes provide long-term therapeutic care for certain children in need. It was something that Darren always dreamt of. Waterland Private Equity, a European investment firm, acquired Sandcastle Care with a staggering amount of £35 million as a part of their UK expansion. 

In October 2018, Darren bought two high-rated Flat horses, South Seas, and Magellan. They were bought for 150,000 and 58,000 Guineas from Tattersalls. South Seas was owned by Qatar Racing and trained by Andrew Balding. The horse won its first three starts at Group 3 Victory and became second in the Group 1 Criterium International. 

It is Time For The Conclusion:

Ever wondered what it takes to stake in cash on participating horses and win millions? Well, horse racing is a very serious business where lots of money are involved. Yet, this doesn't stop the amateurs from placing small bets that they think might work out. And that one decision sometimes changes lives forever.