THEY say that only two per cent of people win when betting on horse racing.
But those lucky few can lay claim to having some of the most incredible returns ever – even when it looked next to impossible.
From turning around bad dates to locating a bet slip thought lost, here SunSport runs through the five most amazing wins ever.
Dumped by date while winning £450,000
Kenny Morgan, from Victoria in Australia, was getting ready to drown his sorrows when his date dumped him as they watched the Melbourne Cup in 2019.
He had just lost £10 on the big race and she told the carpenter, in his mid-forties, she was looking for someone in particular – and he wasn't it.
The pair were getting ready to go their separate ways when Kenny thought he'd have one last check of his betting account.
And then his life changed after a remarkable slice of luck.
Kenny had bet on which four horses would finish first, second, third and fourth in a race.
Initially the bet was a loser – until a steward's enquiry overruled the result and placed the four horses in the order he had predicted.
He won £450,000 from just £10.
He said: "I opened up my Sportsbet account and stood up and started screaming. She said 'what are you doing, you're embarrassing me?'"
"I said 'can you read this for me?' and she started screaming as well."
So did her feelings change after his mega windfall?
Kenny said he 'couldn't shake' her for a while afterwards – and he refused to reply to her texts the following day.
He said: "I wouldn’t go on another date with her but I have no ill feelings towards her and I hope she finds what she’s looking for.
"I want someone who’s nice and down to earth, family orientated and not superficial."
And presumably someone who would take him for richer and for poorer.
Lost £630,000 bet slip
American fireman Christopher Hertzog was frantically searching through rubbish.
Discarded food trays, drinks, cigarette stubs… all were swept aside in his manic digging.
He had to find the bet slip that was worth £630,000.
Chris had wagered roughly £100 on the 2005 Kentucky Derby and one bet in particular had come in.
He had put one dollar on a superfecta – predicting the order of the first four horses home.
But, thinking they were all losers, he had thrown all his slips away – or so he thought.
Brenda Reagan, who worked for one of the trackside bookies, had placed Chris' bets.
Yet it was not until the next day, when she returned to her desk, that she found the missing ticket, sitting exactly where it had been left.
She explained: "When I punched out Chris' tickets, there were so many that they bunched up and these two must have fallen to the side.
"I informed management and they called Chris right away."
Some £630,000 richer, Chris said: "I couldn't believe I lost this once in a lifetime payday. It's unbelievable that it was found. What a roller coaster ride this has been. Just unbelievable. Don't you just love happy endings?"
Accidental £350,000 winner
Chances are you're a pretty high roller anyway if you're putting £350 on a bet.
But it is another level of punting entirely when wagering £3500 on horses.
Yet that is exactly what happened entirely by accident to one lucky punter in Australia.
He thought he had put £350 on a quinella bet, where you make five selections and need two of them to finish first and second for a payout.
When his bet at odds of around 100-1 came in, he was celebrating what he thought was a £35,000 winner.
But when he checked his account there sat a whopping £350,000.
The punter had mistakenly added an extra zero to the end of his stake.
Some guys have all the luck.
Irishman strikes gold – but misses out on £2m
Conor Murphy was working as a stable lad for famed trainer Nicky Henderson during the 2012 Cheltenham Festival.
It's a pretty good job as racing goes, being alongside some of the most famous horses for one of the best trainers.
But Conor always had ambitions of being a trainer in his own right.
And it remained a dream until he won £1.2million from a £50 accumulator after picking five of Henderson's horses to win.
He selected 6-1 Sprinter Sacre, 12-1 Simonsig, 6-1 Bob's Worth, 8-1 Finian's Rainbow and 10-1 Riverside Theatre all to win.
With his bank account bulging, Murphy upped sticks to America and set up his own successful yard.
However, reports stated the true odds of his accumulator should have resulted in a payout of £3,153,100 – with his stake subtracted.
However, Bet365, who he placed the bet with, were said to have a £1m maximum payout.
Two million to one bet wins
If the holy grail of betting is to win a lot from a little, then it simply does not get better than this.
In 2008 a William Hill customer placed a 50p bet on an eight-horse accumulator.
The odds? Two million to one.
Amazingly, the punter had no idea of his win until the following day, when he placed another 50p acca.
Graham Sharpe, from William Hill, said: "He placed five more 50p bets for Saturday's racing, then asked staff to check his betting slip from the day before.
"When they told him he had £1m to come but would have to collect it from another shop nearby, he went visibly pale before saying that he would have to go and tell his wife."
And it gets even better.
The first winner in his bet was called Isn't That Lucky. The last was named A Dream Come True.
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