- A lucky punter won $9.6million off a free bet at the Everest
- He correctly predicted the finishing order of a 12-runner race
- The punter said he was ‘absolutely blown away’ by the result
A horse racing punter won a huge prize at last weekend’s TAB Everest, and didn’t even have to stake a penny.
He won a staggering AU$9.6million (£5m) after taking a punt on a free-to-enter competition organised by the TAB for The Everest, the world’s richest turf race.
Punters were asked to select the correct finishing order of the $14.4m (£7.5m) sprint race, with 12 runners competing in Sydney, Australia, on Saturday.
In incredible scenes, one better from New Zealand managed to pick the exact finishing order of the race, from winning Think About It to last-placed Alcohol Free.
The odds of completing the correct order is reportedly nearly 500 million to one, but the Auckland man managed to do so.
A lucky punter has won $9.6m from a free bet following the TAB Everest in Sydney
The better correctly predicted the finishing order of the 12-runner sprint race on Saturday
The lucky winner said he was ‘absolutely blown away’ by the result.
‘I saw the promotion on the TAB site and thought I’d give it a crack,’ he said, after requesting anonymity. ‘I didn’t put too much thought into my picks and just dropped the runners where I thought it could go.
‘Honestly, I could not believe I’d won it. I actually thought it was a hoax when they first rang me – I called the TAB back, and it took quite a lot of convincing before it sank in.
‘To have pulled it off, winning $10 million in a free to play competition, is truly incredible for my family and I.’
