Paddy Power have called it “one of the blackest days in the history of bookmaking.”
What was originally thought to be an unremarkable Wednesday on the calendar saw the betting industry stung for a massive €18.3m, with one man at the centre of one of horse racing’s biggest coups.
Four horses connected to the former trainer Barney Curley were all priced as outsiders before the day’s cards go underway, but all romped home to victory to leave bookmakers reeling.
Eye Of The Tiger, Low Key and Seven Summits were all trained by Curley before his retirement, while a fourth – Indus Valley – is the charge of Des Donovan, a known business associate of Curley.
All four horses won after a rash of bets.
A Paddy Power spokesman is quoted in the Mirror as saying: “There’s no doubt this is one of the blackest days in the history of bookmaking.
“The horses have been backed in singles, doubles, trebles and four-folds and punters who have heard about the gamble have clambered aboard the bandwagon.
“What looked like a mundane midweek’s racing has turned into one of the most newsworthy racing days of the modern era and we reckon it cost the industry €18million.”
The first to come home was Eye Of The Tiger at Lingfield, before Seven Summits claimed its first ever victory at Catterick.
Indus Valley took the spoils at Kempton despite running for the first time in 700 days, with Low Key completing the rout after a 350-day absence, having come in to 4-7 from 7-1 earlier in the day.
Bookies and racing handicappers, who add weight to the horses’ saddles to even up the races, underestimated the chances of the four horses due to their lack of recent form.
Betting firms only slashed prices after large sums of money had been staked, and by then, well, the horses had well and truly bolted.
Boom.
The British Horseracing Authority plan to investigate the circumstances surrounding the events of Wednesday, but have made no suggestion of any untoward activity.
