A lucky punter has taken home half-a-million dollars after making an unbelievable bet at the Melbourne Cup.
The unnamed racing fan made the well-placed bet on the $10 outsider Cross Counter, steering clear of early favourite Magic Circle and frontrunner Yucatan.
The Irish racehorse took out the $4 million prize at Flemington Racecourse on Tuesday, much to the surprise of spectators.
A lucky punter has taken home half-a-million dollars after making an unbelievable bet at the Melbourne Cup
Prior to race day, Punter had put down a $50,000 wager on Cross Counter, which was set at $10 odds
Prior to race day, the lucky punter dropped $50,000 wager on Cross Counter – TAB’s biggest ever Melbourne Cup splurge.
Another one placed $6,000 on the winning horse at $11 odds, and another risked $4,500.
One punter walked away with $76,440 after placing their chips on a $10 multi-bet days before the race.
But as there are triumphant winners so must there be plenty of losers.
A punter lost $17,000 after a misplaced bet on Finche, which was set at $31 odds. Another gambler ended up $35,000 out of pocket thanks to an big punt on favourite Yucatan.
Yucatan was tipped as the favourite and set at $6.50, with Magic Circle followed closely behind on $7.
Despite high-hopes for Yucatan, the favoured Irish racehorse finished 11th.
Arguably the biggest winner of the day is Cross Counter jockey Kerrin McEvoy
Online bookmaker Sportsbet was down for a moment thanks to technical issues and Betfair struggled to keep up with the dense traffic to its site.
Arguably the biggest winner of the day was Cross Counter jockey Kerrin McEvoy.
Mr McEvoy said he already knew how he would spend his hundreds of thousands in prize money after making a series of promises to his family.
‘I did. I promised [my children] a swimming pool. And [my wife] Kathy and myself have been looking around for a bigger house, this and that, and I said to one of the reporters yesterday that if I won I would buy Kathy a new house, so look out,’ he said after his win.
Mr McEvoy (pictured with his wife) said he already knew how he would spend his hundreds of thousands in prize money after making a series of promises to his family
McEvoy would have ample cash to afford that as his cut of the $4 million winnings is $200,000. He also won The Everest in Sydney last month.
It was also a big win for Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai, whose Godolphin stable has been trying to win the Melbourne Cup since 1998, reportedly spending a billion in the process over two decades.
Cross Counter, a three-year-old bay gelding, was trained in Newmarket in England by Charlie Appleby.
At only his eighth start, Cross Counter also becomes the first English-trained horse to win with Britain ending its race hoodoo in style as the four-year-old beat Marmelo by a length.