Horse racing betting pulls a surprise every once in a while, like the bettor whose 50-cent bet paid out $524,966.50 for a Pick of 5 bet. Exotic bets are quite hard, but hitting them right makes for exciting stories in the horse racing community. But even more exciting is when a horse with long odds proves the bookmakers wrong and wins.
An underdog bet win is an unusual exception, but it pays big for the lucky bettor. These horses will definitely have been some of the most profitable horse racing tips you could have been offered. Here are some of the longest odds in horse racing history.
Theodore came to the 1822 St. Leger in Britain suffering from corns. His trainer had him as an afterthought, being one of his four choices. Theodore was priced 200/1. He went on to pass the trial and win the event. He became the longest priced horse winning a flat race in Britain, a record that remained until 2002.
Beechy Bank is the horse that broke Theodore’s hold on the longest priced winner in a British flat race. She came to the 2012 Warwick contest having performed poorly in her past four events. The bookies priced her 200/1. She went on to win the events and make two punters very lucky, one winning £6,030 and the other £10,050.
Six-year-old Killahara Castle was making her 21st attempt at the Listed Honors in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Boreen Belle Mares Novice Hurdle. She had won none of the previous attempts and was priced at 200/1. The horse was owned by the trainer’s sister and ridden by the trainer’s brother. She pipped the favourite True Self (8/13) in the last stages of the race and won by five lengths. She became the longest priced horse to win in Ireland.
Young horses are a bit unpredictable as was proven by two-year-old Dandy Flame. His debut at Windsor was a disappointing 8 out of 8. He came to the 2016 FCL Global Forwarding Making Logistics Personal Maiden Stake priced 200/1. The bookies had labelled him clueless and needing massive improvement, but he won the race by two and three-quarter lengths. As to confirm the bookies’ fears on unpredictability, he finished last in his next two races.
Equinoctial came to the 1990 novice Handicap Hurdle with a very poor record. He had disappointed in his first four races. He pulled up in one race, fell in two and finished one 62 lengths behind the winner. The bookies priced him 250/1. He was also 15 pounds heavier. But the five-year-old novice went on to win the race and set the record for the longest priced horse to win in a UK horse race.
The usually on-point Irish bookies missed this one. He Knows No Fear had finished 12 out 14 in his previous race in Limerick. The Comer stable had also not had a win in 30 years. The bookies assessed that odds of 300/1 were fit for the horse in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden at Leopardstown. The hot favourite was Agitare (9/8), but He Knows No Fear would not relent in his surge to a tightly contested win.
He Knows No Fear beat Equinoctial’s 1990 odds and became the longest priced winner in both the UK and Ireland. He also made a good number of punters very happy. One had staked €100 and won €36,000. The long odds win was also one of the most uplifting stories in 2020.
