This story is sponsored by Paddy Power
Paddy Power today refunded a record £2m in losing bets as favourite Sprinter Sacre romped home in the Racing Post Arkle Chase at Cheltenham.
The Irish bookie’s pledge to refund losing punters if the favourite (pictured above) won in the 2:05 race resulted in a combined pay-out of close to £5m as Sprinter Sacre’s win triggered a further £2.7m pay-out on top of the refund. Paddy Power said this was the biggest of its kind to date in UK and Irish racing.
Paddy Power himself said today’s Money Back Special had been its most popular to date. “Frankly we’ve dodged the bullet for far too long! It’s the first day of Cheltenham so we’re happy to give our punters the best possible start to the Festival!”
Paddy Power offered similar opening-day deals to punters in the Supreme Novices Hurdle at Cheltenham in each of the last three years, but Cousin Vinny, Dunguib and Cue Card all failed to deliver on their pre-race promise and trigger the multi-million pay-out from Paddy Power.
Results however swung back in favour of Paddy Power and other bookmakers today when favourite Hurricane Fly could only finish third in headlne race the Stan James Champion Hurdle.
Today’s pay-out to punters however still fell short of the €3m Paddy Power paid out in losing bets last year when Spanish giants Barcelona beat Manchester United in the Champions League final.
To qualify for Paddy Power’s introductory £50 bet and to take advantage of its Cheltenham specials, see our Paddy Power review page.
