A cleaner from Devon, who joked he would take his mates to Las Vegas if he won at the horses, is now booking his plane to Sin City after winning a huge £168,751 at his local Betfred shop.
Martin Palk's £1 each-way Lucky 31 bet landed him the huge windfall that's made him the toast of his hometown of Tiverton after he picked five winners at Cheltenham including Penhill, owned by Brighton & Hove Albion's Tony Bloom, in the Stayers' Hurdle feature race on the Thursday.
Martin, aged 55 said: "It was a bit of banter, but I'm a man of my word, so the Magnificent Seven are off to the Strip. It will cost me £10,000, and I've told them they could bring their own spending money."
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"They were all cheering, but I went as white as a sheet I just couldn't believe it and still can't," said Betfred regular Martin, of Moffatt Row, Tiverton who owns contract cleaning company MP Cleaning Services in the town.
He would have won £112,819 after beating odds of 68,000/1 on his five horses Shattered Love, Delta Work, Penhill, The Storyteller and Missed Approach on a series of singles, doubles, trebles, four folds and a five-fold accumulator. But because of Betfred boss, Fred Done's special Cheltenham promotion Martin's win was boosted by fifty per cent landing him a £56,000-plus bonus so he pocketed a total of £168,751.
Fred said: "He wasn't the only one who went as white as a sheet after this remarkable bet won. Well played to cleaning company entrepreneur Martin, and it just shows where there's muck there's brass."
Martin started work early at 5 am cleaning a nursery and industrial estate offices before giving himself the afternoon off to watch the racing from the Cheltenham Festival with his racing-mad chums. He went for Sheltered Love in the 1.30 at 5/1, Delta Work at 9/1 in the 2.10, Penhill at 12/1 in the 3.30 feature race, The Storyteller at 7/1 in the 4.10 and Missed Approach at 10/1 in the 5.30 race.
Read more about Martin's incredible story here
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