Most people can only dream of landing a £100,000 horse racing payout courtesy of betting but for Shane Roche, that dream became a reality on Saturday.
Killarney-based Roche managed to land Sky's Bet's famous Sporting Life Pick 7 jackpot, after backing seven winners at Ascot and Lingfield.
However, Roche's landmark payday was helped by a huge stroke of fortune in the final race at Ascot, the 5.10. That was because Roche's original selection, the Richard Hughes-trained King Of Spin, was declared a non-runner at the Berkshire venue which meant that the Irishman's ticket went on to the SP favourite, Mick Easterby's Robero.
Easterby has his horses in fine form and the well-punted 7/2 favourite, available at 14/1 earlier in the day, duly delivered, coming clear in taking fashion under William Buick to score by two and three-quarter lengths.
Roche's £100,000 payout was even more impressive given some of the shock winners on the flat on Saturday. That was evident by the canny punter picking Chris Wall's talented filly Mix And Mingle to upset Even money favourite Qemah in the G3 Chartwell Fillies' Stakes at Lingfield and 5/1 shot Fatnet Tempest, who landed the ultra-competitive Victoria Cup at Ascot under Josephine Gordon.
A delighted Roche remarked: "I knew I was still alive going in to the last leg and had a chance but I didn't know who was going to be favourite right until pretty neat the off as Rio Ronaldo was also short but I was hoping that it would be Robero.
"I followed it all the way through today and I play the Pick 7 every Saturday. I think I'm going to put part of the winnings towards a house; I'm absolutely thrilled to pieces."
The Pick 7 winners were:
Ascot 14:15: Appeared 9/4 favourite
Ascot 14:50: Desert Encounter 8/1
Ascot 15:25: Tisbutadream 11/1
Lingfield 15:40: Mix And Mingle 9/2
Ascot 16:00: Fastnet Tempest 5/1 favourite
Ascot 16:35: Aqabah 9/4 joint-favourite
Ascot 17:10: Robero 7/2 favourite
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Words By: Danny Archer
Topics: Horse Racing