By Anish Vij
A man who bet £62 on the horses is now, incredibly, a multi-millionaire.
Joiner Darren Yates bet £62 on Frankie Dettori riding seven winners at Ascot and won a whopping £550,823 in return.
Advert
The 55-year-old then used his winnings to build a property and development empire, which he sold for £20 million.
Darren spoke to The Sun yesterday (15 October) about his life-changing wager with William Hill on 26 September 1996.
He said: "I'd been playing football for my local team in Morecambe and only caught the racing results over a post-game pint.
Advert
"I asked how it was going and they said Dettori had four out of four. I reckoned I'd won £700.
"Then Frankie's fifth and sixth horses went in and I thought I was heading for the £24,000 mark.
"So I went down to the betting shop to watch the seventh race and just quietly sat there.
"I couldn't believe it when Frankie stormed home.
Advert
"I asked the counter girl how much I'd won, thinking it would be about £50,000.
"When she told me it was over £500,000 I almost fainted.
"I went home and just burst out crying."
He added: "I told my wife Annaley, 'I've done it, darling. We've hit the big one'."
Advert
"She started crying.
"We sat there hugging each other for about an hour and we just couldn't stop crying.
"That was the best moment of my life - knowing all our worries were over."
Darren and his wife, Annaley, 54, upgraded their cramped home to an extravagant mansion in the resort of Lytham St Annes, Lancashire.
Advert
He also purchased two £10,000 horses along with a number of £20,000 three-bedroom semi-detached houses, which kickstarted his property empire, which he sold before the pandemic.
William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams said: "It's a remarkable rags to riches story.
"Seeing Darren and Annaley with racing royalty in the parade ring was absolutely fantastic."
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Betting, Horse Racing, Australia