THIS is the agonising moment a racehorse owner came literally inches away from winning £100,000 – after thinking it was his for the entire race.
Evaluation looked certain to win a 1m6f Sky Bet Sunday Series contest at Sandown last weekend.
But he was caught in the very last stride by William Jarvis' fast-finishing Duke Of Verona.
Credit to winning jockey Cieren Fallon for his perfectly timed ride on the victor, scooping a nice £18,039 pay packet for connections.
The consolation prize of £8,500 wasn't too bad for Evaluation's owner Sir Ian Good.
But it was more than ten times less what he would have been celebrating had his horse, formerly owned by The Queen, just managed to hold on.
Sir Ian was due to land the bonus as a result of Evaluation winning three different races during the series.
The horse had previously won at Musselburgh in June and York in May.
Most read in Horse Racing
Templegate NAP is crying out for this trip and switch to all weather
This 10-1 outsider can cause an upset after plummeting down the weights
Woman critically injured and racehorse dies in crash after winning at Yarmouth
Cheltenham bosses' plan to allow punters to have ashes kept at racecourse
OFFERS OF THE DAY
William Hill: Bet £10 Get £30 in Free Bets – CLAIM HERE
Betfair – Bet £10 Get £30 – CLAIM HERE
Paddy Power: Bet £20 and get it back as Cash if it Losesacing – CLAIM HERE
Sky Bet – Bet £10 on Racing and get £30 in Free Bets –CLAIM HERE
Ladbrokes – Bet £5 Get £20 – CLAIM HERE
Coral – Bet £5 Get £20 – CLAIM HERE
William Hill: 18+. Play Safe. From 00:01 on 13.04.2022. £30 bonus. New customers only. Minimum £10 stake on odds of 1/2 (1.5) or greater on sportsbook. Further terms apply. Begambleaware.org#ad
Betfair – Place a min £10 bet on the Sportsbook on odds of min 1/2 (1.5), get £30 in Free Bets. Rewards valid for 30 days. SMS verification required. Only deposits via cards will qualify. T&Cs apply. Please Gamble Responsibly 18+ begambleaware.org
Paddy Power: New customers only. Place your FIRST bet on any market at odds of min 2.0 (EVS) and if it loses we will refund your stake in CASH. Max refund for this offer is £20. Only deposits made using cards will qualify for this promotion. T&Cs apply. 18+ Begambleaware.org
Sky Bet: NEW CUSTOMERS ONLY. FIRST SINGLE & E/W BET ONLY ODDS OF 1/1 OR GREATER. 3 X £10 BET TOKENS. FREE BET STAKES NOT INCLUDED IN RETURNS. FREE BETS ONLY REDEEMABLE ON HORSE RACING. FREE BETS ARE NON WITHDRAWABLE. NO FREE BET EXPIRY. ELIGIBILITY RESTRICTIONS AND FURTHER T&CS APPLY.
Ladbrokes: 18+ New UK+IRE Customers only. Certain deposit methods & bet types excl. Min first £/€5 bet within 14 days of account reg at min odds 1/2 to get 4x £/€5 free bets. Free bets available to use on selected sportsbook markets only. Free bets valid for 7 days, stake not returned. Restrictions + T&Cs apply. Begambleaware.org
Coral: Eligible UK+IRE players. Paypal & some deposit & bet types excl. Min first £5 bet within 14 days of account reg at min odds 1/2 = 4x £5 free bets. Free bets valid for 7 days, stake not returned. No cash-out, restrictions & T&Cs apply. 18+ T&Cs Apply. Begambleaware.org
ITV Racing host Luke Harvey looked absolutely crestfallen for Sir Ian in the immediate aftermath of the race.
Sir Ian – who co-owns the horse with daughter Catriona – looked shell-shocked himself but took it in his stride.
Speaking on ITV, Harvey said: "I'm absolutey gutted for you. Literally, I lived that. I thought you'd won everywhere."
Sir Ian responded: "So did I! He's run a superb race."
Speaking later to Racing TV, Sir Ian added: "I've owned horses for 25 years but have never felt excitement like that before!"
Harvey told Sir Ian he couldn't believe how well he was taking defeat and missing out on the huge windfall.
But trainer Keith Dalgleish cut a despondent figure, saying: "I'm gutted. Literally, he looked home and hosed. It was that last stride.
"Jeeze, I'm gutted."
Punters congratulated the pair for taking the heartbreaking loss so well.
One said: "Such a brave try, and wonderful sportsmanship from Sir Ian and Keith. And to lose by such a minute margin…"
Another posted: "Horse racing at its best, loyal owner and fantastic young trainer, other great times await."
One comment read: "A nose away from £100k! I'd be sick."
While another said: "How painful can you get?"
This was the second photo-finish on the card to have big financial implications.
Earlier in the evening winning connections were stripped of £9,500 and their victorious horse demoted to second by stewards.
Punters blasted the call to relegate first-past-the-post Safari Dream as the 'worst decision ever'.
The horse was officially called the winner on TV before the result was changed by officials.
James Millman, son of Safari Dream's trainer Rod, slammed the decision.
He said his horse should have kept the race and that the call to reverse placings was 'clearly a decision not many agree with'.
FREE BETS GET OVER £2,000 IN SIGN UP OFFERS HERE
Commercial content notice: Taking one of the bookmaker offers featured in this article may result in a payment to The Sun. 18+. T&Cs apply. Begambleaware.org
Remember to gamble responsibly
A responsible gambler is someone who:
- Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
- Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
- Never chases their losses
- Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
- Gamcare – www.gamcare.org.uk
- Gamble Aware – www.begambleaware.org
Source: Read Full Article
