A MYSTERY punter was staring a massive £60,000 loss in the face – until the horse they backed rallied to win to secure a whopping £50,000 windfall.
The bettor with incredibly deep pockets put the huge amount on a horse who belongs to Leicester City's owner.
The unknown punter placed the bet with Star Sports, who are famed as the biggest layers in the industry.
The bettor stuck £60,000 on Leuven Power in an otherwise unremarkable race at Salisbury on Saturday night.
There was top class action at Newmarket, York and Ascot on Super Saturday.
But the 'biggest bet of the day' according to bookies came on that seven-runner race at 6.45pm.
The punter staked £60,000 at odds of 5-6, meaning his total return was £110,000.
Leuven Power, a colt owned by King Power, had never previously won and was returning for trainer Roger Varian after a 302-day absence.
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The horse had finished a neck second on his previous run, a Class 3 at Doncaster in September last year.
Interestingly, the horse who won that race was Thunder Max, owned by football superagent Kia Joorabchian's Amo Racing.
Thunder Max went onto reach a mark of 83 so there were signs Leuven Power looked a good bet off a mark of 82 in the Novice Stakes.
And, sent off giant 4-11 fav, it looked a good thing.
But the punter no doubt had their heart in their mouth as jockey Ray Dawson got to serious work a furlong out.
Leuven Power looked to be toiling behind 15-2 Karuoka, who seemed to be finding plenty under George Downing.
But the gambled on horse's class told in the end as Leuven Power ran out the winner by three-quarters-of-a-length.
The bookies on this occasion could consider themselves properly bashed.
But then again, that £50,000 liability paled in comparison to the £540,000 the same bookie stood to lose from a monster bet in January.
Another mystery punter stuck £360,000 on Energumene – a horse owned by Brighton supremo Tony Bloom – to beat Shishkin.
Nicky Henderson's stable star just prevailed in a thriller at Ascot, meaning the punter lost their massive stake.
But Bloom had the last laugh as Energumene went onto win the Champion Chase at Cheltenham at Shishkin's expense.
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