TOP trainer Milton Harris was left red-faced after confidently placing a £1,000 each-way bet on his Cheltenham Festival horse.
Harris was so sure his stable star Scriptwriter would win a big race on Saturday that he placed a bet on the horse to win next month's Triumph Hurdle too.
The trainer, who once dated Belinda Carlisle and was fighting for his life in a Thai hospital just four months ago, bumped into a bookie before last weekend's contest.
He got the odds and asked a friend to stake the not insignificant amount for him in a shop.
But optimism turned to disaster when 6-4 fav Scriptwriter finished a whopping 35 lengths behind Kempton Adonis winner Nusret.
For context, that horse is not even considered good enough to run in the Triumph.
Harris told the Racing Post: "I thought he would win at Kempton so when I saw Simon Clare from Coral in the coffee shop, I asked him for £1,000 each-way for the Triumph.
"He was 16-1 with Coral and 10-1 with the rest, but Simon said he couldn't do it because it's not like the old days when a bookmaker's rep could take your bet.
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"I ended up ringing a friend and sending him to a Coral betting shop.
"Unfortunately, he got the bet on for me. I'll not be speaking to that man again!
"That's life, though, and worse things have happened in my life."
Scriptwriter is now a massive 50-1 for the Triumph and appears to have no chance of beating the likes of market leader Lossiemouth.
Even that horse lost out to 5-1 chance Gala Marceau after suffering traffic problems in a Grade 1 at Leopardstown earlier this month.
Willie Mullins looks to have a stranglehold on the race.
The Closutton genius trains the top three in the market while 10-1 Comfort Zone, trained by Joseph O'Brien, is next best.
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