Lucky punter beats the bookies with huge £5,000 payday after rank 150-1 outsider caused stunning upset at Glorious Goodwood
The horse, named Qirat and ridden by Richard Kingscote, caused a huge shock on Wednesday at one of the most prestigious events in the global racing calendar.
The victory, which came after Qirat finished 27th of 30 runners on his last trip to the track, makes the horse the longest-priced winner of a Group One race in Britain since the grading system was introduced in the early 1970s.
And the racer had been backed by three incredibly lucky punters, who no-doubt left the Chichester race course with huge grins on their faces.
One attendee scooped £3750 off a 150-1 punt on Qirat, while another won with a whopping £4500 off a £30 stake.
But it was an unnamed punter from Hampshire who won the biggest return, taking home £5000 after placing £50 on the unlikely winner.
A Paddy Power spokesperson said: 'We've seen some shocks in our time, but this one might top the lot!
'Fair play to the punters who backed Qirat to win, despite it looking a lost cause before the off.
'We'll be reached out to all of them this week and asking their Lotto numbers!'
Such was the surprise of Qirat's victory that even his trainer Ralph Beckett expressed his shock in a post-race interview.
He said: 'He's always threatened to be a good horse, I've just never managed to get it out of him until today.
'We set out to go 12-second furlongs. That was the plan and that's what he did, it's as simple as that.
'They didn't sit close to him and that is the end result. When he went past Serengeti, I could see they were not coming and I was fairly confident he would not stop.'
Despite being rated 24lb inferior to the race's favourite Field of Gold, Qirat eased past him.
John Gosden, the favourite's trainer said: 'He got a little unbalanced coming out of the dip into the bend, but I am not making excuses.
'They ignored the pacemaker and paid the price.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
4 hours ago
- Reuters
Piastri confident he can win after 'bizarre' Hungarian qualifying
BUDAPEST, Aug 2 (Reuters) - McLaren's Formula One leader Oscar Piastri was confident he could win from second place on the starting grid after a 'bizarre and somewhat frustrating' Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday. The Australian will line up alongside Ferrari's pole-sitter Charles Leclerc at the Hungaroring on Sunday with title rival and teammate Lando Norris in third place. "Pretty confident," Piastri, 16 points clear of Norris, said of his chances of taking a seventh win from 14 races. "It was good last year, so hopefully it can be good again this year." Piastri started second last year, with Norris on pole, and went on to take the first win of his F1 career. Sunday's race could see some rain, which could make things tricky on a twisty circuit where overtaking is already difficult and strategy can be crucial. McLaren were fastest in all three practice sessions but Leclerc made the most of the conditions to seize a surprise advantage. "If you're sat where Charles is, fantastic. If you're sat where I'm sat, bizarre and somewhat frustrating," he said when asked to sum up the session. "I think the conditions completely changed, and it was just weird. "I think our pace has been good, but Charles has been quick all weekend, in certain sessions," added the Australian. "It is a very difficult track to overtake on, and it's not going to be the easiest place to try and regain the lead." Norris, winner of four races so far this campaign, agreed with his teammate. "I think we always have, at least in the race, a bit more of an advantage. But our main competitor over the last four, five races has been Charles and it's been the Ferrari," said the Briton. "So, if there was anyone else that's going to be on pole today, it was going to be Charles. And if there's anyone that's going to make our life tough tomorrow, it's going to be the same guy."
The Guardian
5 hours ago
- The Guardian
Bargain buy Two Tribes strikes again in Stewards' Cup at Goodwood
A £30,000 yearling that turned out to be a Classic winner hooked Phil Cunningham into the racing game 20 years ago, and a similarly shrewd purchase gave the owner one of his best days at the track on the final day of Glorious Goodwood. Two Tribes, one of three runners in Cunningham's colours in the Stewards' Cup, picked up the £75,000 first prize in a valuable handicap at Ascot last weekend and added the £125,000 pot for this feature race with an emphatic two-and-a-quarter length defeat of Strike Red. His two stable companions at the Richard Spencer yard crossed the line in fourth and fifth. 'He was a four-grand foal,' Cunningham said. 'That makes it even sweeter.' And better yet for Cunningham, Two Tribes is by the stallion Rajasinghe, who won the 2017 Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot for the owner in a course-record time. Cunningham was so frustrated at breeders' lack of interest in Rajasinghe in the early years of his stud career that he announced this year that he would offer his services for free. 'It's massive,' he said. 'We believed in the horse but unfortunately not many others have, so it's great to see him start getting some results. He's still a track-record holder at Royal Ascot, and at three grand [per cover] I couldn't give him away, so in the end, I did give him away. He did 58 covers after we did the free deal and at least I know he's going to have some runners on the track in a couple of years' time. If we hadn't made that decision, he'd have been sub-10.' It was Cockney Rebel, the winner of the 2,000 Guineas in England and Ireland in 2007 and the first horse that Cunningham owned outright, that gave a huge kickstart to his career on the turf nearly two decades ago. The colt is remembered in the name of his Rebel Racing and 'it has just got bigger and bigger' ever since. 'It's my passion and fortunately it's not my job,' Cunningham, the founder and chief executive of an insurance business, added. 'That makes it a bit easier to speculate. We changed the policy [two years ago], this is the second year where we've tried to buy a better quality of horse, spent more money. I wanted to come to days like today, you do get spoiled when you get a taste for it. 'We'll be reinvesting again at the yearling sales this year. We've already got six homebreds to come in as two-year-olds.' Waardah could be a horse to look out for in the last three months of the season after Owen Burrows's lightly raced three-year-old stepped up to a mile-and-three-quarters in ultimately decisive style in the Group Two Lillie Langtry Stakes. Waardah has an entry in the Group One Yorkshire Oaks later this month but the Fillies & Mares event at Ascot on Champions Day in October is a likelier assignment. Chester: 2.10 Princess Rascal (nap) 2.45 Laazm 3.20 Lucky Hero 3.52 Kassaya (nb) 4.22 Abduction 4.52 Yanifer 5.22 Risen Again. Yarmouth: 2.32 Moon Target 3.07 B Associates 3.42 Argentum 4.12 Arundel 4.42 Last Outlaw 5.12 Ventura Dream. 'I thought she was going to get outstayed, but in the last half furlong she was probably going away again,' Burrows said. 'She will have no trouble going back to a mile-and-a-half either, so she is an exciting filly. 'She is in the Yorkshire Oaks, though I think it's important that she gets a little bit of juice in the ground. We will see how she comes out of this, but I think Ascot at the end of the year for the [Group One] Fillies & Mares would be right up her street.'
The Sun
5 hours ago
- The Sun
18:15 Lingfield - 2nd August 2025 Results
Winner of five races from 1m to 1m 6f on ground varying from good to firm to yielding, but last win was over three years ago; has also won a hurdle. Well beaten at 50-1 when eighth of 9 on her latest outing at Salisbury over 1m 6f (good to firm) last month.
