Melbourne Cup punter collects record-breaking $1.16m win from $30 bet
A New Zealand punter has shattered record books after collecting a small fortune thanks to a roughie saluting in the Melbourne Cup.
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It’s the race that stops Australia but one Kiwi punter had the last laugh after securing a historic Melbourne Cup payout.
Twilight Payment, ridden masterfully by Jye McNeil, romped to a historic victory in front of empty stands at Flemington on Tuesday.
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Like every Melbourne Cup in years gone by, big bets rolled in with astronomical odds. But this New Zealand bloke has them all beat.
The punter, a retired man from Bishopdale in Christchurch, placed a combination of First 4 bets which cost him a total of $120.
One of those bets — a $30 outlay — came up trumps and returned a whopping $1,168,185. The insane winning ticket had the following combinations that needed to eventuate for the man to become a millionaire.
1st: Twilight Payment or Tiger Moth
2nd: Twilight Payment or Tiger Moth
3rd: Prince of Arran or The Chosen One
4th: Prince of Arran or The Chosen One
The eye-watering sum is the biggest amount ever paid out by the New Zealand TAB on the Melbourne Cup.
“Looking back as far as 2013, the next biggest Melbourne Cup win was $364,016,” TAB executive chair Dean McKenzie told Stuff. “The man received $38,939.50 for every dollar (of the $30 outlay) he bet.”
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One Aussie TAB customer pulled off the craziest win of all Down Under on by landing a First 4 bet which paid out more than $64,000.
The NSW-based punter wagered just $24 on the longshot bet with odds of more than 2684-1, and collected $64,418.50.
The TAB also had another customer collect $130,000 on Twilight Payment with a bet of $5000 at $26 as an outright winner.
Another punter collected $85,000 on the back of a $2500 bet when Twilight Payment pushed out to $34 for the win.
A clever tipster struck earlier in Cup week when Twilight Payment was out to odds of $51, placing a $1000 bet for a return of $51,000.
Sportsbet also held a miracle multi-bet from one racing fan with odds of 1622-1. They enjoyed a huge return of $40,497 on a four-leg bet of just $24.96.
The punter successfully tipped Twilight Payment to win and then rolled it into Tiger Moth to finish top two, Prince of Arran to finish top three and The Chosen One to finish top four.
It came as corporate bookmaker Ladbrokes recorded a nightmare result on the back of Twilight Payment’s surprise win.
Ladbrokes had a major plunge on Twilight Payment to win the race on Monday, seeing the Joseph O’Brien-trained eight-year-old gelding charge into $21 after starting the day at $41.
Ladbrokes said early on Cup Day Twilight Payment was its worst result as the most-heavily-backed runner in the field.
— with Tyson Otto
Originally published as Melbourne Cup punter collects record-breaking $1.16m win from $30 bet