The Autumn Racing Carnival kicked up another gear on Day 1 of The Championships at Randwick on Saturday, and one Ladbrokes punter celebrated the occasion by converting his investment into a truly life-changing windfall.
Widely considered the grand finals of the autumn season, The Championships have continued to gain traction through only a short existence and draw the country’s best racehorses to Sydney’s premier track yearly.
Our legendary punter created his own quaddie; selecting one runner from four of Randwick’s nine races on Saturday and ultimately turned a $1000 bet into an incredible $314,600!
The Group 3 Kindergarten Stakes (1200m) has produced several notable horses through recent years including Hallowed Crown in 2014, and our punter began his legendary bet in the popular race for two-year-olds.
A half-brother to champion mare Winx, El Divino had made only one competitive appearance at the races prior to the Kindergarten Stakes but heralded plenty of interest in the hours leading up to jump, including the attention of our punter.
El Divino jumped from the barriers well and experienced a good run in transit before locking in a fierce sprint battle with Astern in the dying stages of the Kindergarten Stakes; bobbing his head at the right time to dead-heat the race with the notable Godolphin entrant.
While his odds were cut slightly as a result of the dead heat, the race marked the beginning of what would be a memorable afternoon for our punter.
Race 2; the Group 3 Carbine Club Stakes (1600m) attracted a strong field of three-year-olds and represented particularly good value from a betting perspective as a result.
David Hayes and Tom Dabernig have a big opinion of Kiwi import He’s Our Rokkii, who has returned to racing in particularly slick form this time.
Our legendary punter had clearly identified He’s Our Rokki’s impressive performances over a mile leading into the Carbine Club Stakes and was rewarded for selecting him in the multi when the gelding stormed home to win the race at $6.50 odds.
The Country Championship Final is the only non-black type race contested on Day 1 of The Championships but is generally the toughest event to bet on, owing to the countless form lines leading into the race.
The Scone-based Clearly Innocent was under something of an injury cloud leading into the race but that did not affect our punter’s impression of the gelding; adding the horse as his third selection at a $5.50 quote.
The stable star for trainer Greg Bennett had clearly overcome all ailments when producing a scintillating turn of foot in the final straight to win the Country Championship Final by close to three lengths.
Chautauqua was our punter’s final fold of the day and the leading sprinter was settled at the tail of the field in the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes after drawing the wide barrier 11.
Our legendary punter’s heart would have been in his mouth when Chautauqua rounded onto the final straight wide and all but out of contention, but in typical fashion the classy gelding took only strides to find the fore of the field; posting his fourth win at the highest level and more than making the Autumn Carnival a successful one for our punter.
