Neigh joke for bookies as Wick syndicate strike it lucky
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A WICK syndicate struck it lucky when its horse romped home at 25-1... and so did local punters.
Vittachi opened up an 11-length lead to cross the finish line first at Catterick, which delighted its owners but cost the town’s bookies a small fortune.
The racehorse belongs to Ian Miller, whose daughter, Jane, owns the Flower Shop in Breadalbane Terrace, Neil Harrold and his father, John, of Harrold Brothers butchers in Wick, and Brora man Bill Ballantyne.
The syndicate members – minus John – were at Catterick in North Yorkshire on Saturday to watch jockey Danny Brock and the four-year-old bay gelding win the 5.50pm totequickpick Apprentice Handicap race.
Neil’s wife, Geraldine, said it was amazing to see their horse become the frontrunner.
“We’re just delighted, we’re over the moon,” she said. “He hadn’t been running too well for the last few runs and the trainer, Alistair Whillans, saw that he was a bit breathless when he came back, so he got a wind operation. That definitely worked as he won by 11 lengths.”
Meanwhile, back in Wick word had spread about the favourable odds on the horse and locals started placing their bets, leaving bookies with a race of their own to start paying the returns as successful slips came in.
Former Thurso man and managing director of Scotscoup John Russell said that his Wick shop in Bridge Street shelled out over £25,000 on Saturday to lucky punters. “Business was going well until that horse won,” he joked. “We took quite a large sum on the horse. It was a terrible result for us but the horse opened at 25-1 in the morning and then the money started coming in so the odds came tumbling down and we started offering 18-1.
“I’m aware that Ladbrokes were still offering 25 at the time so they would have taken a bigger hit than us, and we paid out over £25,000.”
Mr Russell explained that the company managed to get more money to the shop to pay the customers although a few had to return on Monday for their winnings.
Meanwhile, just around the corner in High Street, Ladbrokes ended up having to ask customers to come back another day after running out of cash.
“We got a phone call when we were at the racetrack saying that they weren’t paying out,” said Geraldine.
“I think some of the bets aren’t getting paid until Friday. There were a few more flutters than we thought there would be.”
A spokesman for Ladbrokes said that the shop ran out of cash after the winner came in.
“That would be down to standard practice – not just in our own shops but in most bookmakers and retail premises – of not keeping a massive amount of cash on the premises.
“If there has been word gone around locally that it’s say at 33-1, it doesn’t take many £5, £10 and £20 bets to do a bit of damage, which in this case appears to have been what happened.
“It’s not an attempt to withhold cash but merely that we don’t hold that much cash on the premises for security reasons.”
The spokesman added: “As much as it has stung us in the short term it must have been a great feeling for everyone in the shop and in the local area – so we congratulate them on their win and wish them the best of luck in the future.”
