An historic loss at Goodwood on Tuesday still managed to cause a net loss at Paddy Power and BOYLE Sports.
Najidi Storm went off at 1/33 on Tuesday in a three-horse race but was turned over by 10/1 shot Wreck It Ronnie – a horse part-owned by Manchester City and England star Phil Foden.
It eclipses a 2023 race at Ripon when 1/25 favourite Doom lost in a two-horse race to Karmology.
Najidi Storm seemed to be closing in on the leader and eventual winner coming into the last furlong, but Wreck It Ronnie kicked on deep into the race under Kieren Fox to cause the biggest upset in British history.
Favourites losing is generally seen as a positive for bookmakers, but that wasn’t the case yesterday for two notable firms with Irish connections.
Paddy Power, BOYLE Sports lose with the favourite
BOYLE Sports’ Brian O’Keeffe explained that punters were “keen to look elsewhere” because of just how short a price Najidi Storm was.
“We’ve witnessed the shortest-priced loser in British racing history, but that doesn’t mean it was a good result for the layers,” he explained.
“Najidi Storm might have been an ‘acca’ buster for a number of punters, but when one is put in that short, they’re often keen to look elsewhere.
“This time, their eye was drawn to the winner, Wreck It Ronnie, who was unfortunately the biggest liability in the race in our book.”
It was a similar result for Flutter Entertainment-owned Paddy Power, which also saw a net loss from the race for similar reasons.
Paddy Power spokesman, Paul Binfield, told the Racing Post: “Racing history has been made in today’s opener on the South Downs, but winner Wreck It Ronnie was a loser in the book with punters taking a chance against the very short-priced favourite.”
The race will go into the history books for now and has caused a huge stir in the horse racing community.
Still, it shows that the sport is still yet to lack excitement despite the negative outlook many have had for its future.
