Bookmaker Chris Lester admits his head is still spinning after accepting a bet on Al Riffa to lose a staggering $3.5 million at the Call Of The Card.
The Melbourne Cup bet, placed on behalf of Easygo – an online gaming company founded by Melbourne billionaire Ed Craven – led to chaotic scenes in the Crown Palladium Ballroom on Monday.
Lester accepted the $500,000 bet at odds of $8 to the massive roar of those in the room.
“My head was spinning, I tell ya,” Lester told Racing.com.
“It is a big bloody bet.
“The amount of money … I have never seen it.
“I have never seen Call Of The Card this big, not in my memory.”
That was the common sentiment among those in attendance. The big fish came out to play.
Sam Swanell of PointsBet fame was among them, backing Meydaan to win a total of $1.4 million with $10,000 accepted at $31 and the rest at $26.
Single bets to win a million dollars or more were also taken on Royal Supremacy, More Felons, Arapaho, Furthur, Chevalier Rose, Middle Earth and Goodie Two Shoes.
But it was clearly Al Riffa who proved most popular with punters, with a stack of massive bets placed on the top weight.
The Wolfden crew placed a bet on Al Riffa to win a total of $1 million at odds of $7.50.
Australian Bloodstock’s Jamie Lovett is certainly confident his star import can get the job done, backing the horse to win a total of more than $1.5 million.
But Lester was happy to take it on.
“It is clearly the best horse in the race, but weights are clearly against it,” he said.
Antanas Guoga, more commonly known as Tony G, and Kieran McManus, son of Irish racing tycoon JP, were also very active.
Athabascan, the outsider of the field, was the only horse who failed to attract any attention from punters.
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