Pensioner Tony Savill won £30,000 after placing a 60p bet on horse racing at Betfred in Gravesend
14:10, 29 February 2016
Retired electrician Tony Savill won more than £30,000 from a 60p stake on horse racing.
Bright spark Tony, 70, placed his bet the same as he has for the last five years at the Betfred shop at Leander Drive, Gravesend – and couldn’t believe his luck as his choices kept on being placed all afternoon.
He put just 60p on the toteplacepot at Southwell.
The granddad-of-four from Northfleet, who now works part time as a chemist’s delivery driver, said: “I check everything from the horses’ form, jockeys and trainers and then go on what I fancy.
“I probably spend about £50 a week on greyhounds, the horses and football during the season.
"I am a Tottenham fan and wish I had got on them at 150/1 for the Premier League title pre-season and definitely not the 2/1 joint favourites they are now with leaders Leicester."
The total came in at £30,795 and when he heard the news of his win, he went straight down to The Crown pub in Northfleet where his sister works - for his usual pint of lager while his wife Shirley had a glass of rose wine.
The pair have been together for 44 years and have two sons who live nearby in Sutton-at-Hone and Riverview Park.
“Last time I had a good win like this was in the late 70s and I won £4,000 from a lucky 15 which was a lot in those days, but this £30,000 is something else.” - Tony Savill
When asked what he planned to do with the biggest win of his life he said: "We have a holiday booked already in Scotland in the summer but some friends of ours go on cruises so at the end of the year we might well go on one now we can afford it."
Tony, who spent some of his full-time working life as an electrician on construction of the Channel Tunnel, added: "It’s only just sinking in that we’ve actually won so much. Shirley and I went round to all our families’ homes to tell them about our good fortune, nipped in the Crown and then a cup of coffee back home. We haven’t celebrated properly yet.
“Last time I had a good win like this was in the late 70s and I won £4,000 from a lucky 15 which was a lot in those days, but this £30,000 is something else.
“I’ll definitely be having a bet on the Cheltenham Gold Cup.”
The toteplacepot £51,326 dividend to a £1 stake from which Tony takes a lion’s share is the third highest in all-time record pay-outs from racing’s widely-acknowledged most popular bet.
There were eight winners who benefited because only two favourites were actually placed in the first six races at the Southwell meeting.
Tony had two placed horses in race one - Buck Mulligan and Santa’s Secret - Arthamint in the second race, Man from Seville in the third, Delgany Demon in race four, Orchard Rose in race five and finally Vodka Island in the key sixth race.
Fred Done, the boss Betfred which operates the totepool, said: “Well done Tony to win so much from such a small stake.
"My advice is to enjoy your big win. It’s been an incredible few months for the toteplacepot with today’s huge dividend coming hot on the heels of the record £91,000 payout at Cheltenham in December.
"It shows you don’t even need to back a winner to land a fortune with the tote - and hats off to other seven winners too."