An Australian bookmaker has admitted that he ‘nearly wet his pants’ after accepting a jaw-dropping $500,000 (£249,000) bet on 7-1 shot Al Riffa, who will race in Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup.
The Joseph O’Brien-trained colt, Al Riffa, is the current favourite to win the iconic race, which is set to commence at 4pm at Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse tomorrow.
The five-year-old arrived in Victoria this week and is on the cusp of completing a hat-trick, having claimed the Group Two Curragh Cup in July and Group One Irish St Leger in September.
And one punter, a representative of iGaming Company Easygo, is so sure of the horse’s credentials that the man opted to stake half a million Australian dollars on Al Riffa during the annual Call of the Card pre-race lunch at Melbourne’s Crown Casino on Monday.
‘I want A$500,000 at 8 [7-1],’ the punter, who was seen making the bet in a video published on X by Racenet, said.
The wager left bookmaker Chris Lester stunned. He momentarily left the stage to check the market, before returning and saying: ‘It’s a bet!’
Australian bookmaker Chris Lester (pictured) admitted that he ‘nearly wet his pants’ after accepting a jaw-dropping $500,000 (£249,000) on 7-1 shot Al Riffa at this year’s Melbourne Cup
The Joseph O’Brien-trained horse, Al Riffa (pictured), is the current favourite to win this year’s Melbourne Cup
Attendees inside the function room subsequently erupted in cheers.
Lester now faces the daunting prospect of paying out $4million (£1.99m) to the punter, should Al Riffa claim victory on Tuesday.
‘That is probably the biggest bet we’ve ever had at Call Of The Card,’ Lester said to The Racing Post, after the event.
‘I think the biggest bet last year was to win A$1 million but there were a lot of those this year. It was massive.
‘I had heard rumours there was going to be a big request for Al Riffa but when it came out I nearly wet my pants. I had to think about the potential risk but I’m lucky as I have the ability to bet back with Ladbrokes.
Experienced jockey Mark Zahra will climb aboard Al Riffa on Tuesday in hopes he can claim his third Melbourne Cup title.
The Australian is only one of nine riders to have ever claimed back-to-back victories in the iconic Flemington race, doing so aboard Gold Trip in 2022 and Without A Fight in 2023.
Should he and Al Riffa cross the finish line first, it would also be O’Brien’s third Melbourne Cup victory, with the Irish horse trainer having previously claimed victory with Rekindling in 2017 and with Twilight in 2020.
The man representing the iGaming company Easygo, is now set to win $4million dollars if Al Riffa rides to victory on Tuesday
Others at the pre-race event wagered big on the Melbourne Cup favourite, with owners of the racing syndicate Australian Bloodstock, who wagered $200,000 on Al Riffa
Excitement is building ahead of ‘the race that stops the nation’, which is set to commence at Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse at 4pm on Tuesday
Despite the fanfare around the horse, Lester has his reservations about how well he can do at Flemington and accepted the bet on that basis.
‘Al Riffa is clearly the best horse in the field but no horse has won carrying 59 kilos for over 50 years. That’s what concerns me,’ he added. ‘We’re happy to take him on.’
Despite that, others have gone on to lay some large sums on the five-year-old colt, including racing syndicate Australian Bloodstock, who also had a $200,000 (£996,130) bet accepted, according to The Racing Post.
Al Riffa will come up against some strong opposition on Tuesday, with the shortest-priced Aussie horse in the field, Half Yours, being backed at a current market price of 15/2. The gelding recently impressed by winning the Caulfield Cup in October, which was his third career win in five starts.
Valiant King is priced at 7/1 and poses another threat to Al Riffa’s hopes of picking up the title. He possesses a strong recent record around this track, having also claimed Group 3 handicap victory at Flemington in October and weighs just 51kg.
