Bookies were licking their wounds at the Cheltenham Festival on Wednesday after a series of big bets were landed.
Renowned gambler and Brighton and Hove Albion football club chairman Tony Bloom said he had "a few quid" on his horse Energumene, who won the Champion Chase for the second year in a row.
But betting firm Star Sports, who Bloom often backs with, reported they took a £400,000 (€456,000) to win £580,000 (€662,000) bet on 6/5 favourite, who is trained by Willie Mullins and was ridden to victory by Paul Townend.
Speaking after the race, Bloom said: “All I can confirm that I had a few quid on Energumene. He didn’t let me down, he doesn’t normally let me down and we’re delighted that he won and it’s been a great day."
An Irish punter also took the bookies to the cleaners on Wednesday after a horse he had been backing for the past six months won.
Former jockey Paddy 'Mad' Merrigan backed The Real Whacker from odds of 50/1 all the way down to the 8/1 price he returned at in the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase.
Merrigan, who previously opened up on his battle with alcohol and drug addiction, including one binge which saw him 'take cocaine every day for six months', said he "murdered" the bookies at Prestbury Park.
The Athlone native, who tipped the horse at numerous Cheltenham preview nights in recent weeks, said he won more than £50,000 with one betting firm alone.
But Merrigan, who used to work with the horse's trainer Patrick Neville and now runs a tipping service, feared he may have some issues getting his hands on the cash due to affordability checks on his account as part of a new law introduced recently in the UK.
He said: "I can assure you, the bookies have been murdered. The whole of Ireland has backed this horse for six months. We have cleaned the bookies, it’s over. 50-1 is the first bet I had, don’t worry about how much I won. I can assure you it was the biggest bet of my life.
He added: "The bookies got educated today. This is a serious issue, I want to use this moment now. The bookies have frozen my gambling accounts, they said they don’t know who I am. I do a million views a week on all my platforms, I’m a gambler. I gave up horse racing years ago through mental and personal issues. I’m not joking to you, I could have been as good as anyone.
"I went into this business when I left Paddy a few years ago, he came to England, and now I have a tipping service, Cold Bear Sports. We crushed the bookies. I backed this horse for six months, I told thousands of other people to back him, they all did.
He added: "No one believed in this horse. Paddy and myself, I used to work with him years ago in Ireland, I was assistant trainer with him and through finances and business and Covid, we couldn’t stay together.
"Paddy went to England and I set up a couple of businesses and now the two of us are flying. I used to be a jockey, I rode when I was a kid. I came to England when I was 16, I rode winners for Paul Nicholls, Peter Bowen, all the best of them. I retired at 20 and I was 10 winners clear of being champion conditional. I was one of the best conditionals to ride in this country.
Merrigan concluded: "I’m mentally addicted to this game since I was a kid. The truth be told, I’m the biggest waste of talent that ever stood at Cheltenham. If I took to the horse racing I would have had a good career but it doesn’t matter because I robbed the f***ing bank."
Paddy Power revealed that they had taken a number of ante-post bets on The Real Whacker at 25/1 earlier this year.
Rachael Kane, spokesperson for the firm said: "The Real Whacker ridden by Sam Twiston-Davies and trained by Patrick Neville, his first ever Cheltenham Festival winner, was available at massive odds of 25/1 in January after winning the Paddy Power Novices Chase.
"But some shrewd punters spotted an opportunity to hit us where it hurts after he went off at a fraction of that price (8/1) today."
Part-owned by Limerick nightclub owner Davey Mann and trained by Patrick Neville, who only recently relocated his training operation to North Yorkshire from Co Limerick, the Real Whacker was cut to 20/1 from 40/1 with the bookies for next year's Gold Cup following the win.
Ladbrokes also reported losses for the second consecutive day after wins for the likes of Impaire Et Passe (5/2), Energumene (6/5 f) and Delta Work (11/10 f).
Nicola McGeady from the firm said: “It’s been a washout of a day for the bookies and we are on the ropes heading into Day Three."
Irish-based trainers were responsible for five of the seven winners on day two, leaving Ireland 10-4 in the lead in the battle for the Prestbury Cup going into Thursday.
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