Today is Gold Cup Day at the annual Cheltenham Festival, and many punters in the sold-out crowd will be looking to place a bet on the horse they think is most likely to win the flagship event.
But according to one relationship expert, attending Cheltenham could make you more likely to cheat on your partner - thanks to a "pleasure drug" in your brain that is rife at sporting events.
Leading psychotherapist and couple's therapist Helen Villiers claims that Cheltenham is a great place for your brain to produce the pleasure chemical, dopamine, which makes us feel happy and is most commonly released through food, exercise, and sex.
But Helen said the dopamine rush you feel when your horse wins - especially if you've placed a bet and have won yourself some cash - could make you more likely to cheat.
The expert teamed up with illicitencounters.com to share her expertise, after a staggering 46% of its members confessed to pulling at the races versus Rugby (19%), Football (8%), and Tennis (3%).
Over 250,000 racegoers will descend on the famous Cheltenham racecourse today - and it's not just inherent risk-taking that makes equine fans the friskiest.
Helen said: "A major event like the Gold Cup is more likely to attract an equal ratio of women and men versus football for example – and often turnout in groups for special events like stag or hen dos.
"But the primary reason for horse racing fans thrill-seeking tendencies is rooted in biological science - dopamine is the reward hormone that releases a pleasurable feeling when we do something like win money.
"It's also intrinsically linked to sexual desire. So, throw winning money, alcohol lowering inhibitions, and everyone dressed to impress into the mix, and we've got the perfect recipe for people acting on impulses they would normally control, and therefore cheat."
Of the 2,000 respondents polled by Illicitencounters.com, a staggering 24% even admitted to cheating on their partner at a sports event.
Illicitencounters.com spokesperson, Jessica Leoni, said: "The insight from Helen is incredibly revealing and partners shipping off their other half for the Gold Cup today might well want to give them an extra warning not to roll around in the hay with someone else.
"With thousands of fillies and stallions dressed up for today's action, it's short-odds bet to be hotbed racegoers to get some action – whether it's with a current partner, or someone else."
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