Punter wins £250,000 from amazing £5 acca despite horse he backed FALLING at Cheltenham Festival

A CANNY punter breathed a sigh of relief yesterday after he won £250,000 — despite his last horse falling at Cheltenham.

Paul Dean, 40, cashed out his £5 five-leg accumulator after the first four nags romped home.

Evening Gazette

Paul Dean cashed out and won £250k on the horses[/caption]

He stood to bank £511,000 had Envoi Allen won at Cheltenham yesterday.

With so much at stake he agreed a cash out with bookie Betfair, pocketing £250,000.

Envoi Allen, the 4-9 favourite ridden by Jack Kennedy and trained by Henry de Bromhead, then fell at the fourth fence.

Last night Paul swigged from his second bottle of Bollinger and tucked into lemon chicken with his parents. He said: “We always celebrate big wins with champagne and a takeaway.

“It’s a life-changing amount. It’s my mum and dad’s 70th this year.

“We’ll go to New York and some of the world’s best golf courses. And I think I’ll buy a horse!

“I’ve no regrets. I was more worried about Envoi but he was fine.”

Paul’s amazing run began with two winners at Royal Ascot last June, followed by two more at Cheltenham this week.

He hoped to attend the Festival but the pandemic meant he missed it for the first time in 20 years.

Yesterday he took a 5am walk before agreeing a partial cash out offer — which left £25,000 of his pot running on an Envoi win.

Evening Gazette

Paul won so much because he backed the horses at odds far above what they actually won at[/caption]

Paul added: “My parents were insistent I take the cash out but I had to have a think.

“I don’t think I was ever going to risk the full £500,000 and losing everything. But I still wanted to enjoy the thrill of the race.

“Betfair were great and offered me the partial cash out. The nerve-wracking part was everything leading up to today, and all the other bets.

“In 2012 I won £56,000 in the Arkle Chase at Cheltenham, but this is by far my biggest win.”

Paul, of Stockton, Teesside, got the bug after going to the Grand National aged five with his dad.

PA

Envoi Allen had never lost a race before his horror fall[/caption]

His friends called him “Iceman” because he never gets nervous during races.

He said: “Everyone thinks I am joking but I’m actually quite calm. I know they are going to win. I study the form in detail, sometimes eight hours a day.

“This win means I can finally spend more time betting seriously which is what I love to do.”

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