Bookmakers finish with a flourish as 66-1 and 50-1 winners leave punters toiling

Bookmakers ended the Cheltenham Festival on a high after a string of big-priced winners on Friday left punters deflated after running riot on days two and three of the meeting.

Five of the seven winners on the final day returned at double figure odds, with Croco Bay the biggest-priced winner of the week when landing the Grand Annual at 66-1.

That shock success came two hours after punters had been silenced by the 50-1 victory of Minella Indo in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle – the second 50-1 winner of the week following Eglantine Du Seuil’s win in the Mares' Novices' Hurdle on Thursday.

Pentland Hills (20-1), Ch’Tibello (12-1) and Al Boum Photo (12-1) were also bookmaker-friendly results, with only favourite Hazel Hill (7-2) in the Foxhunter and Early Doors (5-1) in the Martin Pipe coming to the aid of punters.

Among the bookmakers breathing a sigh of relief were Betway, which had been in line to pay out £1 million to a punter if Might Bite had won the Cheltenham Gold Cup following the victories of City Island, Band Of Outlaws, Tiger Roll, Envoi Allen, Defi Du Seuil and Paisley Park who had been placed in a combination of accumulators.

Alan Alger, spokesman for Betway, said: “We’ve dodged a fair few bullets today. It would have a been a fantastic story for our customer who needed Might Bite to land a £1 million accumulator.

"They still went away with just short of £30,000 having staked only £40 – an amazing result for them nonetheless.”

Nicky Henderson (left) and Willie Mullins both saddled four winnersCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Day one had been an equally tricky day for bettors, with wins for the likes of 16-1 shot Espoir D’Allen in the Champion Hurdle, before punters fought back on the Wednesday and Thursday with popular successes such as Tiger Roll, Paisley Park and Envoi Allen.

Nicola McGeady, head of PR at Ladbrokes, said: “Today’s outcome gave us some much needed breathing space. On the week overall it’s still fair to say punters just about came out on top thanks to the likes of Tiger Roll, Defi Du Seuil, and Paisley Park.”

Willie Mullins contributed to the good day for layers when winning his first Gold Cup with Al Boum Photo, and he finished top trainer with four winners, the same number as Nicky Henderson who had fewer placed horses.

Nico de Boinville was top jockey for the first time with three winners, including Altior in the Champion Chase, while the Prestbury Cup between Britain and Ireland ended with a 14-14 draw.

Friday's crowd was a record 71,816, compared to 70,684 last year. The attendance for all four days was a record 266,779, beating the previous best of 262,637 from 2018.

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