'The owner had some money on him but he's too excited to make any sense'

Even the least competent among us occasionally lights upon a winner at odds that might feasibly 'make a difference'. Sadly, we usually emerge with little to show for it and the familiar complaint that we 'didn't have enough on'.

Through the course of every year, however, there emerge any number of big-priced successes, on the track and elsewhere, that contain stories crammed with pleasure, profit and no little surprise from those involved.

Some are on the biggest stages, others are played out in racing's backwoods, barely noticed by anybody except those most closely associated and perhaps the bookmakers who bear the brunt.