Punter nets whopping A$3.2 million from $100 Melbourne Cup bet

A punter has celebrated winning the bet of a lifetime after they scooped a staggering A$3.2 million (£1,630,530) for correctly picking the first four home in the Melbourne Cup.

The punter, who placed the bet with Ladbrokes online, successfully chose outsider Knight's Choice – who landed the race at an SP of 90-1 – along with runner-up Warp Speed, the third-placed Okita Soushi and Zardozi, who came home in fourth.

The remarkable win came off an A$100 (£51) stake, with the punter unaware of just how much money they had won.

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A spokesperson for Ladbrokes told racing.com: "They boxed Knight's Choice, Warp Speed, Okita Soushi and Zardozi and have turned their A$100 investment into A$3.2 million, which is already in their Ladbrokes account.

"The customer initially thought they had won A$780,000, so you can imagine their surprise when the full dividend was revealed. It's a life-changing result and shows that anything can happen in the Melbourne Cup."

Sheila Laxon, Robbie Dolan and John Symons celebrate winning the Melbourne Cup - a result which netted one punter A$3.2 millionCredit: Vince Caligiuri (Getty Images)

That was not the only mammoth bet to have landed on the Flemington showpiece, as another punter took home A$728,000 (£371,032) for also successfully picking the first four.

They placed an A$24 (£12.23) mystery bet on a TAB (Australian betting company) machine at a Returned Services League club in Bairnsdale, Victoria, which dished out the saddle numbers of the first four finishers.

"It's a great story of a punter trying his or her luck on a TAB mystery bet in Australia's great race at their local pub or RSL and winning big," TAB spokesperson Nick Smart said. "Congratulations to the winner and we're sure it will be a big night at the Bairnsdale RSL."

The trifecta dividend on the Melbourne Cup was a healthy A$22,576.80 (£11,506.16), while the exacta dividend was A$1,986.80 (£1,012.59).

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