Prominent racehorse owner and businessman loses millions in Super Bowl bet

The late twist in Super Bowl LVI proved extremely costly for racehorse owner and Houston businessman Jim McIngvale, who lost an eye-watering $9.5 million (£7m) as the Cincinnati Bengals fell short in Sunday's big game.

McIngvale, better known as Mattress Mack, came desperately close to a $16m windfall on the Bengals, only for the Los Angeles Rams to snatch victory at the death.

With just one minute and 25 seconds left, Cooper Kupp scored his second touchdown of the game to give the Rams a second Super Bowl title by a score of 23-20.

McIngvale initially wagered about $4.5m on the Bengals moneyline before adding another $5m bet, the largest in Super Bowl history, putting $16,207,800 on the line through Caesars Sportsbook.

Mattress Mack placed a $2.4m bet on Essential Quality (left) in last year's Kentucky DerbyCredit: Al Bello

Owner of the Gallery Furniture retail chain, the 71-year-old is best known in racing as the owner of 2015 US champion sprinter Runhappy, who won six consecutive races including the Breeders' Cup Sprint.

He won $2.75m in last year's Super Bowl as Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Kansas City Chiefs, but there have been other big losses, including a $2.4m bet on Essential Quality in last year's Kentucky Derby.

Although the bet on Essential Quality was believed to be the largest losing wager in racing history, McIngvale had hedged his bet via his business.

He created a no-lose scenario as the bet was tied into a promotion – which proved very popular – where anyone buying a mattress worth $3,000 or more prior to the Derby would have got the mattress for free had the favourite won.

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