Season of surprises: 125-1 winner at Listowel but 1-16 shot beaten at Leicester

There were shock results in Britain and Ireland on Monday, as 125-1 outsider Le Figaro Faoudel stunned his rivals in a 2m maiden hurdle at Listowel, while at Leicester 1-16 chance Dhabyah could only manage second in a three-runner race.

Le Figaro Faoudel, trained by Eoin McCarthy, had finished ninth of 11 on debut and was pulled up on his last start at Limerick, but proved a different prospect on his third start at Listowel.

Given an inspired ride by Kevin Brouder, Le Figaro Faoudel made smooth headway from the rear and kicked for home on the bend to hold off 4-1 shot Dedanann by a length and a quarter.

Watch Le Figaro Faoudel's shock win

The winner is McCarthy's first jumps success of the season and the trainer said: "He broke my heart since we bought him with little niggles. He worked awfully well last week. It's a bit of a shock. Kevin gave him a super ride, it might help with his holiday!

"We might look to the sales with him now, we thought he would run well today and make a plan from there."

The shocks continued as 1-16 chance Dhabyah was found wanting at Leicester.

The William Haggas-trained three-year-old, who had won on debut before being turned over as 10-11 favourite last time at Windsor, was denied again at even more prohibitive odds in a 1m4f novice, this time by the Stuart Kittow-trained Mabel Jane.

The winning filly showed a generous attitude to score by a neck. She was sent off at 14-1 following a debut fourth at Lingfield last month behind weekend winner Ocean Wind.

Tree Of Liberty and Triple Dip share the unfortunate record of being the shortest-priced losers in history as both were beaten at odds of 1-20.

The shock factor was also present at Warwick, where Kayley Woollacott enjoyed a 1,741-1 double kicked off by 66-1 winner Especially So.

The five-year-old recorded a neck success under Tom Scudamore, taking a huge step forward after defeats by a combined distance of 127 lengths on her previous two starts this season. Woollacott's excellent day continued as Tipalong Tyler won the finale at 25-1.

The trainer said of Especially So: “We thought she could surprise and run well today but we were probably looking more down the handicap route with her.

Especially So: 66-1 winner at Warwick on MondayCredit: Edward Whitaker

"She made a lot of progress between her first runs over hurdles and she’s taken a massive step forward today. She did show ability in bumpers and is a tough mare.”

It has been a season for surprise results. There was another big shock as recently as Friday when Oo De Lally scored at 125-1 at Newbury, while Nando Parrado won the Coventry at 250-1 in June, making him the biggest-priced Royal Ascot winner ever.

More records were rewritten last month as He Knows No Fear became the biggest-priced winner in Britain or Ireland since records began when scoring at 300-1 in a Leopardstown maiden for trainer-owner Luke Comer and jockey Chris Hayes.

The previous biggest winning SP was 250-1 when Equinoctial scored over jumps at Kelso in 1990.

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