The £116,000 Derby winner that got voided and other punting disasters - and why we should actually cherish them

Click here to add us to your Google preferred sources or find out more here

• Ross Brierley's tale of failing to follow his own advice and missing a big payout brought to mind other instances of heartbreak

• There's the Derby Tricast that wasn't - and a 300-1 punt on The Open that looked nailed on until one of sport's most famous meltdowns

• Yet sharing our most excruciating tales of woe actually provides a strange kind of public service 

"There is no spectacle more agreeable than an old friend falling from a roof-top." This anonymous, pitch-black insight has been knocking about for a long time – I think I first heard it from Denis Norden introducing It'll Be Alright On The Night 40 years ago. It especially applies in the field of betting.

In case it needs saying, I wouldn't actually enjoy seeing anyone's life in danger. But it's different when what's at risk is pride and dignity and a bit of cash. Schadenfreude is real and it was proved this week when my colleague Ross Brierley told a story against himself and readers clicked on the article for a good gloat.

It was a case of sharing wisdom and then failing to act on it. Writing his pre-Cambridgeshire column, Brierley had noted the hefty Trifecta payout after the 2025 race, when those on the far side had a clear advantage. "You could have literally put boxes one to ten in combinations and made a huge profit," he wrote.