Stunning De Sousa four-timer leaves Betfred reeling with £2.5m loss

Champion jockey Silvestre de Sousa and trainer Mick Appleby took Pontefract by storm on Sunday – and left the bookmakers reeling, with Betfred claiming a £2.5 million loss.

De Sousa won on all four of his mounts – Michele Strogoff, Big Country, Future Score and Classic Pursuit – at combined odds of 654-1, with a Betfred spokesman observing: "De Sousa is undoubtedly the punters’ favourite – and he obliged big time.

"Congratulations to thousands of our customers who went nuts after the Brazilian had a perfect day. Our high street customers have had an absolute field day combining the four rides of the most popular of jockeys."

Watch De Sousa strike aboard Big Country

De Sousa's heroics also proved costly for BoyleSports, with one punter reportedly winning over €16,000 for a stake of just €15.50 on a Lucky 31 comprising De Sousa's four winning mounts and Mr Orange, who took the 6f handicap.

BoyleSports spokeswoman Aoife Heffron said: "An incredible bet with incredible winnings!"

Silvestre de Sousa stats

She added: "De Sousa’s four winners were a popular selection with punters, seeing a host of BoyleSports customers receive relatively large returns for choosing to get behind the champion jockey. Let’s just say the good day we had on Saturday was undone in about four minutes on Sunday."

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Delight for Dixons as Big Country among four-timer for De Sousa and Appleby