Grand National bookie ‘numb’ after losing £800k to punter in mega bet | Racing | Sport

A prominent bookmaker admitted he felt ‘numb’ after being stung with an £800,000 payout following I Am Maximus’ Grand National triumph. Owned by JP McManus, the 10 year old claimed victory in the world’s most famous steeplechase in 2024 and finished runner-up 12 months earlier.

This time, however, Paul Townend and I Am Maximus etched their names into the history books by becoming the first horse to reclaim the Grand National since Red Rum in the 1970s. One fortunate racegoer at Aintree walked away with a staggering £800,000 profit after staking £100,000 on I Am Maximus to triumph at odds of 8/1 with an on-course bookmaker.

Well-known racing personality Johnny Dineen was manning the Fitzwilliam pitch that accepted the wager, and he had acknowledged it would prove a disastrous outcome for the firm should the 10-year-old prevail. When questioned about his feelings in the immediate wake of the Willie Mullins-trained gelding’s historic success, Dineen’s colleague Michael Gannon confessed to the ECHO: “Numb.”

He continued: “We laid a bet earlier in the day, a big bet and we traded over for a good few quid. We thought we was safe in the position we had taken, but it was a real bad result for us.”

Explaining what Dineen had stated earlier that day, Gannon revealed: “He said he will have to work around it so we don’t go into liquidation, and that is what we did. We bailed over for a good few quid, we still had a bad race and the person who had a bet is a happy person this evening. He won’t be collecting here, but he will be getting looked after Monday morning.”

Despite the fortunate racegoer remaining unidentified, Gannon has no intention of banning him from placing wagers with his firm in the future. He told the ECHO: “No, no, no. We have a relationship with the person who had the bet and we play a big boys game and we will keep kicking.

“We keep looking forward. No future in the past. A bad race and a bad day, but it was a great meeting. A great atmosphere here and there was great business. Great people and a great spread of bets. A lot of money and a great spread of bets.

“It was all positive except for the National. The hardest race of the meeting was our worst race. So that is what you get for being cheeky, but here we are.”

Reflecting on making history, winning trainer Mullins said: “It was a good call from JP [McManus]. I’d have gone down the Gold Cup route with him, but he wanted to run him at Aintree.

“This horse is just a superstar. Nothing fazes him and does what he has to do – runs, jumps and wins Nationals. Paul executed it so well. This is the race we all aspire to when we get into racing. Just to have a runner is a tremendous sensation.”