Arthur strikes it rich for Glasgow punters
GLASGOW’S punters are on the winning end of the biggest payout in Grand National history as a Scottish-trained horse was the first to complete the course.
Bookmakers across the city will be handing over hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of winnings to the backers of One For Arthur who has become only the second winning horse in the race’s history to come from Scotland.
The returns on city punters’ flutters are expected to be the biggest payout Glasgow has ever seen, according to a Ladbrokes spokesman.
The spokesman said: “Scotland was the only losing region for Ladbrokes in the grand national and Glasgow had one of the the biggest payouts.”
The payout to be distributed by the high street bookmaker was still being totalled as the Evening Times went to press.
“We are still running through the numbers but Glaswegian grand national punters have won hundreds of thousands for sure,” he added.
“We believe this was the biggest national payout in the city of all time.”
Bookmaker William Hill revealed it lost approximately £500,000 from all bets on the horse, trained by Kinross-based Lucinda Russel, with Glasgow punters claiming around £100,000 of that total.
A spokesman for William Hill said: “Looking back this horse had everything to attract Scottish punters and probably couldn’t have been worse for us in terms of result. The day has really been about the sheer volume of business and interest, obviously driven by the fact it is trained locally in Milnathort by Lucinda Russell and given that Derek Fox rode with the Saltire on his silks.”
The 14/1 shot, ridden by Derek Fox, was the most popular horse in Scotland to back in the 40 horse race.
Paddy Power revealed one lucky city punter put a £250 each way bet on the horse, which amounts to around £950.
A PaddyPower spokesman said 15 per cent of the betting public across the UK went for One For Arthur with 10 per cent of that coming from their Scottish outlets.
The spokesman went on to say that even staff in Scotland’s William Hill stores were backing the horse.
Paul Petrie, McBookie.com spokesman, said: “It is a bad day for Scottish bookmakers but a great day for punters and more importantly for Scottish racing.
“It has been a long time since we have celebrated a Scottish winner and although it has cost us a fortune, we couldn’t be more happy for Lucinda Russell.”
Ridden to victory by Derek Fox, it is the first time a Scottish-trained horse has won the race since Rubistic in 1979.