He Knows No Fear edges favourite Agitare in record 300/1 shock
DUBLIN: He Knows No Fear became the biggest priced winner of a Horse race in Ireland or Britain when he came home at 300/1 at Leopardstown racecourse on Thursday.
The Luke Comer-trained and owned rank outsider had earned his huge price due to finishing 12th of 14 in his previous start at Limerick.
Property tycoon Comer’s race record too suggested 300/1 was too short odds as he entered the race without a winner on the flat in nine years.
However, He Knows No Fear edged favourite Agitare on the line in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden. Whilst the bookies were delighted with a beaten favourite they did not get away completely unscathed.
One optimistic punter in Dublin saw his 100 euro eachway bet pay off handsomely as he pocketed 36,000 euros ($42,500, £32,500) from a Ladbrokes/coral beting shop.
Comer nor his assistant Jim Gorman were the beneficiaries as they had had their fingers burned in backing him at Limerick.
He Knowns No Fear is one of three Comer Horses who are named ater the tagline of the 2003 film Johnny English -- starring Rowan Atkinson and Australian actress/singer Natalie Imbruglia -- the others being He Knows No Danger and He Knows Nothing. His win eclipsed the victory of 250-1 shot Equinoctial over jumps at the Scotish course of Kelso in 1990. Before the Comer outsider’s shock win, the longest-priced winner in Ireland was Killahara Castle at 200-1 in December 2017.
English bookmaker William Hill took 86 bets on the winner, the biggest of which returned £5,400 ($7000).
One punter with another bookmaker placed 100 euros eachway.
“He Knows No Fear lived up to his name at Leopardstown, causing the biggest shock in the history of UK and Irish racing,” said John Hill spokesman for English bookmakers Corals.
He Knows No Fear is not the first three-figure priced winner of a season disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.
In June Intercessor became the joint longestpriced winner in British flat racing history when prevailing at odds of 200/1 at Newbury.
His win came four years ater the last success at that price -- Dandy Flame at Wolverhampton in July 2016.
KENTUCKY DERBY CLOSES INFIELD TO FANS: The 146th Kentucky Derby will cut spectators to fewer than 23,000 for next month’s Triple Crown horse race under a new safety plan unveiled Wednesday axing infield general admission tickets.
The move comes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that forced the Churchill Downs 1 1/4mile dirt classic to move from its traditional first Saturday in May spot to Sept. 5.
Churchill Downs officials said atendance will be only 14% of its total capacity and a maximum of 40% of the track’s seating capacity, with temperature checks, medical screening, social distancing and masks required for all spectators under a 62-page health and safety plan.