How a ‘£10m’ gamble, 15,000-1 bet and three out-of-form horses almost caused bookie carnage on a quiet Sunday

AS darkness fell on a dreary, cold Sunday afternoon in Scotland, the entire racing world watched to see if one of the biggest betting coups in years was about to come off.

The 4.25 at Musselburgh was an otherwise unremarkable race.

But an extraordinary set of circumstances – shrouded in mystery – meant the contest was worth an estimated £10million.

Bookies, punters on the treble and those cursing their luck for missing it watched with bated breath as Gallahers Cross made his way round the 2m 6f circuit.

Would he win and land a 15,000-1 treble – the ‘worst nightmare’ of bookies?

All the events that led to that nail-biting moment started the night before.

According to respected racing journalist Kevin Blake, this was a ‘professional’ job.

Speaking on ITV Racing as the drama unfolded, he said: “Bookmakers have been properly caught with their trousers down.”

How did three horses, under three different trainers in three different races all come together under one bet?

That is the question authorities will look at now.

But someone, somewhere spotted something and went for it.

There was little to go on, with all the horses showing promise in the past but their collective form being nothing short of dreadful.

Yet money started pouring in on Saturday night – all ‘at roughly the same time’ according to BetVictor’s Chris Poole – and continued into Sunday.

Fire Away was available at 25-1 before winning by 19 lengths at evens in the 1.25 at Musselburgh.

Word started getting out then that something mega was happening.

‘Somebody knew more than I did’

And by the time Blowing Dixie – backed from 16-1 to 4-6 – won the 2.35 at Southwell, bookies were braced for the worst.

Fire Away is trained by Laura Morgan, who got the horse from Daragh Bourke, trainer and owner of Gallahers Cross.

Morgan said she had heard there was ‘big money coming from Ireland’ for her horse before the off.

Iain Jardine, trainer and owner of Blowing Dixie, is based around 30 miles from Bourke in the Scottish borders.

Jardine said: “I never knew anything about it [the gamble]. I noticed my horse’s price coming in rapidly in the betting last night, but I thought it didn’t really concern me.

“We had a hell of a job getting him right and it didn’t come as a shock that he won.

“He’s got course form and has come down the ratings a bit. Somebody knew more than I did anyway.”

Before the races, stewards, at the request of the British Horseracing Authority’s Integrity Department, interviewed the connections of all three horses.

They must have found nothing untoward because by the time Gallahers Cross was lined up as odds-on favourite at Musselburgh, everyone was waiting to see if the biggest gamble in years would be landed.

And for a while it looked likely – with the horse going as low as 1.4 on the exchanges.

But jockey Alain Cowley could get no more two hurdles from home and Paul Nicholls’ Get The Appeal won, with Gallahers Cross coming fourth.

Although the treble did not land, even those who got on the double at the original odds celebrated a 441-1 winner.

Just who is toasting a big winner though remains a huge uncertainty – and we may never know.