ARSENAL may have lost the chance to win the Premier League – but one of their biggest fans could be £280,000 better off on Saturday.
Nick White, a garden centre boss from Southend, is the proud owner of Royal Ascot winner Holloway Boy.
White is a lifelong Arsenal fan and, while it looks like his team have thrown away the chance to win the Premier League, could end up very rich on Saturday
The horse, a three-year-old colt, runs in the red and white colours of the Gunners – and is entered in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket.
The race, the first Classic of the season, is often the stepping stone to greatness.
It’s also a huge cash cow for owners.
White will be going up billionaire racing titans such as Godolphin and legendary names in the sport such as Juddmonte, Magnier and Amo Racing.
But Holloway Boy – who was valued at around £1million – has already proved he can make a mockery of monster odds.
He was 40-1 when he won the Chesham at the Royal meeting last June.
And, by comparison, his 25-1 chance on Saturday looks a great deal better.
The horse has proved a worthwhile investment to White, who, along with co-owner Elaine Burke, wife of trainer Karl, has made a tasty £130,000 from him so far.
Amazingly, avid punter White forgot to back Holloway Boy when he bounded home at Ascot under huge odds.
Don’t expect the same to happen at Newmarket, where victory in this race alone will be worth more than double the horse’s already big winnings.
Burke recalled the amazing story of that freak Ascot win.
He said: “Unbelievable. The truth is we were going to go to Musselburgh for the Sunday Series but Holloway Boy pulled a little muscle so we didn’t go then the owner rang me up.
“He said he was supposed to have a box but was let down and wanted to get some tickets.
“I entered the horse and thought ‘I’m not going to run him’ but I thought sod it, we’ll run him, give him a nice day out.
“It was superb by Danny, we were always going to ride him that way.
“He rides this track fantastically. We thought he was a nice horse but I didn’t quite think he was that good.
“He’s only had a quiet blow, he hasn’t had a hard race.”
