A PEEVED punter says his ‘a*** fell out’ as he missed a £13,000 Royal Ascot jackpot by cashing out for £354 before his final winner on a £1 bet.
The bottom fell out of Michael Lightfoot’s world with his downbeat denouement to a magnificent seven accumulator – but he then rumped home to glory with £4k winnings on a 20p bet!
The former journalism student cashed out when he would have won a five-figure sum had he waited for favourite Little Big Bear’s victory in the Windsor Castle Stakes.
But after his grizzly moment, Lightfoot posted to explain he was only a sore loser in ANOTHER way.
He tweeted: “My a*** fell out and I cashed out because with Covid, I needed the money.
“I’m devastated but it is what it is. £10 e/w double as a cover. “
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But it was soon time for ‘Bottoms Up!’ as he revealed: “I did win £4000 on a 20p alphabet.
“I do bet on Mr (Aiden) O’Brien to win champion trainer every year, so hopefully we can get a share out of those winnings.”
Ironically, Ryan Moore’s triumph on Little Big Bear in the five-furlong race for juveniles was O’Brien’s first success in 13 attempts at Royal Ascot this week.
And after tip-toeing so close to riches, Lightfoot was bearing no grudges when he reflected on LBB’s victory.
He said: “A 29-horse race and I picked the winner out when I didn’t want it to. You can’t make it up.
“But hey ho I’ll take the adulation for picking 6 winners at Royal Ascot in one day though!”
He was looking good after Dramatised, Eidar Eldarov, State of Rest, Saffron Beach and Dark Shift did him proud in his accumulator.
But caution cost him as he pocketed £354 ahead of Little Big Bear beating Rocket Rodney by a neck.
And social media was split over Lightfoot’s safety-first policy.
Many followers derided him as he’d only put on £1.
WHAT A RACE!
Little Big Bear has won the Windsor Castle Stakes#ITVRacing | @Ascot | #RoyalAscot pic.twitter.com/XyucmZdIBY
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) June 15, 2022
But others praised his glorious day for predictions.
One said: “He cashed out but had a 20p alphabet too worth over £3k and did the double on the last two so it’s all a good day’s work.”
And once the online stick came in another racing fan posted: “He probably should have stuck to the ‘not saying’ in the first place.”
That drew this reply: “Ye the twitter trolls are haunting him now.”
Lightfoot himself then had almost the final word as he tweeted: “Nah. I’m good lads. Most I’ve ever won.”
