PUNTERS were left equal parts stunned and confused after this incredible finish to a race in Australia.
If you backed King Of Hearts in the six-furlong sprint, then chances are you would have torn up your betslip instantly.
The Craig Carmody-trained runner fell a whopping 15 lengths behind rivals almost immediately in the contest at Canterbury in Sydney.
Sluggish out the gate, jockey Kathy O’Hara had to work hard just to get the lazy three-year-old moving in the early stages.
It looked like he had been given way too much to do to make up the gulf to the leading pair.
But sure enough, King Of Hearts kept going, and going, and going.
So much so that by the final 100m the most unlikely of comebacks seemed a real possibility.
Unfortunately the horse just ran out of track – another furlong or two and the 25-1 outsider would have left the others way behind.
But his rapid finish was clear to see in the sectional times.
King Of Hearts was 1.5 seconds slower over the first 250m (roughly one furlong) of the race than winner Electric, effectively putting shot to his chances.
But for the final 600m he was nearly an entire second faster than the winner.
Punters watching couldn’t believe the finish.
One said: “What did I just witness there?”
Another posted online: “King Of Hearts was in another postcode down the back before rocketing into third at Canterbury!”
A fellow punter wrote: “King Of Hearts with one of the most extraordinary runs you’ll ever see. Goodness gracious me! Should have won!”
One post read: “King Of Hearts – goodness me.”
Another punter said: “Was only watching the two up front, just caught replay… how’s that run by King of Hearts? My word.
“Was tailed off 15 lengths and should’ve s**t in.”
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