Kevin Clancy, Gary Brennan, Adrian O'Halloran and Billy McEvoy who won the trip for himself and three friends.

Gary wins €100k on top of Cheltenham trip

Meath man Gary Brennan doubled up on his luck with Paddy Power when he won a trip to the Gold Cup courtesy of the bookie - and then hit them for over €100,000 on the eve of his day trip to Cheltenham!  
 
Had every leg of his bet clicked, he stood to win €1million. 
 
Paddy Power spokesperson, Rachael Kane explained: “We were travelling over with our 32 lucky Irish punters from Dublin this morning, all of whom had won the chance to go to the Cheltenham Gold Cup with Paddy Power. Last night we got wind of the fact that a punter in our shop in Trim, one of two big winners there on Thursday, had won a staggering sum of €108,076.19 off the back of a 50 cent each way Lucky 63. You can imagine our surprise when we discovered the mystery winner was sitting in the seat behind us! 
“Not only had he cost us and eye-watering pay-out, but by pure fluke, his friend won a trip for himself and three others the previous week and Gary was one of them.”
 
Thankfully, the father-of-two was more than happy to share his good news, as he talked his way through his incredible days punting. 
 
Gary had placed a 50 cent each-way Lucky 63, which cost €63, on six of the seven winners at Cheltenham on Thursday. Had the last horse, won, he would have won almost €1 million. 
 
The individual managed to back five winners out of seven races with Shattered Love (6/1), Delta Work (10/1), Balko Des Flos (14/1), Penhill (12/1) and The Storyteller 7/1 – but the sixth and final leg of the bet was on Squouateur 11/2, who finished third. 
 
However, had each leg of the bet clicked, the potential returns for the Lucky 63 were almost €1million.   
 
 
THE BET
The potential returns for the Lucky 63 were €908,623.55 which includes a 25% bonus which would have applied. The 50cent e/w bet cost the customer €63
 
Shattered Love                  6-1          13:30 Cheltenham (he was up €11 approx after this race)
Delta Work                         10-1       14:10 Cheltenham (he was up €55 approx)      
Balko Des Flos                   14-1       14:50 Cheltenham   (he was up €810 approx)
Penhill                                  12-1       15:30 Cheltenham          he was up €10,967  approx)
The Storyteller                  7-1          16:10 Cheltenham he was up €91, 000 approx)
Squouateur                        11-2       17:30 Cheltenham he was up €€94,602.63) 
 
With an added €13,473.56 in bonuses, Gary’s total winnings came to €108,076.19
 
 
FULL INTERVIEW: Trim native Gary Brennan (47)  
TELL ME HOW THE DAY BEGAN?
“I was up at 5.15am yesterday morning because I love Cheltenham – I’m like a child on Christmas morning at this time of year.  
I had my Paddy Power sheet from the local shop, so I was going through the form.” 
 
 
HOW DID YOU MAKE YOUR SELECTIONS? 
“I’m a huge supporter of Davy Russell and Gordon Elliot. Gordon’s yard is about three miles from my home and all the staff there are so professional, including Gordon – people underestimate how much he has done for the local town in terms of employment so I always follow him.
“As for Davy Russell, there’s just something about him. He’s just so confident and so honest so I follow him too. 
There was no science to my selections, I just stuck with those two as much as I could. 
I went to collect my kids from school that evening and I knew the first three Gigginstown horses had won, so I said to my eldest daughter, Ella (16), ‘My God, I think I’ve won €700’. She was all excited. 
In the next race, I backed Penhill, and I have no idea why, because he hadn’t run in a year, but I stuck it in. When that won I knew I had enough to pay for summer holiday. 
“I don’t have the racing channels so I had to go to my local pub, Kiely’s Bar in Trim to watch the next. Of course news was spreading at this stage that I had four up and was in for a bit of a windfall and the whole place went wild when I walked in.”
 
YOU MUST HAVE BEEN GETTING NERVOUS AT THAT STAGE?
“I didn’t tell anyone what I backed in the next. This is not a position I’ve ever been in, in my life and I’d by shy enough. So instead of watching the race, everyone in the pub was watching my face.  When Davy Russell crossed the line on The Storyteller after giving him an unbelievable ride, I fell to my knees. I literally couldn’t draw a breath. 
I was thinking of my daughters Olivia and Ella and my wife Ciara and what this would mean to them. This doesn’t happen to people like me.  I only place small bets for the fun of it.   
But the pub went crazy, it was like Italia 90 all over again.  
“Then I went down to my local Paddy Power shop in Trim, where I’ve been a customer for 25 years, because I knew I had one more horse left to run and that I was in for a potential life changing sum if it did. 
I was walking down the street and the butcher came out of his shop, cars were beeping and people were stopping me. It’s a small town and everyone knows each other so good news travels fast.   
I went straight to Anne, the shop manager, and she took mw by both hands and congratulated me.  For her to take that moment to hold my hands and calm me down on the busiest race of the day of the year in her shop meant the world to me.”
 
IF YOU HAD WON THE LAST RACE, YOU STOOD TO WIN OVER €1 MILLION. HOW DID YOU FEEL WATCHING IT? 
“In the last race of course Squouateur didn’t quite get there, but I didn’t mind. All I was concerned about at that point was the fact that I was supposed to be at home making the dinner and I had no idea how to tell my wife -  about the dinner, or the win! 
The kids knew the other horses had won, but didn’t tell their mam, so when I walked in fell to my knees in the kitchen. I told them I’d look after them!"

 

In other news ......

A County Meath punter walked away with an incredible sum of €33,001 for a simple €1 bet just hours after BoyleSports were counting the cost of Cheltenham.

The customer, who wishes to remain anonymous, placed the €1 accumulator in a BoyleSports shop in the county on Friday and picked four numbers in the EuroMillions Plus draw at massive odds of 33,000/1.

When numbers 3, 9, 12 and 18 rolled out, the odds were smashed and they bagged the punter a jaw-dropping profit of €33,000.

In an incredible twist of fate, BoyleSports were hit even further as two customers in Counties Carlow and Limerick both placed identical 50 cent bets, winning €16,500 each. The trio of bets meant the exact same four numbers cost BoyleSports €66,000 from a combined stake of only €2.

Lawrence Lyons, Spokesperson for BoyleSports commented: “The numbers couldn’t have fallen worse for us just as the dust settled on Cheltenham and we were amazed to discover three different customers cashed in on the same four numbers.”

He added: “It’s been a hectic week so we can only raise a glass and congratulate the winners, including the Meath customer who is €33,000 richer after parting with a €1 coin on Friday evening. Great work!”

 

 

Ansd some Lotto news ,......

 

A lucky Dubliner woke up this St Patrick’s Day a happy millionaire after winning a cool one million Euro in last night's EuroMillions draw Ireland Only raffle.
St Patrick’s Day celebrations got underway early in the shop in Dundrum that sold the winning ticket with staff ecstatic that they proved they had the rub of the green.
Shop owner Aaron Massey of Costcutter in Windy Arbour, Dundrum, said he is overjoyed at having sold the golden ticket to a customer.
“We are a small, busy local shop but there is also a lot of passing trade. We would love if one of our regulars is the lucky winner. What a way for someone to celebrate St Patrick’s weekend!”
“The excitement here is unbelievable. This is our first big EuroMillions win. Customers coming into the shop this morning are also thrilled and there is lots of speculation on who the winner is. We will be know forever more as the lucky green shop!”
Meanwhile there was no winner of the EuroMillions jackpot worth a mega €17 million. But there was one online winner of a Match 5 plus bonus with a prize of €31,260.
And there were ten winners of €5,000 in the Ireland only raffle. Three tickets were sold in Dublin, two in Kerry, two in Tipperray, two online play and one in Kildare.
A National Lottery spokesperson said today: “We are advising all our players to check their tickets from last night’s EuroMillions draw to see if they are the lucky winner of the Ireland Only Raffle one million euros, the Match 5 plus bonus, and the lower prizes.