History was rewritten at Exeter as Blowers, a five-year-old, defied 300/1 odds to become the longest-priced UK winner ever.
The Nigel Hawke-trained outsider, previously well held in a Larkhill point-to-point and pulled up at 200/1 on his Chepstow rules debut, triumphed under James Best in the pricedup.bet Maiden Hurdle.
Relishing testing conditions, Blowers edged out Harry Fry’s 5/4 favourite, On The Bayou, astonishing punters.
Trainer Nigel Hawke, reflecting on the upset, admitted he hadn’t backed his own horse: “I wish, I wish, I wish!”
He elaborated on his surprise at the odds: “I was a little surprised at his price but I guess it’s the way the markets go. He’d only run twice in his life and he ran in a race at Larkhill where they did back him that day but his breathing was a problem.”
Hawke added of Chepstow: “the amateur jockey we had on couldn’t hold one side of him, but you saw what Besty did on him today and he didn’t stop galloping.”
Despite the long odds, Hawke maintained confidence: “I think 300/1 was a bit ridiculous to be fair and I’m not saying we knew what we had but we knew we had a horse with some ability and the owners always breed a nice type of horse.”
Jockey James Best’s “peach of a ride” was praised, secured after amateur Ella Herbison, who rode Blowers on his debut, missed her flight.
Blowers’ triumph eclipses the previous UK record, Equinoctial’s 250/1 win at Kelso in 1990.
Similar upsets occurred in Ireland, with Sawbuck (April 2022) and He Knows No Fear (2020) both winning at 300/1.
Coral reported 82 bets on Blowers, the largest a £2 each-way single.
Paddy Power’s Paul Binfield remarked on the rare foresight of punters: “We thought anyone who backed the two previous 300/1 winners on the Emerald Isle were soothsayers and while I would be lying if I said Blowers was popular, a couple of our customers produced Mystic Meg-like performances to match their counterparts in Ireland with £10 and £15 each-way bets.”
For owners Mr and Mrs Pudd, the homebred victory was sweet. Hawke concluded: “It’s lovely for the owners (Mr and Mrs Pudd) who are West Country people and he’s a homebred, so there is a lovely story behind him.
“He will have learned a lot today and he can’t do anymore than win and that’s what he’s done now. He definitely won’t be 300/1 next time.”
