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History was rewritten at Exeter when Blowers, a five-year-old, overcame 300/1 odds to become the longest-priced UK winner ever.
The Nigel Hawke-trained outsider, who held well in the first Larkhill point-to-point and was quoted at 200/1 on his Chepstow rules debut, won the PriceUp.Bet Maiden Hurdle under James Best.
Enjoying the testing conditions, the Blowers surprisingly stunned Harry Fry’s 5/4 favourite, On the Bayou.
Trainer Nigel Hawke reflected on the disappointment that he had not supported his horse, admitting: “I wish, I wish, I wish!”
He elaborated on his surprise at the odds: “I was a bit surprised at his price but I guess that’s the way the market goes. He’d only raced twice in his life and he ran in a race at Larkhill where they backed him that day but he had a problem with his breathing.”
Hawke said of Chepstow: “The amateur jockey we had couldn’t catch him on one side, but you saw what Besty did on him today and he never stopped galloping.”
Despite the long odds, Hawke remained confident: “I think objectively 300/1 was a bit ridiculous 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 good type horses.”
Jockey James Best was praised for his “peach of a ride”, which was secured after amateur Ella Herbison, who had ridden Blowers on her first day, missed her flight.
Blowers’ victory overtook the previous UK record, Equinoctial’s 250/1 win at Kelso in 1990.
A similar upset 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 bet being £2 each way.
Paddy Power’s Paul Binfield commented on the rare foresight of the bookmakers: “We thought there were any predictors backing the last two 300/1 winners on the Emerald Isle and while I’d be lying if I said Blowers was popular, some of our customers did have a Mystic Meg-like performance to match their counterparts in Ireland with £10 and £15 each-way bets.”
For owners Mr and Mrs Pudd, the home win was good. Hawke concluded: “It’s great for the owners (Mr and Mrs Pudd), who are West Country people and he’s a homebred, so there’s a lovely story behind it.
“He will have learned a lot today and he can do nothing but win and that is what he has done now. Next time he will definitely not be 300/1.”