Biggest loss in your betting career

Slattsy

Hawk Wing in the 2000 Guineas back in 2002

Had my cock and balls on it

I dont mind too much when a horse loses on its merits, its easier to take i guess. But i was raging after that race :mad:

ste2010

Hurricane fly in the champ hurdle 2012. Effectively put all my cinders and ashes winnings on sprinter sacre in the arkle then did the accumulation of that on hurricane fly..and insultingly laughed at a you g man who was trying validate his reasons behind backing rock on ruby...what a tool I felt like after

RichieLawlor

Rooster Booster in the 2004 Champion, had my biggest wager still to this day on him at 11/8

Think it's the reason why I have always despised Hardy Eustace

byronbay2

I don't know if this is embarrassing or not but my biggest racing loser remains Generous in the 1991 Prix de l'Arc De Triomphe. I was young free and single at the time with lots of disposable income and a big interest in racing. I had made a lot of money from backing Generous all summer in The Derby, Irish Derby and King George and could not envisage defeat in The Arc.

Anyway, I booked the weekend in Paris (my only trip to Longchamp) and was up a good few quid, thanks to my only earlier bet (Culture Vulture) coming in, so was cock-a-hoop by the time the big race came around. Several glasses of champers had been consumed and "irrational exuberance" took over. I clearly remember the lady at the PMU desk trying to convince me that I meant " x CENT francs" rather than "x MILLE francs" but unfortunately she did not succeed!!

Still one of my favourite horses, though - I couldn't hold it against him.

tryfix

Don't know if it was the biggest loss as it was for a few hundred pound back in 1987, but it certainly was the sorest loser I've had. Michael Stoute's Ajdal in the 2,000 guineas, I had persuaded the local Bookie to let me double him in his Craven prep race and ante post for the Guineas. I was sure after he'd hacked up in his Craven prep that he'd do the double. Only for him to fail in the Guineas behind Richard Hannon's Don't Forget Me who he'd beaten easily in the first leg of the double. He then went on to run in the Derby and ran okayish before he hacked up in a big sprint race and became champion sprinter. Miss those days when the well bred non staying classic horses would hack up in the big sprints, money for old rope and often at a decent price, especially if they were by Danzig on firm ground.

Oscars Well.

The New One when he was beaten by At Fishers Cross at the Cheltenham January meeting. Then watching him win the Neptune when I had lumped onto Pont Alexandre

the groutch

for me it has to be Changingoftheguard in the Ebor a few years ago.
absolutely lumped on it at 7/2 (went off 15/8)
missed the break, got blocked about 3 times in the straight, stayed on like a train to be beat by a head, took quite a while to get over it.

UrbanFret

I was in England in 86 and went to epsom to back dancing brave. I had £200 on him which is still the most I've ever had in a single bet. Still gutted today.

Motivator

A family friend had a horse that he loved but it wasn't very good. Before I realised he wasn't very good I did in nearly a whole summer's wages at the age of 16. The horse was sent to Galway in a handicap hurdle & literally the entire town was backing it. I travelled up to my first & last day at the Galway races. Having been 14/1 in the morning the horse went off 6/4 & finished about 11th. I lost €1,800 & lost about 2 stone in the weeks after the race & I haven't gone back to Galway since.

The owner spent the entire summer in my house drinking tea & telling us how good his horse was & how much money we'd all win when he'd win his big handicap in Galway. Christ I get a feeling over me even thinking of it now.

chipsdave

Dancing Brave 1986 Derby
Granville Again 1991 Cheltenham
Some horse of Pipes at Chelt that I had backed at 9-2 ended up 5-2 ,One of Jenny Pitmans beat it
ALL Serious Losses .

tryfix

UrbanFret wrote: »

I was in England in 86 and went to epsom to back dancing brave. I had £200 on him which is still the most I've ever had in a single bet. Still gutted today.

Greville Starkey.. grr, but on the upside I had Shahrastani the winner backed that day.. Back in the days when it was a Wednesday Derby, and the next day backed the French runner St Estephe who was 6/1 in the morning prices for the Coronation Cup. I didn't take a price reckoning that the Brits wouldn't fancy a French horse and he drifted out to 20/1 and won.:)

If only it was that easy all the time..

Speaking of Greville Starkey, remember the stun gun incident with Ile De Chypre? Can't find any video of what was a sensational incident, but here's that magnificent looking giant specimen of a horse winning the Juddmonte International.

aisr1ofk43dpy5

The fellow in the 1993 gold cup

SRFC

Lost too much on Oscars well in his bumper at Naas after he was 2nd to day of a lifetime in a bumper on his first start,turned out he came back sick :mad:


Another time Id 2 grand on Luska Lad when he got beaten a head was by four chimneys must have been 1.01 had a big bet on one of sharks in tramore that day with nina on it put the lot on luska lad still sick over it


Another day I had a bundle on Secant star of Duignans in Leopardstown was going to win by half the track fell at the last good owl ruby at the last :rolleyes:they thought he was a monster,


Done my brains on Mikeal D'haguenot more times than I can remember but falling at the last in the drinmore I think it was nearly killed me.


Had a wedge on Casela park in Dundalk got an awful ride got it back the next friday had a grand on at 6/1 got it all back and with interest,Im sure if plenty others I got cleaned on but id be here for hours naming them all :pac:

endacl

2 Euro quick pick. Back when it cost 2 Euro.

Never again...

kiers47

SRFC wrote: »

Lost too much on Oscars well in his bumper at Naas after he was 2nd to day of a lifetime in a bumper on his first start,turned out he came back sick :mad:


Another time Id 2 grand on Luska Lad when he got beaten a head was by four chimneys must have been 1.01 had a big bet on one of sharks in tramore that day with nina on it put the lot on luska lad still sick over it


Another day I had a bundle on Secant star of Duignans in Leopardstown was going to win by half the track fell at the last good owl ruby at the last :rolleyes:they thought he was a monster,


Done my brains on Mikeal D'haguenot more times than I can remember but falling at the last in the drinmore I think it was nearly killed me.


Had a wedge on Casela park in Dundalk got an awful ride got it back the next friday had a grand on at 6/1 got it all back and with interest,Im sure if plenty others I got cleaned on but id be here for hours naming them all :pac:

Just out of interest how were you sustaining 2grand bets at the age of 18?

SRFC

kiers47 wrote: »

Just out of interest how were you sustaining 2grand bets at the age of 18?

I worked since the day I turned 16,Ive been backing horses properly since I was probably 13 or so,had some big wins and withdrew some nice amounts but cut down on the racing altogether the last year or two due to bad luck to be honest I've had 5 bets this week all win single bets every one them came 2nd :mad:

kiers47

SRFC wrote: »

I worked since the day I turned 16,Ive been backing horses properly since I was probably 13 or so,had some big wins and withdrew some nice amounts but cut down on the racing altogether the last year or two due to bad luck to be honest I've had 5 bets this week all win single bets every one them came 2nd :mad:

Fair play wouldn't have the cojonas for that craic me self. My big bet is usually 100 max I've had on a horse was 380. Biggest loss was 200 I had on denman at the festival when he lost the sun alliance hurdle.

SRFC

kiers47 wrote: »

Fair play wouldn't have the cojonas for that craic me self. My big bet is usually 100 max I've had on a horse was 380. Biggest loss was 200 I had on denman at the festival when he lost the sun alliance hurdle.

Id never put 2 grand of my own hard earned on one its just not worth the stress its usually bookies money Id be up that I have no problem lumping on something my usual bet on horses is probably 40 quid win or a 60 quid accum If I fancy a few on the day,You only live once so if you're sure or have a good tip lump on once you can afford to lose the money,in the end though the bookies ALWAYS win


A lot of the big losses on here seem to be at the Big Festivals ect I prefer to have my shirt on some AW fixed race than any grade one once it wins. :pac:

UrbanSea

In fairness SRFC thinking like that is a poor habit 'bookies money' once you win it its yours

byronbay2

UrbanSea wrote: »

In fairness SRFC thinking like that is a poor habit 'bookies money' once you win it its yours

Yeah - good point. It's a common and psychologically understandable mistake by punters (I used to do it myself - see post re. Generous) to raise stakes/increase frequency of bets once they get ahead. Obviously, you will get the occasional big score but it is a bad/losing strategy in the long run.

It's hard work taking money from a bookie and you need to respect it as much as you do your pay. As UrbanSea says, if you collect 2 grand from a bookie, it's your money and is worth the same as the 2 grand you paid for a car/holiday etc.

nobody told me

Used to do a fifty or a hundred accum once or twice a month, could have had 5 to 12 bets in them anything really across all sports. Big zeb fell at the last in punchestown for 7 grand, solwhit beat hurricane fly another day for 12. The real sickener was France drawing with Liechtenstein in a euro qualifier for 27k. Took me about a month to get over totally messed my head up.

Learned after the French were refusing
come out after half time think domenech was coach at the time. Biggest single loss was Aran concerto at chelt in the sun alliance.

byronbay2

SRFC wrote: »

A lot of the big losses on here seem to be at the Big Festivals ect I prefer to have my shirt on some AW fixed race than any grade one once it wins. :pac:

LOL. That's why I ONLY bet at the Big Festivals/race days! Seen too much shenanigans at the gaff tracks and sand dunes over the years to have any confidence in the proceedings. At least in The Arkle Chase/St. James Palace Stakes you can rely on your horse being ready and willing to run!

Possibly, I would feel differently about the above if I was "in the loop" with various owners, trainers and jockeys!!

shamdrog63

byronbay2 wrote: »

I don't know if this is embarrassing or not but my biggest racing loser remains Generous in the 1991 Prix de l'Arc De Triomphe. I was young free and single at the time with lots of disposable income and a big interest in racing. I had made a lot of money from backing Generous all summer in The Derby, Irish Derby and King George and could not envisage defeat in The Arc.

Anyway, I booked the weekend in Paris (my only trip to Longchamp) and was up a good few quid, thanks to my only earlier bet (Culture Vulture) coming in, so was cock-a-hoop by the time the big race came around. Several glasses of champers had been consumed and "irrational exuberance" took over. I clearly remember the lady at the PMU desk trying to convince me that I meant " x CENT francs" rather than "x MILLE francs" but unfortunately she did not succeed!!

Still one of my favourite horses, though - I couldn't hold it against him.

Pleeeeese stop mentioning Generous.The very word still feels like a kick in the bo~ox.Had me nads on Marju for the 91 derby @ 33/1

brandon_flowers

Lost €1100 in 40 minutes on Gold Cup Day in 2008. Franchoek €300 and Kauto Star €700 and a €100 double, both beaten into second. Kauto made it back for me the year after and in the KG in 2011 (which was particularly sweet as I was being goaded in the pub about the 2008 loss and decided to have 200 on Kauto at 4/1). Haven't had a bet near that €1100 since though.

thesaturdayman

dont know if you call it a loss or not as i made a right few pound out of it, but i was about 22 at the time and a few bob, big word around home for al eile in liverpool he duly obliged 14/1, the old fella was mates with elliots father at the time and swore blind that silver birch would win the grand national at 40/1 again he obliged, so i had maybe 2 x 50 ew singles on.... not too bad u might say, i had steam coming out my ears after the grand national and i whipped out a docket i did earlier in the day totally forgot, a €4 each way patent on the above two named horses with the last being im supreme in the last at chepstow at 6/1, done a neck after he totally fluffed the last, to say the least he didnt get much assistance in the saddle and i never again heard of hte claimer who rode him darren o dwyer, i never worked out the docket what it would have gotten if he had gotten up... dont want to but whatever it is i could do with it now!!

SRFC

thesaturdayman wrote: »

dont know if you call it a loss or not as i made a right few pound out of it, but i was about 22 at the time and a few bob, big word around home for al eile in liverpool he duly obliged 14/1, the old fella was mates with elliots father at the time and swore blind that silver birch would win the grand national at 40/1 again he obliged, so i had maybe 2 x 50 ew singles on.... not too bad u might say, i had steam coming out my ears after the grand national and i whipped out a docket i did earlier in the day totally forgot, a €4 each way patent on the above two named horses with the last being im supreme in the last at chepstow at 6/1, done a neck after he totally fluffed the last, to say the least he didnt get much assistance in the saddle and i never again heard of hte claimer who rode him darren o dwyer, i never worked out the docket what it would have gotten if he had gotten up... dont want to but whatever it is i could do with it now!!

£23k


Welcome

prettyboy81

SRFC wrote: »

£23k


Welcome

That all

hucklebuck

****ing too much beer and champagne by the time the 2013 foxhunters jumped. I had a €50 ew treble on At Fishers Cross, Bobs Worth and Salsify to return around €2,800, I had planned €100 win on Chapoturgeon and €100 on Oscar Delta as cover but decided to lay Salsify to the tune of €700 to win €300 if he got beaten, biggest loss and dumbest bet I have ever done given I had the first four winners on the day.

UrbanSea

A thoroughly stupid bet and one that truly taught me a lesson. Thought I was buying myself a couple hundred when Hinterland was 30/100 the day he was beaten by Baby Mix. Learned then there was no such thing as buying money and in theory I'm glad it happened, probably saved me a fortune since


One that hurt was 350 on Valencia away to Celta Vigo. 7/5 was a huge price and I still think it was a good bet. I turned off LiveScore in the 87th minute and went to the pub with Valencia one up. Checked the score later on and they had been beaten 2-1. What are the odds of that

The day Defy Logic was runner up in his bumper another that hurt. Promised I would never back JP Magnier on a horse again and still haven't no matter what the horse

madmoose

Hurricane Fly 2012 c.hurdle, had 200 antepost on it and i nipped out of work to watch it and walked out fuming. I backed him again this year which made years memory a little bearable. Ive hated rock on ruby ever since ha!

jimjamcos

Have never had more than 30 or 40 on a single horse. Don't see the point in risking the price of a night out (and session ) when no horse, bar the odd freak, is unbeatable.

Hurricane Fly's Champion Hurdle loss is the one that cost me the most in potential winnings though. Had himself, Sprinter Sacre (@ 5/2 I think!!), Big Bucks and Quevega in one early season antepost accumulator. Told the aul lad to do the same bet too. Then, really fancied Zarkander (9/2 I think) in the Betfair Hurdle so added him to the four of them in another antepost accumulator. Think, combined, the two accums were worth nearly 4 grand.

Come the faithful day, sitting in bookies with a mate I remember McCain being very bullish about Cinders And Ashes before the Supreme so threw a 10r on him @ 10/1. Confident as fuck then, I put a chunk of that on Boyles Sprinter Sacre distance special. Then had an each way bet on Fruity O'Rooney who came 2nd in the JLT at a nice price. Easy peasy.

Said I'd leave it at that and head home to watch Hurricane Fly skate in in comfort but as I was leaving the mate encouraged me to throw some of my winnings on HF who at this stage simply represented buying money. Think I only put 30 or 40 on him but just remember hurrying home full of hype before watching the race and crashing back down to earth. I was sick watching Quevega and Big Bucks win after and even though I was up a bit for the first day, I was sick that I'd handed 30 or 40 of my winnings straight back at a stupid price on him, before I even though about the two accumulators.

Only lost around 70 on him in total, including accumulators, but while appreciating his greatness, don't think I've ever had the same fondness for Hurricane Fly since then. Sad, but true.

kfallon

Slattsy wrote: »

Hawk Wing in the 2000 Guineas back in 2002

Had my cock and balls on it

I dont mind too much when a horse loses on its merits, its easier to take i guess. But i was raging after that race :mad:

Hawk Wing in the Irish Champion Stakes, beaten a the width of a bee's dick by Grandera

Soft Falling Rain

UrbanSea wrote: »

In fairness SRFC thinking like that is a poor habit 'bookies money' once you win it its yours

Yeah, I've tried rationalising losses (after taking a good bit from the bookies) by putting it down to "Ah well sure it was never my money in the first place." Awful way of thinking.

The most I've dropped on one horse was €100, only once and on a 5/4 shot that finished 2nd. Crazy betting and thankfully I haven't repeated it.

Though I still have my idiotic days, which mostly involve alcohol. :pac:

eddiezero

Rockstown boy in a QR maiden in Leopardstown back in 04.

Think the whole track was on it with the unfortunate exception of the trainer......with good reason.

Colonel Sanders

eddiezero wrote: »

Rockstown boy in a QR maiden in Leopardstown back in 04.

Think the whole track was on it with the unfortunate exception of the trainer......with good reason.

I remember that one well, not the first time he put those owners away I was informed also

Hope you got it back at Galway

thesaturdayman

SRFC wrote: »

£23k


Welcome

ha not quite, the only consolation i take is that the docket was at sp! 33/1, 12/1 and 6/1 so i know its a bit less! i know to the cent how much it was at the prices i took on singles!

thanks though

SRFC

UrbanSea wrote: »

In fairness SRFC thinking like that is a poor habit 'bookies money' once you win it its yours

Mug-ish punting it was,I was young a bill free with money i had a good time punting crazy stakes for a teen age found this old screen shot sums it up :pac:

UrbanSea

Jesus SRFC in the space of two hours, hope you aren't still at that

Slattsy

SRFC wrote: »

Mug-ish punting it was,I was young a bill free with money i had a good time punting crazy stakes for a teen age found this old screen shot sums it up :pac:

Ha bebo ya loser!
And not a Mullins horse in sight.

SRFC

UrbanSea wrote: »

Jesus SRFC in the space of two hours, hope you aren't still at that

Haha God no i have one bet a day if even that on one I fancy,few more of a saturday,I was young and wreckless betting with paddys money id never punt like that with my hard earned made more money back then than I do now in saying that :pac:

kiers47

Slattsy wrote: »

Ha bebo ya loser!
And not a Mullins horse in sight.

Ill be honest that is the first thing i seen to. Also internet explorer was the second. ha who uses that?

SRFC

kiers47 wrote: »

Ill be honest that is the first thing i seen to. Also internet explorer was the second. ha who uses that?

2010 that was lads ffs Im no good at math but i was probably 17 then :pac:

thesaturdayman

thats a rough enough looking screen shot in fairness! when you see horses of the ilk of lucky punt, la capriosa & old favorite hamish mcgonigle trappy 5 furlong contestsand triple figure sums, jesus sends a shiver down my spine.... that said i was no shirking violet back in the good old days! biggest loser i ever had was €1000 on the nose, denman in the 3m grade 1 at aintree in which he fell, i thought i was actually having a stroke.... took me an hour to turn the key in the car.... i was young and foolish then tho....! loose punting, a lot to be said for it!

kiers47

Ha was just winding you up. I was one in the same for a short period of time myself couldnt watch a race without having a bet. Probably just when i started getting interested in the game. But over time i came to just enjoy the races and the betting is a secondary thing. I might have 0 bets some weeks or 20 other weeks it really depends on the week and what i fancy. Granted id say the average is 5-10 a week.

tryfix

Someone mentioned Cezanne in another thread, he was the horse who underperformed to keep me out of the big money one year in the Racing Post/Pacemaker? Ten To Follow flat competition. Was about 25 or 30 points off the top ten in the end and that fkr of a horse came up blank for me.:(

Malarkey121

I had 200 each-way on Maljimar at 33's as was advised its ready to put in a very good run for the William Hill Trophy, was well supported into 16s if I remember correctly. I was hopping all over the sitting room when Maljimar jumped the last flying and nicely clear nothing to touch it lovely stuff! Then McCoy comes on Wichita Lineman from about 8 lengths back to get up and win by a neck after an amazing ride I still don't know how he did that!! it was sickening but hats off to a great ride I still got the place bet up but was counting the money I lost!

sting60

Lush Lashes to win the Epsom Oaks.Very sore and still hurts today nuff said.

yaboya1

I think a lot of people are confusing 'loss' with 'how much I might have won'.
Not to be pedantic, but when you win €200 instead of €2,000 it's still a win and hardly qualifies as the biggest loss of your betting career.

For me it's a €2,500 double on Master Minded & Punchestowns for the Champion Chase and World Hurdle respectively. Couldn't see anything in either market beating either of them when I placed the bet in December 2008. (I was right btw as nothing that was in either market at the time did beat them!)
Then Big Bucks appeared back over hurdles on New Years Day and the rest is history. Sad thing is I easily could have covered the bet on the day at 7/1 but I foolishly chose not to. 7/1! Don't think we'll ever see that again

Motivator

yaboya1 wrote: »

I think a lot of people are confusing 'loss' with 'how much I might have won'.
Not to be pedantic, but when you win €200 instead of €2,000 it's still a win and hardly qualifies as the biggest loss of your betting career.

For me it's a €2,500 double on Master Minded & Punchestowns for the Champion Chase and World Hurdle respectively. Couldn't see anything in either market beating either of them when I placed the bet in December 2008. (I was right btw as nothing that was in either market at the time did beat them!)
Then Big Bucks appeared back over hurdles on New Years Day and the rest is history. Sad thing is I easily could have covered the bet on the day at 7/1 but I foolishly chose not to. 7/1! Don't think we'll ever see that again

Huge risk having that kind of money on ante post, a friend of mine had €10,000 on big bucks this time last year at 8/15. Less than a week after he did his bet news broke of the injury. He wouldn't have that kind of money & would never bet like that but he saw it as free money & it backfired on him. He hasn't had a bet since & I don't think he has had a drink, he's trying to get his 10g back in his bank account.

byronbay2

Motivator wrote: »

Huge risk having that kind of money on ante post, a friend of mine had €10,000 on big bucks this time last year at 8/15. Less than a week after he did his bet news broke of the injury. He wouldn't have that kind of money & would never bet like that but he saw it as free money & it backfired on him. He hasn't had a bet since & I don't think he has had a drink, he's trying to get his 10g back in his bank account.

For Christ's sake - what a crazy bet!! Backed BB @ 8/15 in November for a race in March?? What price did he think BB would be on the day??

Soft Falling Rain

Motivator wrote: »

Huge risk having that kind of money on ante post, a friend of mine had €10,000 on big bucks this time last year at 8/15. Less than a week after he did his bet news broke of the injury. He wouldn't have that kind of money & would never bet like that but he saw it as free money & it backfired on him. He hasn't had a bet since & I don't think he has had a drink, he's trying to get his 10g back in his bank account.

That made my balls retreat a little bit. ****ing hell!