Heating engineer scoops huge £1.4m Tote Jackpot after placing £2 bet at Exeter
By
Marcus Townend
Racing Correspondent
Last updated at 10:41 PM on 8th March 2011
It started off as just a day at the races with his mates but Steve
Whiteley went home almost £1.5million richer after landing a record Totesport
Jackpot for only a £2 outlay.
Occasional racegoer Whiteley, 61, a heating engineer from North
Tawton in Devon, had travelled to Exeter using his free bus pass and
taken advantage of a promotion that gave him free entry to the course.
Whiteley held his head in his hands while his final selection, 12-1
shot Lupita, whose jockey Jessica Lodge had never ridden a winner, got
up to beat Only Hope by three-quarters of a length.
He said: ‘It’s difficult to say how I came up with my selections. At
first, I had two in each race and that was going to cost £32, so I
scrapped that.
Thanks a million! Steve Whiteley with Lupita, the horse who won him £1.4m
‘I’d
never had a go at the Jackpot but one of my mates said it might be a
million quid so I said, “All right, I’ll have a go”. We all sat down,
had a pint and picked our horses.
‘The second winner, Black
Phantom, the jockey Nick Scholfield is only young and used to live
locally. He had won the race last year so I thought he might be worth a
punt. That put me on the road. He has to be my favourite jockey at the
moment. Why did I pick the last one? Lodge is just a name that sticks in
my head. I didn’t know anything about her.
‘I’m not a horseracing man, I only go once or twice a year. I’m a
heating engineer — well I was! I’ve actually won about £300 betting
today as well. The most I have ever won before is about £100.
‘I’m
not married and I can’t afford to be, either. I am going to Australia
on holiday. It’s been booked for months. I’ve got to work tomorrow. I’ve
got six jobs to finish off before I go on holiday.’
Jayne Amor, racing manager for the Tote, said: ‘The excitement was
unbelievable. When we realised it was one ticket it was so exciting, the
whole of the Tote has been cheering him on. He came to us after four
races to check if he had been reading his ticket correctly.’
