History made as 300/1 horse turns into longest-priced winner in British historical past
Blowers made British horse racing history at Exeter with a stunning 300/1 victory – the longest priced winner ever – as just 82 punters backed the outsider
A horse etched his name into modern British racing history when becoming the longest-priced victor ever recorded.
Blowers, a five-year-old gelding trained by former Grand National-winning jockey Nigel Hawke, arrived with virtually no credentials to speak of. The horse had been thrashed by 59 lengths in a point-to-point Flat contest in March and was pulled up on his hurdling bow at Chepstow in December, where he started at 200/1 under amateur rider Ella Herbison.
Blowers was considered even more of an outsider for his second attempt over jumps in a maiden hurdle at Exeter on Thursday, with James Best taking the reins for the first time.
Yet, ridden aggressively from the front, he held off the persistent challenge of 5/4 market leader On The Bayou to prevail by three-quarters of a length at astronomical odds.
Course commentator Mike Cattermole exclaimed: “Blowers and James Best are going to see this out for a huge upset. Oh my goodness!”.
Blowers surpassed a record that had stood since 1990 in Britain, previously held by Equinoctial who triumphed at Kelso in November 1990 at 250/1.
There have been two 300/1 winners in Ireland – He Holds No Fear on the Flat (Leopardstown, August 2020) and Sawbuck over jumps (Punchestown, May 2022).
Bookmaker Coral accepted 82 bets on the horse, with the largest being a £2 each-way single. “Christmas has come early for the 82 punters who backed Blowers at odds of 300/1. They clearly saw something in the horse that us bookmakers didn’t,” said John Hill from Coral.
Adding: “The Nigel Hawke-trained horse has broken a 35-year record, and is now the longest priced winner in British racing history.”
Speaking to RacingTV, Hawke revealed: “He’s only had a couple of runs. He ran in a bumper at Larkhill and you could see he’s an absolute brute of a horse. His biggest problem is just controlling him.
“Last time it wasn’t no one’s fault. We’ve tried to hold him. Poor Ella, he just got a run on her and did too much round Chepstow.”
Hawke continued, “It’s great for Bestie. The idea of coming for today was to teach him to settle. I realised there was no point doing that as they were going to trot round. So I told him to do the opposite. Let him bowl along and set off in front.
“Bestie gave him a super ride. He’s still a little bit green but he’s fit and won. He just didn’t stop galloping. We’ve always thought he was a nice horse if we can control him.”
Following the race, stewards questioned the significant improvement in Blowers’ performance. Hawke explained that the gelding had settled better this time and benefited from a more prominent riding style, which the stewards noted.
