I put a free bet on Royal Ascot and walked away £11,000 richer – the money will help me & my family after I lost my job

A PUNTER who chanced his luck with a free bet at Royal Ascot walked away £11,000 richer after his massive six-fold came in.

The bettor, 36, from York, says the money will now go towards him and his family getting back on their feet after he lost his job during Covid.

There were a load of big winners last week, with one punter turning a £2.50 each way poke into £300,000.

Amazingly, this other horse player picked the same horses but left out Latin Lover, the 5-1 winner of the final race last Friday.

His payout would have been much bigger had he left it in but even so, a whopping £11,000 from a risk free punt was more than enough reward.

The bettor put a £1 each way free bet on six horses starting with 4-1 Meditate in the first race of the day.

Perfect Power was a 4-1 winner of the Commonwealth Cup, Candleford the 13-2 victor in the next and Inspiral an easy winner of the following race.

Heredia came in at 9-2 to keep the monster accumulator going before Changingoftheguard won in a thrilling photo to seal the tasty windfall.

The free play returned £11,148.40 in all and the punter said: “This was an each way bet so there was no cash out option.

“The last race being decided in a photo finish genuinely almost gave me a heart attack!

“I’m not really a horse racing kind of guy most of the time. I just got a free bet and did a bit of research before I laid the bet. I’m nowhere near knowledgeable!

“The money is really welcome.

“I was made redundant in the pandemic so it’s helping me and the family get back on our feet.”

Not everyone had such luck though.

One punter was left cursing his decision to cash out a winning bet that would have paid £83,000 – but instead returned just £460.

And this Arsenal fan backed just about every other horse bar his own – before it won at 40-1.

Don’t feel too sorry for him though, as victory in the race itself was worth just shy of £60,000.

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