A PUNTER who staked all the money he had left to his name on Frankie Dettori riding seven winners at Ascot is now living the high life as a multi-millionaire.
Joiner Darren Yates bet his last £62 on Dettori to ride seven winners at Ascot in 1996… then watched in disbelief as they all came in to net him a staggering £550,823.
PA:Press AssociationFrankie Dettori’s wins helped Darren Yates build a property and development empire he sold for £20million[/caption]
PA:Press AssociationDarren and wife Annaley with Frankie Dettori after their 1996 triumph that saw them win more than £550,000[/caption]
Wisely, he then used those winnings to build a property and development empire he later sold for £20million.
Darren recalled his life-changing wager with William Hill on September 29, 1996. He told how he had been denied a £700 overdraft just 24 hours earlier and had a bust-up with employees over their missed wages.
Of the fateful day, he said: “I’d been playing football for my local team in Morecambe and only caught the racing results over a post-game pint.
“I asked how it was going and they said Dettori had four out of four. I reckoned I’d won £700.
“Then Dettori’s fifth and sixth horses went in and I thought I was heading for the £24,000 mark.
“So I went down to the betting shop to watch the seventh race and just quietly sat there.
“I couldn’t believe it when Frankie stormed home. I asked the counter girl how much I’d won, thinking it would be about £50,000. When she told me it was over £500,000 I almost fainted.”
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Dettori – who on Saturday rides for the final time at Ascot before leaving for America – celebrated with one of his famous flying dismounts.
Darren, who in one recent interview said people have praised him for ‘having really big balls’, said: “I went home and just burst out crying. I told my wife Annaley, ‘I’ve done it, darling. We’ve hit the big one’.
“She started crying. We sat there hugging each other for about an hour and we just couldn’t stop crying. That was the best moment of my life — knowing all our worries were over.”
He and Annaley moved from their cramped home into a mansion in the resort of Lytham St Annes, Lancashire.
Darren also bought a couple of horses for £10,000 each — and a series of three-bed semis for £20,000 to start a business he sold just before the pandemic.
He continued to bet but in larger sums and won hundreds of thousands before realising his dream with a runner in the Grand National in April 2021. Blaklion, a 50-1 shot, came sixth, landing him another £22,500.
Bookies are fearing one final bashing from Dettori as they expect punters to pile into his final rides on Champions Day.
The jockey himself is hoping for a few cheers – but admits there will be plenty of tears as he says goodbye to his spiritual home.
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nb press ltdDarren and Annaley now[/caption]
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