'I had £300,000 on Destriero' - Noel Furlong's £1.5 million Cheltenham pick-up

From 10 to 1, our countdown of the greatest gambles of all time. A new instalment will be published every weekday for the next fortnight. Today – No.3: Destriero and the 1991 Supreme Novices' Hurdle

The background

John James Furlong, known as Noel because his birthday fell on Christmas day, was a millionaire three times over.

First there was his carpet business, Furlong Flooring, the biggest in Ireland. Then there was poker – he began playing in 1984 and won the World Series of Poker main event in the USA 15 years later.

Finally came horses. Dublin-born Furlong's plan was for his wife Elizabeth to train their string but she was refused a licence so he employed Andy Geraghty as a private trainer, though he insisted 'Betty' did all the work (unofficially).

An example of Mrs Furlong's skill was finding The Illiad and buying him for just £2,500. The horse hadn't won for more than two years yet his new connections landed a huge gamble – 33-1 into 7-1 – in the valuable Ladbroke Hurdle at Leopardstown in 1991.

That earned Furlong enough to pay off a £500,000 VAT demand from HM Customs and Excise – a warrant was out for his arrest in Britain and without The Illiad he could not have gone to Cheltenham with the aim of pulling off an even bigger coup.

The build-up

Furlong bought bumper winner Destriero for a reported IR£55,000 from Mick O'Toole, who hailed him as "the best horse I've ever trained".

He looked a great prospect when bolting up by 12 lengths on his jumping debut in a maiden hurdle at Leopardstown on St Stephen’s Day, which led his owner to hatch a hugely ambitious plan.

Furlong targeted the Supreme Novices' Hurdle, the opening race at the Cheltenham Festival, and deliberately took him straight there. "We didn't run him because we didn't want to end up getting 2-1 instead of 6-1," he explained.

Noel Furlong: won an estimated £1.5 million on Destriero

He plunged on Destriero for the Supreme and The Illiad to win the Champion Hurdle, with plenty on the double as well.

"I had £300,000 on Destriero," he said later. "I backed Destriero with Ladbrokes over the phone, and also had a fair amount with a few of the independent bookmakers in Ireland, not mentioning any names. The worst price I got about Destriero was 6-1."

Was he confident? "Hadn't I paid half a million to the VAT man just to go to Cheltenham?" he said. "I thought Destriero was a certainty."

The race

Jockey Pat McWilliams did not know how much money was riding on the outcome, which probably helped him ride such a confident race.

Future Champion Hurdle winner Granville Again went off favourite and McWilliams was happy to track him, blissfully unaware what the owner stood to win as he watched the race from JP McManus's box.

He did not ask Destriero for his effort until after the second-last and his mount responded with an impressive burst of speed, going clear round the final bend.

The race was in the bag and a mistake at the final flight could not stop him coming home a four-length winner – earning Furlong £1.5 million.

That would have been £5m had The Illiad landed the Champion Hurdle two races later but he was dehydrated and trailed in last.

The aftermath

Furlong celebrated in fitting style and recalled: "We drank champagne into the small hours of the morning."

He landed further touches over the years, notably with the Jessica Harrington-trained Space Trucker in the Grand Annual Chase in 1999, and his wealth was estimated at €70 million in 2019. He died at the age of 83 in 2021.

Destriero himself never quite hit the heights his Cheltenham success had promised and he won just once from nine races afterwards.