Welsh dairy farmer Griffiths coins it with 'shock of the century'

1 The longest-priced winner in British racing history was Equinoctial, returned at an SP of 250-1 when winning the Grants Whisky Novices' Handicap Hurdle at Kelso on November 21, 1990. Trained by County Durham-based Norman Miller and ridden by 7lb claimer Andrew Heywood, the five-year-old was 15lb 'wrong' at the weights compared to his long handicap mark. In four previous starts under rules he had been pulled up twice, fell once and been beaten 62 lengths at Hexham.

2 Theodore, the St Leger winner of 1822, is the biggest-priced British Classic winner after being returned at 1000-5, which equates to 200-1. His trainer James Croft saddled the first four home in the Doncaster Classic, having maintained the winner was the least fancied of his quartet as he had been tailed off in a trial and was said to be suffering from corns. He made all under jockey John Jackson.

3 Theodore remains joint-holder of the record for longest-priced winner of any Flat race in Britain alongside Beechy Bank, who won at Warwick in September 2002, and Dandy Flame, returned at 200-1 last July when winning an all-weather maiden at Wolverhampton. "I've got more chance of riding a 200-1 winner than I have a favourite because I never get to ride favourites," said Beechy Bank's rider Vince Slattery. Arctic Blue (Chepstow 2005), Maoi Chinn Tire (Wetherby 2010) and Lights Of Broadway (Taunton 2012) have all scored at 200-1 over jumps since the turn of the century.

4 Tailed off at Windsor on his sole previous outing, Dandy Flame returned a whopping SP of 763-1 on Betfair but only a measly 49.7-1 on the Tote. "He's always shown plenty of speed at home and I hoped he would win," said the two-year-old's trainer Jose Santos. "I had a bit on, but I'm not a big gambler."

Snow Knight: one of two 50-1 shots to win the Derby since the war, pictured here after his Epsom success under the late Brian TaylorCredit: Gerry Cranham (cranhamphoto.com)

5 Three 100-1 shots have won the Derby, Jeddah (1898), Signorinetta (1908) and Aboyeur (on a disqualification in 1913). The biggest outsiders to triumph in the post Second World War period have been Psidium (66-1 in 1961), and the 50-1 chances Airborne (1946) and Snow Knight (1974). In 1989, the Clive Brittain-trained Terimon was second to Nashwan at 500-1. Foinavon, who benefited from a melee at the fence after the Canal Turn, is the most celebrated of the five 100-1 shots to win the Grand National.

6 Fourteen odds-on Derby favourites have been beaten, the most recent being 4-6 shot Entrepreneur, fourth to Benny The Dip in 1997. The three shortest-priced losing Derby favourites have been Surefoot (40-95) in 1890, Macgregor (4-9) in 1870, and Tudor Minstrel (4-7) in 1947. All three had won the 2,000 Guineas decisively and were outstanding champions at up to a mile and a quarter, but finished fourth at Epsom after failing to stay.

7 The Racing Post front page the day after the 1990 Cheltenham Gold Cup said it all. Norton's Coin, trained by dairy farmer Sirrell Griffiths, scored at 100-1: this indeed was the 'Shock of the century'. Norton's Coin was one of only three horses owned and trained by Griffiths as a sideline to his main business. Before he left for Cheltenham on the morning of the Gold Cup, Griffiths milked the cows on his farm at Nantgaredig in south Wales; a few hours later, he was welcoming back the most improbable winner in the history of the race after Norton's Coin surged to victory by three-quarters of a length over Toby Tobias. Back in third was odds-on favourite Desert Orchid.

Waldemar Zeitelhack, owner of 119-1 winner Star Appeal, receives the Arc trophy from French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing in 1975Credit: Keystone/Hulton archive (Getty Images)

8 According to Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe folklore, jockey Greville Starkey was so convinced he had no chance on German-trained Star Appeal in 1975 that he indulged in a sizeable meal before arriving at Longchamp. The horse won at 119-1 to become the longest-priced winner of the race.

9 The Andre Fabre-trained Arcangues remains the only European-trained horse to win a Breeders' Cup Classic on dirt. Despite the presence of none other than Jerry Bailey in the saddle at Santa Anita in 1993, he was a 133-1 shot on the pari-mutuel. Not that Bailey was confident. "I agreed to ride Arcangues simply because it beat the alternative – which was to watch the race in the jocks' room," he admitted.

10 So many shock results have taken place at Saratoga that it is known as both the 'Graveyard of Champions' and the 'Graveyard of Favourites'. Among those to go down at the historic New York venue are Man o' War (beaten by the appropriately named Upset on his only career defeat in 1919), the 1930 Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox (lost to 100-1 shot Jim Dandy), Secretariat (stunned by a horse called Onion in the Whitney) and American Pharoah (beaten by Keen Ice).