Big-staking punter wins £830,000 as awesome Energumene cruises to Champion Chase success

A big-staking punter never had a moment's worry as they collected a monster payout of £830,000, having placed a £600,000 bet with bookmaker Star Sports on Energumene to win the Champion Chase at Cheltenham on Wednesday.

Energumene, who returned the well-backed 6-5 favourite, was always in command as he cruised home to win back-to-back runnings of the day two showpiece under Paul Townend.

While favourite backers cheered home Energumene, the race made for painful viewing for Brighton-based firm Star Sports, who on Tuesday paid out £83,000 to one punter after accepting a £230,000 bet on Constitution Hill to win the Champion Hurdle.

Wednesday's bet is the latest twist in a tale between Star Sports and a big-staking fan of Energumene, with speculation that the person behind the six-figure punts is the horse's owner Tony Bloom, the acclaimed gambler behind sports data specialists Starlizard and the owner of Premier League football club Brighton & Hove Albion.

Following the race Bloom was asked by ITV Racing's Ed Chamberlin whether he had backed the horse, to which he replied: "I had a few quid on, so we're quids in."

The owner added: "We were really confident going in and he's run a tremendous race. He looked the top horse all the way round and we're absolutely delighted."

'It's painful for the bookmakers'

On the continuation of a costly week, Star Sports head of trading Dave Jolly said: "We're here to lay big bets and on this occasion it has won. He won well and is a great horse and there are no hard feelings. We're a bit sore at the moment but we'll keep going.

"It's painful for the bookmakers. At Cheltenham, you've got the best taking on the best and they're performing well but we've got two more days to go."

The big-money duels between the unnamed punter and Star Sports date back to Energumene's defeat to Shishkin in the 2021 Clarence House Chase.

The bookmaker laid a £360,000 single bet at 6-4 for Energumene to beat Shishkin that day, when he finished runner-up, while a bet of £150,000 on Energumene at 100-30 in last year's Queen Mother Champion Chase cost Star Sports £500,000.

The battle continued in the Clarence House Chase this year when two bets totalling £725,000, one of £350,000 at 4-7 and the other of £375,000 at 8-15, on Energumene were sunk.

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