Lucky punter lands more than £400,000 for £6 bet in Melbourne Cup

A punter in Australia won almost A$800,000 (£425,000/€494,000) from a A$10 stake on the Lexus Melbourne Cup after an anxious 20-minute wait for the result of the stewards' inquiry.

The Sportsbet user placed A$10 (£6.13/€5.27) on a first-four prediction and needed Vow And Declare to win, Prince Of Arran to finish second, Il Paradiso to come third and Master Of Reality to take fourth.

Master Of Reality, partnered by Frankie Dettori for Joseph O’Brien, was second past the post, but had bumped the Aidan O’Brien-trained Il Paradiso, who finished fourth past the post after his late surge through the field was impacted by the interference.

Master Of Reality (left) squeezes up Il Paradiso and Vow And Declare (right) in the latter stages of Tuesday's Melbourne CupCredit: Racing Photos

Much to the punter's delight, placings were altered, with Prince Of Arran and Il Paradiso moving above Ascot Gold Cup third Master Of Reality, who was demoted to fourth in a decision that cost connections a whopping A$750,000, but won the bettor A$793,842.

Dettori, who described the interference as "very minimal" to the stewards, was hit with a nine-meeting suspension.

"Safe to say our punter would have been incredibly happy with Frankie Dettori's aggressive ride," Sportsbet's Rich Hummerston said. "This is the modern day rags-to-riches story."

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