For PonyBet bookmaker Anthony Jupp, the weekend began with an unwelcome surprise before most Australians had even poured their first coffee.
One punter landed a sizeable collect in Dubai, turning a $6,000 wager into $43,500 at Meydan.
“It wasn’t the nicest way to wake up,” Jupp said.
“We started off on the back foot when one punter turned $6,000 into $43,500 at Meydan. I didn’t even realise they were racing there.”
Fortunately for PonyBet, the same punter soon handed some of that money back.
The bet came in Race 8 at Sunland Park in the United States, a race run over just 320 metres – a distance more commonly associated with greyhounds than thoroughbreds.
“He backed the $2 favourite over 320 metres,” Jupp said.
“That’s basically a horse race over a greyhound trip. The favourite missed the kick, which you absolutely can’t do over that distance.”
The result clawed back $5,000 for the book and helped steady the early damage.
Back in Australia, the action at Flemington and Randwick kept the pressure on early in the afternoon.
PonyBet managed a small win when Legacy Bound took out the opening race at Flemington, though the result proved popular with punters.
“We liked Legacy Bound so we won something small on the first at HQ, but it set up any number of multis,” Jupp said.
Despite doing out one of the rougher runners. Scheelite proved a poor result for Ponybet, who sent $10k into the ether when the Ken and Kasey Keys-trained gelding was able to win.
At Randwick, the book briefly found itself cheering for champion jockey James McDonald.
“We laid $1,500 at $17 about Horseshoe Hill in Race 5, so Beadman did us a favour there,” Jupp said.
“Fancy a bookie cheering for J-Mac.”
The celebrations didn’t last long.
“We were against J-Mac in the Aspiration and Pinito was a shocking result – that one cost us about $21,000.”
There was further pain in South Australia, where Star Sirius saluted at Murray Bridge after PonyBet laid the horse at $5.
“Race 6 at Murray Bridge was another bad one for us,” Jupp said.
As the Flemington program rolled on, however, the tide began to turn.
“We came home with a wet sail at Flemington. The last three races were excellent results for the book.”
That said, punters still found their share of winners.
“J-Mac rode six winners on the day and punters were also all over Sheza Alibi in the Randwick Guineas, so there wasn’t a lot of joy there.”
As is often the case, one of the more frustrating results came far from the major metropolitan meetings.
“There’s always something out wide and this week it was the BM52 at Towong where we laid $1,000 at $6.50 about the winner,” Jupp said.
Ultimately, it was results outside racing that helped steady the ledger.
“The Bunbury races were kind to us and so were the two footy codes.”
After a chaotic weekend that spanned Dubai, America and Australia – and featured one of the shortest horse races imaginable – PonyBet escaped relatively unscathed.
“We managed to get back to square in the book,” Jupp said.
“But there’s still a whole lot of bills to pay.”
