Paul Dean – Winning Big at Cheltenham

On the fourth day of the 2021 Cheltenham Festival, a.k.a. ‘St. Patrick’s Day’, Paul Dean made headlines when it was revealed that he had partially cashed out a £5 five-fold accumulator, potentially worth £511,225, for £250,000. Dean, 40, stood to collect the larger amount if Envoi Allen – whom he had backed, ante-post, at 9/2 – won the opening race on the fifth and final day, the Marsh Novices’ Chase. Having won all eleven previous races, including a point-to-point and all three starts over regulation fences, Envoi Allen was sent off at odds-on, but fell at the fourth fence.

However, Dean, who hails from Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, wasn’t quite finished. On that fifth and final day, Cheltenham Gold Cup Day, he reportedly took his Cheltenham betting to the next level and placed a tricast bet on the feature race, correctly predicted the first, second and third horses home, in the right order, and won a further £140,000. What wasn’t reported, though, was the exact nature of the bet that he placed. The tricast dividend for Minella Indo to beat A Plus Tard and Al Boum Photo paid £91.54 to a £1 stake, according to the Racing Post; to win £140,000, Dean must have staked a little over £1,529 on his winning line, either as a straight tricast, or as one of a series of stakes in a combination tricast.

Either way, the front three oulled well clear in the closing stages, leaving a yawning, 24-length gap to the fourth horse home, Native River. Dean appeared well satisfied with his week’s work. He said, ‘I’m buzzing, the whole family is. I am going to have a few beers and let this sink in. I cannot wait for my local pub to reopen. It is going to be quite some party.’