Jack Anderson: Odds stacked against regulator in problem gambling race

Yes, it's romantic to muse about having your money on a 100/1 winner and to reminisce about Foinavon hunting around Aintree in the swinging sixties but the commercial reality of betting today, as it ever was, is that such a long odds winner is dreamed of only by the bookies.

YOU BET: Racegoers at the bookmakers at Cheltenham Racecourse. Pic: Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images

I like a bet. The dream of every mug punter, and I am the muggiest of mugs, is a nice touch on an outsider. Gold Cup day at Cheltenham opened with Poniros (100-1) becoming the longest-priced winner ever of the Triumph Hurdle, and the first horse to win at the Festival at such odds since Norton’s Coin surprised everyone (and my few bob on Desert Orchid) to win the 1990 Gold Cup.

I had nothing on Poniros nor did I have any money on Mon Môme who won the Grand National at the same odds in 2009, the first to do so since Foinavon in 1967 which is forever set against the soundtrack of that evocative Michael O’Hehir commentary: “Rutherfords has been hampered, and so has Castle Falls; Rondetto has fallen, Princeful has fallen, Norther has fallen, Kirtle Lad has fallen, The Fossa has fallen, there's a right pile-up. Leedsy has climbed over the fence and left his jockey there. And now, with all this mayhem, Foinavon has gone off on his own!” Foinavon remains a romantic story, but Poniros’ win is about as sentimental as a balance sheet. The horse is owned by Brighton and Hove Albion’s millionaire owner Tony Bloom (hence the blue and white colours). Bloom, a well-known poker player (known as “The Lizard” – he’s so cold blooded) started his working life as an options trader but soon used his mathematical ingenuity to profitable effect on the gambling markets, eventually setting up a company called StarLizard.