Punters hit the jackpot

Punters piled on the Tote Jackpot at Sedgefield today, swelling the pool to £1,047,087 (€1,500,000) – the fifth biggest in history.

The day began with £432,155 (€620,000) in the pot, but over £600,000 (€885,000) was added as punters tried their luck.

And it paid off for many with 23.5 winning tickets and a dividend of £31,635.30 (€45,500).

“Punters have gone jackpot crazy,” said spokesman Damian Walker.

“We expected the jackpot to top three-quarters of million but it seems the combination of a massive pot and plenty of short-priced favourites proved too tempting for punters, who pushed the pool through the £1million barrier.

“After three legs and no winning favourites just £2,446 remained, but the market leaders landed the last three heats returning a jackpot dividend of £31,635.30 with 23.50 winning tickets.”

The biggest ever Jackpot pool was £2,050,651 at Exeter in March 1995.