One Christchurch punter is celebrating a million-dollar windfall from Tuesday's Melbourne Cup - the biggest payout for the event in TAB history.
Twilight Payment took out the 3200m race at Flemington, edging pre-race favourite Tiger Moth and perennial placegetter Prince of Arran in the run to the line.
But the result produced a huge payday for one Kiwi gambler, who laid down $120 on a variety of bets and received $1,168,185 back.
"Yesterday's Melbourne Cup will go down in history for many reasons, including setting several records," says TAB NZ executive chair Dean McKenzie.
"The retired man from Bishopdale placed a combination of First4 bests totalling $120. One of those combinations for $30 returned $1,168,185. The man received $38,939.50 for every dollar he bet."
The winning best was:
First - Twilight Payment or Tiger Moth
Second - Twilight Payment or Tiger Moth
Third - Prince of Arran or The Chosen One
Fourth - Prince of Arran or The Chosen One
Kiwi horse The Chosen One finished fourth, a freakish outcome for the punter.
"There are always wonderful stories that emerge out of the Melbourne Cup," says McKenzie. "For this Melbourne Cup punter, a $30 bet has turned out to be life changing.
"We've been back through our records and this is the biggest collect we've ever returned. Looking back as far as 2013, the next biggest Melbourne Cup win was $364,016."
The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, has been a loyal customer at his local TAB branch for 25 years.
"It was just surreal to see somebody win that amount of money," says branch manager Kerralyn Hooper. "I think initially our excitement was higher than his, because he was still in shock.
"The customer is well known to us and a really nice guy, so we're just thrilled for him."
This year's Melbourne Cup meet set several records - turnover on the main event reached $11.5m, beating the previous highest of $10.3m two years ago.
But the race also produced some sombre results, with Anthony Van Dyck euthanised, after breaking down near the finish.
Tiger Moth jockey Kerrin McEvoy was also fined and suspended for overuse of the whip on his mount.
