Horse Racing / Joe Dyer / 18 November 2008 / Leave a comment

Customers will once again be able to place their bets on Saturday's £3,000,000 Scoop6 on Betfair.

Betfair customers collectively pumped an impressive £246,602 into the toteScoop6 pool last Saturday - and it was one of the exchange's punters who came agonizingly close to netting the £2m-plus prize outright when 66-1 chance Maneki Neko finished second in the concluding 2m handicap hurdle.

The Betfair customer, who declined to be named and who was having only his second Scoop6 bet last Saturday, placed 2,304 x £2 lines on Betfair's on-site Tote betting facility.

He still had three live tickets going into the last; [6.0] second favourite Hernando Royal, [10.0] chance Busker Royal and [67.0] outsider Maneki Neko.

Hernando Royal had every chance in finishing fourth, though Busker Royal was only two lengths away in third and finishing well when falling two out.

But when he saw Maneki Neko - which translates as "Beckoning Cat" but is also ironically known as money cat or fortune cat, and is a Japanese sculpture believed to bring good luck to the owner - challenging for the lead on the run-in, his heart must have skipped a beat.

Especially, as at one point, the horse went as low as [3.0] in Betfair's in-running market before being beaten four lengths by Sunnyhilboy.

But it was not to be and the punter will be hoping for better Scoop6 fortune this weekend.
Betfair spokesman Tony Calvin commented: "It was a galling near-miss, that is for sure.

"Our customers are now pumping significant sums into the Tote pools - for example they bet over £70,000 into Fakenham's £228,110 Jackpot carryover today.

"We also try to promote the bet on our site by offering markets on whether the Scoop 6 will be won, and this weekend we are also offering a market on how much will be bet into the pool.

"But we already have a number of our bigger customers gearing up to place six-figure perms into the pool on Saturday - so let battle commence once again."