Horse racing bet makes Briton birthday millionaire

by Jeremy Lovell
Mon Feb 25, 2008

LONDON (Reuters) - A man celebrated his 60th birthday in unexpected style at the weekend when a 50 pence bet on the horses turned him into an instant millionaire.

Fred Craggs, from Yorkshire, was not even aware of his win when he walked into a branch of the William Hill betting agency to see how he had done with his accumulator bet.

When he was informed of his good fortune he was said to have turned rather pale and muttered that he had better go home to tell his wife. 

His coup was selecting eight winners running at various courses around the country -- starting with one called "Isn't That Lucky" and finishing with "A Dream Come True" -- at odds of 2,000,000 to one.

"This is the most amazing bet ever placed since betting shops were made legal in 1961," William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe said on Monday.