The Real Whacker, trained by Patrick Neville, won the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. Former jockey Paddy 'Mad' Merrigan celebrated his big win and claimed to have pocketed over £50,000 from the victory.
The Real Whacker sparked jubilant scenes in the Cheltenham parade ring when he landed the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase at the Festival back in March. Trained by Limerick native Patrick Neville , the seven-year-old saw off 5/4 favourite Gerri Colombe, who is strongly fancied for next year's Gold Cup, with a brilliant front-running performance under Sam Twiston-Davies at odds of 8/1.
And the scenes in the winners' enclosure afterwards were arguably even more entertaining than the impressive win as former jockey and well-known punter Paddy 'Mad' Merrigan celebrated 'cleaning out the bookies'. READ MORE: Cheltenham horse racing tips and full race card for Friday's action Merrigan, who used to work with the horse's trainer and now runs a tipping service, claimed to have pocketed more than £50,000 from the victory with one betting firm alone. He said: "The whole of Ireland has backed this horse for six months. "We have cleaned the bookies, it’s over. 50-1 is the first bet I had, don’t worry about I much I win. I can assure you it was the biggest bet of my life
The Real Whacker Cheltenham Festival Horse Racing Patrick Neville Paddy Merrigan Betting