300-1 shot Blowers becomes longest-priced UK winner

Blowers won the first-round match at Exeter on Thursday for odds of 300-1, becoming the longest-priced winner in UK racing history.

Equinoctial, who won at Kelso in November 1990, with a score of 250-1, set the previous record.

The feat has been accomplished twice in Ireland, most recently by Sawbuck at Punchestown in April 2022 and by Leopardstown’s He Knows No Fear in 2020.

The five-year-old, who was trained by Nigel Hawke and ridden by James Best, was named in honor of Henry Blofeld, a retired cricket commentator, who had only previously run twice.

Before being pulled up at odds of 200-1 at Chepstow on his rules debut, he was well held in a Larkhill point-to-point.

“I was a little surprised by his price, but I suppose that’s how markets operate.” He only ran once in his life, and he did so in a race at Larkhill, where he received financial support that day. “He had breathing issues,” Hawke said.

You saw what Besty did on him today and he continued to gallop, according to the amateur jockey we had on when we ran him at Chepstow.

To be fair, I don’t want to criticize 300-1 because it was “a bit ridiculous,” but we did know we had a horse with some abilities and the owners always produced a nice breed of horse.

He simply had to learn to race because he had done nothing wrong at home. He will have learned a lot today, but he can’t do anything but win, and that’s what he’s done right now. He won’t be 300-1 the next time, undoubtedly.

There is a lovely story behind him, according to Mr. and Mrs. Pudd, the owners, who are West Country residents.

After more than 50mm of rain since Monday, which was described as heavy, Blowers finished three-quarters of a length ahead of 5-4 favorite On The Bayou.

Best, who had picked up the ride the morning of the race after amateur jockey Ella Herbison had missed her flight, had a chance to win the victory.

Best told Racing TV that Ella Herbison was supposed to take him. At ten past six, I received a random, unknown Irish number as I was about to leave the M5. I sometimes ignore responses when I’m not sure who they were.

Ella was it. Would you like to take one of Exeter’s first riders? She sadly didn’t take her flight because she was stuck in traffic. I appreciate Ella’s thoughtfulness and Nigel and the owners’ permission to ride with me.

The last day, Nigel said, “He was concerned that they might crawl because of the ground being tested.” Plan A was supposed to come in last, but we later realized he might prefer to wait.

He was yanking at his left, so I kept going backwards, middle to the left. He handled the ground well, established a nice rhythm, and thanked everyone for their connections.