A horse without a win to its name from five previous starts caused one of the biggest upsets in British racing history on Friday. In five starts Heavenly Heather had been placed just once when runner-up in a novice stakes to earn a lowly rating of just 57.
Nevertheless despite her inferiority she was declared by trainer Tracy Waggott in the £150,000 BetMGM Fillies’ And Mares’ Championships Handicap on All-Weather Finals day at Newcastle. The top weight and hot favourite Cloud Cover was rated 103 but connections were happy to take him on despite Heavenly Heather having to carry 22lb more weight to take part.
The betting market reflected her chance but under Amie Waugh she outran the odds to triumph at 200-1, winning by half a length.
She became the 11th horse in British history to win at 200-1, the biggest priced winner recorded on the Flat. The biggest priced winner was Equinoctial who scored over jumps at Kelso in 1990.
While in Britain and Ireland the record is jointly held by He Knows No Fear who won at 300-1 at Leopardstown on the Flat in 2020 and Sawbuck who scored at the same odds over jumps in 2022.
The victory astounded the ITV Racing team with presenter Oli Bell exclaiming, “If you’ve backed that this isn’t just a good Friday, it’s a great Friday for you.”
Waggott, who trains in Spennymoor, County Durham, said: “I can’t believe it. We have always liked her at home but she is heavy topped and heavy framed and takes loads of work.
“I was sure she would be in the six because if you took the top two out it was only a Class 4 handicap.
“I’ve had big-priced winners before at Redcar and that, at 50-1 and 100-1. We always knew she was a really good horse. It was just getting her fit enough. Patience has paid off.”
Coral’s John Hill said: “Heavenly Heather is one of the biggest priced winners in British horse racing history. Remarkably, we took just over 400 bets on the horse, so it has turned out to be a Good Friday for those punters today.”
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