Monster £100,000 National bet was no publicity stunt, says Fitzwilliam boss Byrne

Fitzwilliam Sports owner Paul Byrne has insisted the £100,000 wager his firm took on I Am Maximus to win the Randox Grand National at Aintree on Saturday was a “real bet” and not a publicity stunt.

Byrne’s company took the bet on the Willie Mullins-trained, JP McManus-owned winner at 8-1 and he eventually returned the heavily-backed 9-2 victor, as he emulated Red Rum in regaining his Aintree crown.

Well-known pundit and personality Johnny Dineen was fronting the Fitzwilliam pitch and told the Press Association at the time: “It’s the biggest bet we’ve ever taken, £100,000 at 8-1. It’s our biggest bet by a mile and we’ll have to try to trade some of it off in the ring.”

Byrne, who owns runaway Irish Grand National winner Solider In Milan, himself seen as a leading contender for Aintree honours next year. said his firm had managed to trade away some of their liability before the start.

Speaking on Racing TV’s Luck On Sunday programme, Byrne said: “It was a real bet. Someone wanted to back the horse – 8-1 was freely available, there was 9-1 in places and I thought it was an opportunity to get the bet away.

“I thought there was a way to trade your way out of the bet. There was about three hours before the race. At the time the exchanges were looking full of opportunities to get away at a bigger price.

“In that opportunity you’re looking to get away and maybe either row in behind the punter. At that level you could have I Am Maximus running for £50,000, maybe £100,000 for free in an ideal world. It didn’t work out like that!

“So it was panic stations come the end just to get rid of the money and I think that was most likely the reason for the SP.

“I was surprised how weak the market became for our marquee race. I would say that if there was a delay to the start he would have gone off even shorter.

“When we took the bet there was a little over 10-1 available on the exchanges for a couple of thousand a box.

“We had pretty good avenues and outlets (to trade the bet) and called in them all. And at the finish it was a scramble whether we wanted him to win or lose.

“It wasn’t this romantic way to say the bookmaker’s going to lose £800,000. That was never the idea, it was to get the bet away, (although) I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think of the business itself as well, that it looks good, there’s no point saying otherwise.”