Sawbuck, a four-year-old gelding that had failed to reach the frame in six previous starts on the Flat and over hurdles, equalled the British and Irish record for the longest starting price of a winner with a 300-1 success in the opening race at Punchestown on Tuesday.
Trained by Conor O’Dwyer, the former Gold Cup-winning jockey, and ridden by his son Charlie, Sawbuck briefly touched 400-1 in the betting for the maiden hurdle before settling at 300-1 at the off, but rarely looked in much danger of being overhauled after taking the lead in the early stages.
Sawbuck’s last start before Tuesday’s success was on the all-weather Flat course at Dundalk, where he finished 10th of 12.
It is less than two years since Luke Comer’s He Knows No Fear set a new record for a winning SP in Britain and Ireland with a 300-1 victory on the Flat at Leopardstown in August 2020. The previous highest winning SP in Ireland was the 200-1 returned on Killahara Castle at Thurles in 2017, while the top-priced winner in Britain is still Equinoctial, who went in at 250-1 in a hurdle race at Kelso in 1990.
“He’s been in great form at home,” Charlie O’Dwyer said, “and after his last two runs over hurdles, I came here thinking if he could finish somewhere in the middle of them, I would have been delighted.
“The minute the flag dropped he travelled great and I couldn’t fault him anywhere. He just got a bit close to the last but he’s done it fairly handily enough.”
Newton Abbot 1.30 Gentle Connections 2.00 From The Heart 2.30 Glengeever 3.00 Arizona Glory 3.30 Guernesey 4.00 Adrien Du Pont 4.32 Professor Calculus
Beverley 1.40 Stanley Snugfit 2.10 Waverley Star 2.40 Stolen Glory 3.10 Saisons D’Or 3.40 Space Tracker 4.15 Crown Princess (nb) 4.48 Bit Of A Quirke 5.20 Otto Oyl
Hamilton Park 1.50 Rory 2.20 Rock Opera 2.50 Nearly A Gonna (nap) 3.20 The New Marwan 3.50 We Still Believe 4.25 Shine On Brendan 4.55 Hoi An Beach
Warwick 5.00 Good News 5.35 Rhebus Road 6.05 Leylak 6.35 Sail Away 7.05 Eva’s Diva 7.35 Churchtown Glen 8.10 Undoubtedly
Ripon 5.25 Betweenthesticks 5.55 Henery Hawk 6.25 Burj Malinka 6.55 Tamarama 7.25 Captain Kane 8.00 Banned 8.30 Peachey Carnehan
Despite his huge SP and unpromising form going in to the race, Sawbuck did not go entirely unbacked. Coral reported a £2 each-way bet on the winner, which returned £724.
“Not many punters looked twice at the horse,” John Hill, the firm’s spokesperson, said. “They clearly saw something others had missed.”
