Widower scoops £47,000 on the horses with string of 50p bets

A widower's dream garden is set to become a reality - after he won £47,000 on the horses.
Jimmy Taylor with his winning chequeJimmy Taylor with his winning cheque
Jimmy Taylor with his winning cheque

Lucky Jimmy Taylor put on a string of 50p bets - totalling £7.50 - on four horses at his local Betfred in Ellison Street, Jarrow.

The horses all came in - landing the 74-year-old with a whopping £47,013 windfall - beating the odds of 65,000/1 to win the Lucky 15 bet on Saturday.

The Betfred in Jarrow where Jimmy placed his stakeThe Betfred in Jarrow where Jimmy placed his stake
The Betfred in Jarrow where Jimmy placed his stake
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The retired chemical plant process worker successfully went for Yafta and Ginger Nut in the 15.00 and 15.35 at Newbury followed by Stewardess in the 17.50 at Ripon – and finally Save the Bees which was first past the post in the 19.30 at Haydock.

The grandfather-of-four already has plans to splash £3,000 of his winnings on a new lawn to spruce up his garden.

He said: “I had seen Saved the Bees and thought it could do better. Yafta went off at a reasonable price. Stewardess was in good form I went for Ginger Nut which won at 40/1.

“It’s my biggest win by a long way.

“I was watching TV at home when I realised I had won so much. I settled down with a cup of tea and tried to keep calm. I couldn’t even concentrate to do my sudoku puzzle.”

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He said: “I couldn’t think straight and didn’t sleep that night because it was on my mind. I kept trying to re-calculate the bet. I must have got up four times in the night for yet more cups of tea!”

He added: “It’s just brilliant to win so much from such a small stake. I have not had time to think about how to celebrate yet.”

As well as a new lawn, Jimmy, plans to have a new bathroom fitted, plastering work done, a new car and a holiday to Tenerife.

He says he also intends to give his sons some cash.

The Lucky 15 bet involves placing a single stake covering 15 combinations of four single wins, six doubles, four trebles and an accumulator. Betfred had promoted Newbury as a best odds guaranteed meeting, and with Ginger Nut winning at 40/1, Jimmy’s Lucky 15 was substantially enhanced – and boosted by a further ten per cent by the bookie as Jimmy picked four winners.

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Betfred boss Fred Done said: “I’m chuffed to bits for Jimmy, a regular customer who I’m told has been smiling all week after emptying my pockets on Saturday.

“By my reckoning he’s already found a way to spend his winnings. I have heard of folk buying all sorts of things like parrots, slap up fast food meals, luxury cruises and even a canoe.

“But a lawn is a new one!”