Stable lad kept waiting over a year for £275,000 winning bet has sum settled by bookie

A stable lad who was kept waiting over a year for a life-changing sum of money he won in a bet is to have it settled. Dylan Phelan, who works for trainer Declan Queally in Waterford, Ireland, placed a series of wagers involving two horses trained by his boss in April last year.

He combined Rocky’s Diamond and Diamond Nora in a €30 [£26] each-way double in a Ladbrokes betting shop in Limerick, taking odds of 80-1 and 125-1 of horses returned at much shorter starting prices of 22-1 and 16-1.

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After both triumphed in their races at Limerick and Ballinrobe, Phelan was set to collect £272,694.75, but under the shop rules the maximum payout was set at €100,000 [£85,000].

According to Phelan, smaller bets placed with other bookmakers were paid out, but Ladbrokes declined citing an investigation launched by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board into the apparent improvement in form of the two horses.

Phelan explained his plight in a video posted this week by Racing’s Inside Tracktv which has had nearly 3m views.

He said: “Never in my wildest dreams did I think it was going to come off but I was kind of hoping they might both be in the money and I would get a little return out of it.

“Before I knew it I was sitting on cloud nine. It’s like sitting on a winning lottery ticket that you can’t access. It’s tough, mentally draining.

He went on: “They are refusing to pay out number one, and they’ve been so unhelpful. No real justification why I am not getting paid. At the end of the day, they are withholding money due to this IHRB investigation. That’s nothing to do with me. I placed a winning bet and was lucky enough it won.”

The IHRB revealed this week that the investigation was near a conclusion but confirmed that Phelan was not the subject of its inquiries.

In a statement given to the Racing Post, Ladbrokes said on Friday: "We have now discussed this matter with the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board [IHRB] in order to seek a resolution as quickly as possible.

“Although the IHRB is unable to provide details of the investigation, or its likely duration, we are satisfied that it is appropriate to proceed with payment of the relevant bets in accordance with our terms and conditions.”