England has just gotten its own longest-priced equine success story after those of Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.

Blowers, a racing horse with Nigel Hawke as its trainer, was first to cross the finish line at the opener at Exeter with odds at 300/1.

A horse with such hefty odds coming out on top is a rarity at the best of times, and a few lucky punters will have walked home with their pockets full after yesterday’s race – dealing a blow to a few bookies and their trading teams in the process, no doubt.

Although football overtook racing as the most bet on sport in the UK back in 2019, horse racing remains the country’s second most popular betting market and is a particularly core product for the retail sector.

Blowers was guided to the finish line by jockey James Best, who was substituting for fellow jockey Ella Herbison.

For Racing TV, Best commented: “Ella Herbison was meant to ride him. I was on my way to riding out on the M5 at ten past six and a random unknown Irish number rang me. Sometimes I don’t answer and I didn’t know who it was.

“It was Ella. ‘Do you want to ride one in the first at Exeter?’ Sadly, she got stuck in traffic and didn’t make her flight. Thank you to Ella for thinking of me, and to Nigel and the owners to allow me to ride.

“He was keen the last day so Nigel said with the ground being tested, he was worried they might crawl. Plan A was to drop in last, but then we thought he might relax better in front.

“He was jumping out to his left a bit so I stayed middle to outer down the back. He’s clearly handled the ground, got in a nice rhythm and thank you to all connections.”

Blowers’ quirks were also highlighted by Hawke himself, but he believed that they were crucial for the win at Exeter, with heavy weather conditions and 50mm of rain falling a few days prior to the race.

The outsider’s win is a repeat of the 2022 Sawbuck victory in Punchestown at 300/1, Leopardstown’s 300/1 shot by He Knows No Fear in 2020, and the first such record set in Britain by 250/1 Equinoctial at Kelso in 1990.

“You can see that he’s an absolute brute of a horse,” Hawke told Racing TV. “The biggest problem is just controlling him. We always thought he is a nice horse if we could control him. That’s why it’s 300-1. This horse is just a handful. But to be fair, everybody’s done a great job and it’s what it’s all about.

“The owners have some lovely horses at home. They breed the old-fashioned type, these are brutes of horses, which you don’t see much nowadays. But on days like this, they come to element.”