Racing: Fifth time lucky means huge dividend

A $20 all-up bet which returned a dividend of $4101.75 for a Lower Hutt woman resulted in her driving away in a new car valued at $22,000.

Jane Baker placed the bet on the last four races at the Hawkes Bay meeting, as part of the punter-of-the-year competition.

She put $20 to win on Distinctly Secret in the feature race, the Kelt Capital Stakes, all-up Dominatrix to win in race eight, all-up Burglar for a place in race nine and all-up Asgoodas for a place in race 10.

The collect took her total winnings to $4185.30, which was the highest amount won among the 124 on-course punters in the punter-of-the-year competition.

Each punter had to outlay $1500 spread over the 10 Hawkes Bay races on Saturday.

The Mitsubishi Colt car was the first prize in the on-course section of the contest.

But the overall winner and recipient of $50,000 cash was Syndicate 1314, which placed its bets through an off-course TAB.

There were 88 off-course syndicates competing and three of them figured highest among the overall placings.

Syndicate 1314 turned its initial $1500 outlay into $23,429, mainly due to a $1000 each-way bet on last-race winner Sonia Blade, who paid $18.35 for a win and $4.70 for a place.

Second-placed overall was Puke2 Syndicate, also off-course, which had a final return of $14,022.

Third-placed overall was Nana Plaza with $5000.

Baker was fourth overall but the best of those in the special punters' room on the Hastings track.

She is the wife of racing identity Pat Baker, proprietor of the car sales firms of El Cheapo Cars and Auto Auctions and sponsor of the Auto Auctions Weight-for-age, a group-one race at Otaki.

Pat Baker has been a regular entrant in the punter-of-the-year competition for 16 years and his wife has entered in each of the past five.

"We've never done much good up until now," Pat Baker said.

The total number of entries in this year's competition was well down on the last two years, but the betting turnover in the punters' room of $339,249 was only slightly down on last year's $345,000.

The competition, New Zealand's biggest of its kind, did not seem to create as much interest as it has in recent years, with the novelty possibly starting to wear off.

Second placegetter on course was the Raspadora Syndicate with $3852.05.

It received a trip for two to the 2004 Adelaide Cup.

Third-placed Kilaman For His Taro Syndicate turned its $1500 into $3832.80 and won a $1500 TAB telephone account credit.

The biggest bettor on the day was the Mt Egmont Syndicate, which turned over $13,433.50 during the competition, and won a $1500 TAB telephone account credit.

- NZPA