Weekend Review: Sandown carnage disrupts Cheltenham Festival build-up
William Hill laments six-figure cost of paying out on two winners after photo-finish drama at Sandown’s EBF Final
There was no calm before the storm in the build-up to Cheltenham Festival this week after a photo-finish error during the EBF Final at Sandown saw many bookmakers pay out twice.
Operators including William Hill, Ladbrokes Coral and Sky Bet, paid out on official winner Third Wind, as well as One For Rosie, who was wrongly announced as the victor after a judge based his decision on the wrong photo-finish.
Rather than both cameras on the correct winning line, one camera was focused on the first winning line which resulted in the controversy at Sandown today. Chief steward Will Hudson attributes "human error" and apologises for the far-reaching betting implications pic.twitter.com/EPQDlhXkXz
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 9, 2019
The mistake cost Hills a six-figure sum, according to Rupert Adams.
“The photo-finish debacle cost us a small six-figure fortune and I still cannot see why we the bookies had to pay out on both when it clearly was not our mistake,” Adams told EGR Intel.
The blow was softened by a good weekend for the layers in the Premier League, however. Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Manchester United proved the result of the round, while Tottenham lost at Southampton and Chelsea drew with Wolves.
Adams said: “It was a much better weekend on the football as last week was truly awful. The key results for us were Arsenal, Chelsea and Napoli, as well as Luton’s 0-0 draw with Plymouth.”
Kindred also came out on top against the football punters in nine of the 10 top-flight matches this weekend, which in turn led to a huge wipeout of accumulators.
We are back! Amazing party at the Emirates today!???? @Arsenal pic.twitter.com/x7FeRLATXl
— Bernd Leno (@Bernd_Leno) March 10, 2019
The operator’s Ali Gill said: “Arsenal’s win to nil over in-form Man Utd was both our biggest overall event of the weekend and by some distance our biggest winner, with United to win or draw both very popular with punters.
“Shock results at the top of the table for Spurs and Chelsea also left us well in the black, with Brighton’s away win over Palace also a huge winner for us,” he added.