Sha Tin punter nets $110m Triple Trio payout

A punter yesterday won $110,102,860 on the Triple Trio - the second-highest payout ever - on the final day of the season at Sha Tin.

The racecourse punter had two winning $5 tickets, but the second became a winner only because the horse he intended to back, Cool Swing in race four, was automatically switched to favourite Plenty of Surprise after Cool Swing was withdrawn shortly before the start. This gave the punter two winning combinations in the middle leg with horse numbers 10, 2 and 3, and the win was completed when three of the punter's nine selections made the places in race six, the final leg.

The record Triple Trio payout for a $10 ticket of $133,576,963 was won on March 28, 1998.

Two other winners had $2 tickets for a payout of $22,020,572 each yesterday. Both were placed at Jockey Club off-course betting branches.

The Triple Trio wins came as the Jockey Club reported a four per cent fall in betting turnover for the 2001-02 season.

Overall turnover was $78.159 billion, a drop from $81.533 billion last season, which continued the downward trend since a high in 1996-97 when turnover exceeded $92 billion.