Wiltshire recalls costly afternoon

Gary Wiltshire can afford to smile now but 20 years ago that was about all he could afford after losing more than £1million through Frankie Dettori’s ‘Magnificent Seven’.

The on-course bookmaker can hold his head up high after rolling up his sleeves and working hard to pay back every penny and reflect on the day that changed his life forever.

“It doesn’t seem like 20 years. I’ll never forget that day,” he said.

“I was just caught up in the excitement and everything. I had no intention of going there and laying the bets I laid. I just got carried away with the atmosphere.

“It was the best day for racing ever and it was certainly life-changing for me.”

Yet Wiltshire should not have been at Ascot. He was on his way to the jumps meeting at Worcester but a motorway pile-up saw him change course – a course that would have a lasting and dramatic effect on his entire life.

“I was on my way to Worcester. I had no intention of going to Ascot. There was a pile-up on the M40 at Banbury, so I decided to turn back.

“I thought the seven races looked hard at Ascot, so I thought I’d go there and try to win a few quid, never dreaming it was going to end like that.

“It was just an amazing thing that happened.

“I lost over £1million – and just in the one race. I was winning …

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