Dunedin man's $10 bet leads to $300,000 windfall

Len Glassford placed a $10 triple trio bet at the TAB on Saturday and won $300,000.

TAB windfall on a rank outsider dazzles Dunedin punter — but he says he's too old to spend it

A $10 bet at the TAB has scored a $300,000 windfall for a Dunedin man who says he's too old to spend his winnings.

Retired mail delivery man Len Glassford watched in disbelief from his couch as a rank outsider named Jagald placed third in the last race at Trentham on Saturday.

The 73-year-old had earlier placed $10 on a Triple Trio bet, making him a return of $30,000 for each dollar he wagered.

Mr Glassford said he still couldn't believe he had won until Monday despite long phone calls from family members to verify what happened and his seeing the six-figure sum appear in his TAB account within half an hour of the race.

"You don't expect to get this kind of money at the races; you would think it was Lotto," he said.

To win Triple Trio, punters need to get the first three placegetters in each of the three nominated races. The order of the horses doesn't matter - just that they placed in the top three.

Mr Glassford, who was watching the races at home on TV with family, had done well selecting the three place-getters in each of the two races before the last leg. His easy bet for the final race included Jagald after his original pick and race favourite was scratched. "Jagald ... was 15th on the list but [it] got third," Mr Glassford said.

"Things got a bit boisterous at home. I don't drink, but my family sure did that night."

Mr Glassford said he was a bit peeved he had just paid for a new car but was happy the winnings would help his family.

"I'm too old to spend it now. They can do with it what they will."

TAB spokesman Tom Judd said Mr Glassford had defied odds of 1 in 1.05 million.

Mr Glassford was the biggest of five winners who had the first three horses home in each of the three Triple Trio races and won a share of the TAB's $1 million prize pool.