Many camps in horse racing believe that the industry needs to give its customers the chance to hit a life-altering jackpot. It’s been proven time and time again that excitement and wagering in horse racing increases when the stakes grow. One handicapper struck it rich this past weekend, to the tune of millions no less.

A lucky horse racing punter received a life-changing windfall this past weekend when he/she nailed an exotic wager that returned just a smidge less than $5.6-million (CAD).

According to an article by The Asahi Shimbun, one lucky bettor correctly handicapped a five-race exotic wager offered by the Japan Racing Association (JPA) that led to the tsunami of cash.

The article explains that the JPA wager, the ‘WIN5,’ is only available online and handicappers can take a crack at it for 100 Yen ($1.18 CAD). On Sunday (Feb. 24), the lucky handicapper in question constructed the only correct ticket for the bet; and it turned out to be a pool shot, as the other 6,740,128 wagers that had been placed failed to prognosticate the correct outcome.

Under the parameters of the wager, The Asahi Shimbun has stated that the winning ticket took home 70 per cent of the 674,012,900-Yen ($7.99-million CAD) pool, which equated to 471,809,030 Yen, or $5,598,520 CAD.

(With files from The Asahi Shimbun)