Lad, 25, explained why he picked two winning horses in huge £275,000 bet that bookies are refusing to pay out

A lad won a huge €320,000 (£274,000) on a bet, but the bookies are refusing to pay it out.

Dylan Phelan backed two winning horses with a €60 (£51) each way bet for Rocky Diamond and Diamond Nora, at combined odds of over 5000/1.

And while the 25-year-old doesn’t think the court will overrule the bookies’ decision to pay his winnings, he’s explained just why he backed those horses.

The stable lad from the Republic of Ireland is taking Ladbrokes to high court after initially being on ‘cloud nine’ when the ‘one in a million’ chance pulled through.

The betting company claim the two races, that took place in Limerick 2024, are still subject to an inquiry by an Irish state body.

But while he waits to see what happens, he’s gone viral for sharing his story on social media as he’d had big plans for the ‘life-changing amount of money’.

The lad says he was blocked from getting his winnings. (X/Racing's Inside Track TV)

There’s no denying that the quarter of a million would be life-changing for most 25-year-olds, as Phelan described the initial win as a ‘crazy’ and ‘surreal’ feeling.

And it’s certainly not one that most people would come across on a bet like this.

But the Irish lad decided to place the each-way double on Rocky Diamond’s maiden hurdle at Limerick and on Diamond Nora in a mares’ maiden hurdle at Ballinrobe in April last year.

Phelan took prices of 80-1 and 125-1 while they both won at starting prices of 22-1 and 16-1, resulting in what would have been this potentially life-changing pay out.

So, just how did he end up choosing those two horses?

Well, he explains they’d been ‘disappointed’ with a couple of horses at the time, and weren’t having many of them win.

“Diamond Nora won a point-to-point at Ballindenisk that January and had been disappointing afterwards, but I thought she turned a corner,” he told Racing Post.

He backed two winning horses. (Getty Stock)

“Rocky's Diamond ran a lovely race beforehand at Gowran when he was only a baby and I just thought he was improving and looked better going to Limerick.

"I know he's turned into a very good horse, but no one knew that was going to happen, he exceeded all expectations. I took a chance and it worked out, that's it.

"There's market movers the whole time and they moved a little bit, but Declan's horses have a big following and plenty could have latched on.”

Phelan says that at the end of the day, he simply placed a couple of bets and ‘got lucky’.

In a statement to the Racing Post, the betting company said: "The IHRB is conducting an ongoing investigation into these races and we are awaiting the outcome before settling bets related to this investigation.

"When a sporting governing body is investigating the integrity of a sports event on which we have taken notable bets, we will await the outcome of those proceedings before settling bets relating to the matter under investigation.

"We take integrity matters in sport extremely seriously and our approach is entirely consistent with our terms and conditions and how we would approach any sports event under investigation."

LADbible has contacted Ladbrokes for comment.