Day One of the 2018 Cheltenham Festival was just 'perfect' for Sportsman user, Jamie Bates, who is celebrating being £6,000 richer after he correctly predicting the winner in each of the first six races of the meeting to be crowned winner of the website's Perfect 6 game.
The 40-year-old from Milton Keynes plays the Sportsman's free to play games every week, including the Perfect 10 and Pick 1-2-3 and it was finally his lucky day on Tuesday as his 5,600/1 accumulator landed him the jackpot! The winning horses that made up his six predictions were 9/1 chance, Summerville Boy, in the Supreme Novices Hurdle; 5/6 favourite, Footpad, in the Arkle; Coo Star Sivola, another favourite in the Ultima Handicap Chase; Buveur D'Air justified its short odds of 4/6 to land the Champion Hurdle, before Bennie Des Dieux won the fifth leg of the competition, the OLBG Mares Hurdle. At that stage, Jamie was not the only person to be sweating heading in to the final leg, as another player had also correctly called the first five home. As such, all eyes were on Rathvinden and No Comment, to see if either could make one of the men £6k better off.
The National Hunt Challenge Cup turned out to be a thrilling race and it was Rathvinden that got up to win by half a length to win the race and deliver Mr Bates an early birthday present - he turns 42 on Saturday!
It was a fantastic start to the four day meeting from both an entertainment perspective and the fact that the Perfect 6 had its first winner. The game is running all week and can be played via the Games Section of the website, along with the Pick 1-2-3, which was also won on Tuesday, as one Irish punter walked away with £1,000 after correctly predicting that Buveur D'Air would finish ahead of Melon and Mick Jazz in the Champion Hurdle.
Over 90% of people crashed out of Tuesday's Perfect 6 at the first leg, after favourite, Getabird, finished down the field in 11th and a similar number could find themselves in a similar situation should hot-fancy, Samcro, flop in Wednesday's opener, the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle. The other races on the card include the feature of the day, the Queen Mother Champion Chase, along with RSA Chase, Coral Cup, Cross Country Chase and the final leg the Fred Winter, which could once again be the decider, in a tough looking 22 runner renewal.
For more information on Wednesday's Cheltenham racecard, visit the Sportsman's Horse Racing Hub, or play today's Perfect 6.
