£2.7m UK Lotto Winners Just Love Horse Racing

It’s a big weekend for horse racing in the UK with the Grand National at Aintree. That’s a racecourse which UK Lotto winners Elaine and Derek Thompson have visited. In  fact, for the last 25 years they’ve been to every single racecourse in the UK.

It was in 1995 that the couple from Newcastle, England, won a £2.7 million UK Lotto jackpot. They’re both keen horse racing fans so decided to spend their time going to all the racecourses in the UK.

That’s seen them go to all 59 of the racecourses in the UK. Whether it’s Perth in Scotland, Chepstow in Wales or Brighton on the English south coast, they’ve been to them all.

Speaking about their marathon journey, Mr Thompson said: “We have always loved horse racing, it's such a great atmosphere.”

A day out in Ludlow

The final racecourse they needed to visit was Ludlow in Shropshire,England. The UK Lotto winners have been to huge racecourses such as Aintree, Ascot and Epsom but Ludlow was a special one to visit.  Mr Thompson described the course as “small and intimate which is what we love.”

They don’t just love going to race meetings, the couple also own three horses. Carl Little from Australia also became a racehorse owner after his $40 million Australian Powerball win.

A foggy day

One of their horses was Richmond Lady and won twice. One was at Exeter in 2000 beating a horse called Treasure Chest. It was so foggy they struggled to see the race. Another of their horses ended up being nicknamed Sick Note due to it always seeming to get a cough before it was due to run.

Sponsorship is so important in the sport of horse racing and they’ve helped in that way too. One of the races they saw at Ludlow on April 2 was the Elaine and Derek Thompson Celebration Chase.

The couple would have had another big win if they’d backed the winner in that race. Legionair won the hurdles race at the handsome price of 18/1.

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