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

Dylan Phelan, a 25-year-old stable worker from Ireland, placed a small bet that could have changed his life forever. He put €60, which is about £51, each way on two horses named Rocky Diamond and Diamond Nora. The odds were unbelievably high—over 5000/1—and against all expectations, both horses won their races. This meant Dylan had technically won around €320,000, which is roughly £275,000.

At first, he was overjoyed. He described the feeling as completely surreal, like he was on “cloud nine,” because winning that kind of money from such a small bet almost never happens. It was a once-in-a-lifetime moment. Like many young people in their twenties, Dylan had big dreams about what he could do with that amount of money—it would have truly changed his life.

However, things quickly turned sour. When Dylan tried to claim his winnings, the betting company, Ladbrokes, refused to pay him. They told him the races were under investigation by an Irish authority that oversees the fairness of horse racing. Because of this investigation, Ladbrokes said they couldn’t pay out any bets connected to those races until everything was cleared up.

Dylan decided not to accept this quietly. Instead, he is now taking Ladbrokes to the High Court, hoping to fight for his winnings. Even though he admits he doesn’t expect the court to force Ladbrokes to pay him, he still wants to stand up for himself and explain his side of the story.

He went viral on social media after sharing his experience, and many people have been following his journey. A lot of them sympathize with him, knowing how much of a difference that kind of money would make in a young person’s life.

When asked why he chose those two horses, Dylan explained that things hadn’t been going well with the horses at the stable around that time. Wins were rare, and spirits were low. But Dylan saw potential. Diamond Nora had won a point-to-point race earlier that year and seemed like she was getting back to form, and Rocky Diamond had run a good race previously and looked like he was improving. Trusting his gut feeling, Dylan decided to take a chance on both of them. He said he simply made a couple of bets and got lucky.

Dylan also mentioned that it’s normal for horse odds to change slightly, especially when certain trainers are popular, but he stressed that he didn’t have any special insider information—he just followed his instinct.

Meanwhile, Ladbrokes defended their decision, saying it’s standard practice to delay payouts when there’s an investigation into a race’s integrity. They said they have to make sure everything was fair before paying out big wins, and that their actions follow their official rules and terms.

Now Dylan is caught in a tough situation, waiting and hoping that the case will go his way. He knows it’s a long shot, but he feels he has no choice but to fight for what he believes he fairly won. In the meantime, the case has captured a lot of public attention, and many people are rooting for him, hoping he eventually gets the life-changing money he dreamed of.