One very lucky TAB customer has scooped up $10 million after correctly predicting the finishing order of the 12 horses in Saturday’s The Everest race at Royal Randwick in Sydney.

TAB’s The Everest Mega Millions promotion gave customers the free opportunity to submit their predictions for the chance to win a life changing prize and one punter was able to beat the odds and do just that.

New Zealand’s newest millionaire from Auckland is an existing customer of the TAB who happened upon the competition as he was taking a punt on the Rugby World Cup. With the promotion free to enter, our winner thought it wouldn’t hurt to take a shot.  

The winner said:

“I’m absolutely blown away. I saw the promotion on the TAB site and thought I’d give it a crack. I didn’t put too much thought into my picks and just dropped the runners where I thought it could go. I honestly could not believe I’d won it. I actually thought it was a hoax when they first rang me – I called the TAB back, and it took quite a lot of convincing before it sank in! To have pulled it off, winning $10 million in a free to play competition, is truly incredible for my family and I.”

Managing Director of Entain New Zealand (operator of the TAB), Cameron Rodger, says the whole Entain team is thrilled for the Mega Millions winner.

“It was great to see so many Kiwis getting involved in The Everest through our Mega Millions promotion, and to have someone take home the $10 million prize is an amazing result. The Everest is the world’s richest race on turf and this customer has managed to take home more than the winner’s purse by pulling off one of the most impressive selecting feats we have ever seen. The race had over 400 million possible finish results, and he managed to nail the exact one needed. We’re thrilled with the customer engagement this innovative competition was able to generate and a huge congratulations to our winner!”

There was plenty of New Zealand interest in this year’s edition of The Everest, with Kiwi star I Wish I Win (Wish) running in the Trackside Media slot. 43 percent of entrants had backed Wish to finish first in the Mega Millions, with 25 percent correctly backing him to finish second. Wish finished a gallant runner up behind race favourite Think About It, having been blocked for a run at a crucial stage in the straight.

“Having I Wish I Win representing Trackside Media, but also flying the flag of our nation in Australia has been amazing. We were determined to get Kiwis excited about this incredible horse, and in this magnificent Everest event – and we couldn’t be more pleased with the result” Rodger says.  

“Watching him compete confirmed everything we knew about his tenacity and from a tough start in Matamata to go on to compete in the $20m race that is The Everest, and very nearly take it out, is just amazing. We couldn’t be prouder of everyone who was involved in getting Wish here and we’re indebted to the team at Waikato Stud, the Australian Turf Club and Racing NSW for giving us this opportunity to put this spectacular race on the map for NZ punters.”

For the Chittick family and all the team at Waikato Stud, being involved in The Everest was a hugely memorable experience.

“We are so incredibly proud of I Wish I Win. He showed his trademark fighting spirit yesterday to run second and we can’t thank Luke Nolen, Peter Moody, Katherine Coleman and all their team enough – our boy was in tip top condition for the race. If we’d had just a bit more room at the right time in running, we may well have seen a different result”, said Waikato Stud Principal Mark Chittick.  

“We’ve been blown away by the commitment of everyone involved in I Wish I Win’s Everest campaign both here and in Australia – it’s been 110 percent effort from the inception of this idea with Trackside Media to when Wish crossed the finishing post.  

“We send big congratulations to the Mega Millions winner, what a prize to collect. As for next year, you never know, we might be back to have another crack at conquering Everest!”

Kiwi punters certainly rallied behind I Wish I Win, and Entain was delighted with customer engagement in the race and across the whole Randwick card. Turnover on The Everest race was more than double last year, generating a total of $1.85 million, whilst the number of customers engaged on the race was also double that of last year. The campaign put behind the race saw it skyrocket up our highest turnover thoroughbred race list, going from 10th all the way to second, sitting only behind the Melbourne Cup.

Turnover on the entire meeting at Randwick also saw a massive increase, up more than 57 percent on last year, to $4.4 million.  

It was also a big day of domestic racing here in New Zealand, highlighted by the Group 1 Livamol Classic at Hastings. Turnover on that meeting also saw a big jump from last year, up more than 21 percent to $5.1 million.

More than 6,000 customers jumped on board The Boys Get Paid Punters Club who were active across both the Randwick and Hawkes Bay meetings. The club opened the day with $320k in the bank, striking early with Adam I Am in Race 5 at Hawkes Bay with their first bet. They also landed the winner of the Group 1 Livamol Classic with Ladies Man saluting.  A rematch with the bookies beckons at TAB Karaka Millions Night on January 27.

The 2023 edition of The Everest has certainly been one to remember reflects Rodger:

“Since Entain became involved in the industry on 1 June 2023, the New Zealand racing industry has received much needed stakes increases and extra funding to reinvigorate the sport. With results like we saw on the weekend, it’s clear that Kiwis’ interest in these big-ticket annual events is only increasing, which can only help support the industry to continue growing.”  

Key Information:

• One $10m winner after correctly selecting the order of the 12 runners home in TAB’s The Everest Mega Millions free-to-play competition.
• Kiwi boy I Wish I Win did us all proud – running in the Trackside Media NZ slot and coming second in the world’s richest horse race on turf.
• Turnover on The Everest race doubled from last year, generating $1.85m.
• Turnover on the entire meeting at Randwick up more than 50% on last year to $4.4 million.
• The Group 1 Livamol Classic at Hastings, up more than 20 percent from last year to $5.1 million.

More innovation and initiatives to come to boost racing industry from Entain Australia and NZ.