The clock ticks into the final few minutes of the 2007 World Cup quarter final and Harry Findlay screams encouragement to his beloved All Blacks as they trail France 18-20. He’d wagered £2.5 million on them to win the tournament, and the money was about to be gone.
Harry ‘The Dog’ Findlay has long been known in the gambling fraternity as somewhat of a legend. One of Britain’s most famous and successful punters, he’s won over £20 million and has enjoyed a life of many luxuries.
With an extraordinary passion for sport and gambling, it was inevitable that Harry’s life would be shaped by the need to bet. And it was at the age of forty-five, back in 2007 when Harry placed possibly his most famous wager.
A week before the tournament commenced, favourites New Zealand were priced at 4/7 with Coral to be crowned Champions, but over the last two years Harry had been backing them over and over again and now had £2.5 million placed at the average price of 1.78, just under 4/5. In Dan Carter, Findlay believed the Kiwis had the best fly-half in the world, and was confident that their coach Graham Henry would lead his side to glory and by doing so would net Harry a profit of £1.95 million.
From taxi drivers to friends and family, Harry had told plenty of people about his humongous wager and how the All Blacks were moral certainties to win the Rugby World Cup. They too had decided to invest some of their funds, and none more so than his gardener Charlie. Normally a small stakes punter with twenty pound on the odd horse, Charlie decided to put his £28,000 savings on New Zealand, with himself a Rugby man, genuinely believing that the favourites would secure a second Webb Ellis Cup.
Harry had expected the All Blacks to face Argentina in the quarter-final, however the Latin Americans had topped their group which now meant New Zealand would face France. To mark the occasion, Harry and his friends decided to attend the game in a corporate box at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, where all present were given a gift bag including a clock in the shape of a rugby ball, to have as a keepsake. Those in company included Paul Barber the co-owner of a racehorse named Denman and his trainer Paul Nicholls who was preparing the horse for an attempt to win the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup. A race Denman would go on to win and write himself into the National Hunt history books as one of the greats.
New Zealand were dominant in the first half, but only managed to score one try through Luke McAllister. At the interval Graham Henry’s side held a lead of 13-3 over the French. Harry decided to slip outside for a smoke and it was here that he got on the phone and laid £600,000 on the Kiwis to win the match at 1.03 (1/33). This was an investment that would cost him only £18,000 if New Zealand won the game but it would reduce his overall loss to £1.9 million from the original £2.5 million if the French were to miraculously snatch victory.
Early into the second half, the game was turned on its head as McAlister was sin-binned and soon after Thierry Dusautoir found a way through and gave France their first try of the game. New Zealand then restored the lead, but Yannick Jauzion managed to touch down and once again the French lead, this time with only ten minutes remaining. Many claimed that in the build-up English referee Wayne Barnes had allowed a forward pass, but the clock ticked down and just as in 1999 the French had claimed victory of the mighty All Blacks. It was the first time they had failed to reach the semi-final in World Cup History.
Findlay and his friends were completely stunned. Some of them were unable to find words to describe it, some of them headed straight for the exits, a night they would ever forget. But for Harry he had lost more than anyone, a staggering £1.9 million pounds, he’d done his bollox! He later went on to admit that the reason he had wagered so much was because he was going to slow down his gambling a bit if they won. Considering the stress that comes with high stakes punting and now approaching fifty and overweight it’s easy to see how Harry wanted to look after his health!
In his book ‘Gambling For Life’ Findlay admits that the hardest bit about the bet was the “numbing realisation” that he’d cost a lot of other people’s money as well. However, Harry being the man he is, would soon be back in the game. For this was a man that had won millions in his life, a man who is bold, courageous, a man who believes in his exceptional talent to predict sporting events.
And four years on at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, Harry once again decided to put his money where his mouth is and placed another mammoth wager on the All Blacks to be crowned champions.
On this occasion, it was just the £230,000 which was more than 60% of his wealth at the time, and would give him a profit of £210,000. Incredibly in the final it was France who the All Blacks faced after the heartbreak of four years previous. After a nail-biting final they pulled through for Harry by the narrowest of margins winning 8-7 despite many of the players suffering from a flu-type virus.
With cojones the size of beach balls and with the ability to bounce back from monumental losses the world realises that Harry The Dog is not your average punter. He is a lionhearted maverick who will go down in gambling folklore.