Horseracing fans Peter Riley and Richard Delf from the Great Yarmouth area missed out on winning a whopping £412,514 at the weekend as they backed a losing horse.

The pair have already turned £24 into £98,132 on the famous totescoop6 bet, which required them to select six winners from meetings at Haydock and Ascot last weekend.

All they needed to do was pick the right horse for Saturday's Hennessy Gold Cup in Newbury and they could have landed an additional £314,382.

The horse the pair chose to put their money on was Theatre Guide, whose odds of winning at 2pm were 16/1.

Sadly their pick missed out on a victory today with six-year-old Chestnut Gelding, Native River, stealing the show and snapping up first place.

Despite the loss, they still get to keep their original winnings of just under £100,000.

Mr Riley, 67, from Martham said: 'We have absolutely no idea, either of us, what we are going to do with all that money.'

He added: 'It's the first time we've won and it's a fantastic feeling.'

The duo met at Burlington Hotel in Great Yarmouth, which Mr Delf's family owns.

They discovered a mutual love for horses and became good friends, attending many horse meetings together, sometimes with their wives as well.