A homeless man who won big on the Melbourne Cup yesterday from a $5 bet said just a couple of months ago he was crying on the side of the road with nowhere to go.
The man, who wanted only to be known as Robert, celebrated his $106,000 TAB win last night with a few drinks and a pizza with his girlfriend - before going home to lie in bed and stare at the ceiling.
Robert said he went to the Petone Working Men’s Club yesterday to join a group watching the race after placing his $5 bet the day prior.
After the race at 5pm, Robert said he went to the club’s garden bar for a cigarette and was shocked when he looked at his TAB account on his phone.
“I’ve seen this ridiculous figure, $106,000 . . . I kept refreshing the page and it still stayed there,” he said today.
“It’s the one time of year I do justify putting on a few Easybets.”
When Robert realised the win was real, he broke down crying.
In the last couple of years his mother died and he became homeless, without even a car to his name. He has been living in a garage lately.
“A couple of months ago I was crying on the side of the street because I had nowhere to go,” he said. “Now, I consider myself blessed, really.”
When he won the money, he “couldn’t help” yelling.
“I was ecstatic. When I realised the $106K wasn’t a mistake and it was genuinely mine, I couldn’t believe it. I screamed for joy, then I just crumpled on my knees and cried, to be honest.”
Members of the club were giving him hugs and telling him “good luck”, and he was even given a memento, a cup with some flowers in it.
The friends he was sharing his table with were also excited for him.
“We will share this moment forever.” He said he would be shaking their hands years down the track saying “remember that time I won $106K from a bet?”
“It’s the best $5 I’ve ever spent in my life.”
Robert then called his girlfriend, who left work to be with him.
“We hugged and yeah, we just had a few drinks and got pizza and went home to bed just staring at the ceiling thinking ‘wow, what am I going to do with this money?’”
The couple plan to celebrate more this weekend with a nice motel stay and dinner out.
Today, Robert is planning to meet with a friend’s mother who has worked in banking for 30 years, to seek advice on how to handle the money responsibly.
He hopes to use his money for a house deposit, and is thinking about buying in his local city of Upper Hutt, possibly in the suburb of Riverstone Terraces.
“Don’t get me wrong, ideally Queenstown would be cool,” he laughed
“I’ve been trying to save for years and I’ve had minute sort of funds . . . it’s opened up so many doors, so many possibilities.”
Robert and his girlfriend are planning to go to Rarotonga in the new year, and visit other Pacific Islands afterwards.
“I can finally afford to go. I’m 36 and I’ve never left New Zealand.”
Without A Fight took out this year’s Melbourne Cup, followed by Soulcombe and Sheraz.
Jockey Mark Zahra had the choice between riding Without A Fight or Gold Trip in the race.
He opted for Without A Fight, this year’s Caulfield Cup winner, and with 200m left down the home straight, there was only one horse who looked like winning. A well-timed run saw him get out from behind the leaders and into space in the middle of the track before pulling away, going on to win by a couple of lengths.
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.
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