This time last year, Gareth Southgate was a man who could do no wrong as he was preparing his side for a tilt at the Euros having led England to the semi-finals of the World Cup three years prior. A year is a long time in football though and there are calls for Southgate to go after four Nations League matches that saw no wins, no goals from open play, and two defeats against Hungary.

However, it isn’t all doom and gloom with the English cricket side performing well and some excellent action from Royal Ascot which is back in front of full crowds again after the pandemic.

With plenty of action taking place over the last few days, we look back at where the big winning spread bets occurred.

Please remember that unlike fixed odds betting, when spread betting losses can exceed deposits.

ENGLAND v NEW ZEALAND – DARYL MITCHELL SUPER-MEGA RUNS (SETTLED AT 494)

A scintillating final day at Trent Bridge saw Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes clobber England to victory in destructive fashion, claiming an unassailable 2-0 series lead in the process. With the match delicately poised after tea, the duo sent spectators ducking for cover as they rattled off 49 runs in 3 overs.

However, whilst Bairstow and Stokes took the headlines, it was Daryl Mitchell who scored the most runs and his performance was a dream for buyers on his Super-Mega Runs line which was 65-72 before the match.

With runs 0-50 multiplied by one, 51-100 counting double, and runs over 100 multiplied by three, this market settled at a whopping 494, thanks mainly to a score of 190 in the first innings.

Buyers, therefore, managed to land a win of 422x their stake.

ENGLAND v HUNGARY – TOTAL GOAL MINUTE SUPREMACY (SETTLED AT -255)

In the space of six months back in the 1953/54 season, Hungary’s Magnificent Magyars beat England 6-3 at Wembley before following up with a 7-1 demolition in Budapest. Led by rare talents like Ferenc Puskas, Zoltan Czibor, and Sandor Koscis the Hungarians were one of the best sides in the world.

This iteration of the Hungarian national side are ranked 40^th in the world yet still they managed to humiliate England with back-to-back defeats and their 4-0 win at Molineux was England’s biggest home defeat in living memory.

However, if any Three Lions fans managed to have the foresight to sell Total Goal Minute Supremacy then they would have at least had a bit of cash to soften the blow of the defeat. With the ENG/HUN spread at 70-84, buyers would have needed England’s Total Goal Minutes total to be 85 or more than Hungary’s.

As it was, the lethargic Three Lions couldn’t breach Denes Dibusz’s net and with Hungary bagging four goals and 255 in their goal minutes column, this market settled at -255. A bad day for Gareth Southgate and co. but a great day for sellers who bagged a win equal to 325x their stake.

ROYAL ASCOT 14:30 THURSDAY 16^th JUNE – THE RIDLER RACE INDEX (SETTLED AT 49.3)

This spread market was certainly not without a dollop of controversy as The Ridler landed the spoils in the Norfolk Stakes in the opening race of the day on Thursday. One of the outsiders of the field (priced 1-3 on the Race Index), Paul Hanagan’s mount found himself in contention with 2 furlongs to go before hanging badly left.

His dive across the track effectively ended the chances of Brave Nation, Crispy Cat, and the well-supported Walkbank who came home in second.

The greateSt riddle may well be how The Ridler was able to keep the win and you’d fancy in any other major racing jurisdiction this would have been overturned, yet thanks to the system in place on these shores the result stood.

Walbank backers would have been penning angry letters to the BHA no doubt, but buyers on the Race Index of The Ridler landed a win of 46.3x their stake (max makeup was 49.3 in the race due to a NR).

Please note that these are examples of winning bets from the past week, and it is important to remember that spread betting carries a high level of risk to your capital and can result in losses larger than your initial stake/deposit.