TOTE Ireland hopes to develop its Pick 6 bet further this year following the surge in interest in the bet on New Year’s Eve when the pool reached €961,350 at Punchestown.

There were three winning units – each worth €224,314 – and one investor owned two of those tickets, scooping almost €450,000. The other two winners won €112,000 each.

It was the largest Pick 6 pool of 2017 and the second-highest ever – surpassed only by the pool of €2,196,764 at the Curragh in September 2016.

Tote spokesman Pat Brennan said: “There was over €517,351 bet into the pool last Sunday alone. The pool had initially been guaranteed for €100,000 at Leopardstown on December 26th but had rolled on each of the four days after a series of unexpected results.

“Friday on particular, which had €225,000 bet into a rollover of €218,000, saw just 35.5 tickets left going into the Ryanair Hurdle. Thirty four of those tickets were on Faugheen and the remaining one and a half were on Cilaos Emery. The victory for Mick Jazz meant a huge rollover to Punchestown on Sunday.”

Brennan said turnover on New Year’s Eve was strong on the telephone, internet and through retail bookmakers and international partners. There were reports of some delays and queues at the Tote counters in Punchestown. “Some areas of the racecourse struggled with the volume of bets taken,” Brennan said. “The amount wagered on the Pick 6 on-track at Punchestown was the second-highest amount ever taken on the Pick 6 at a racecourse in Ireland.”

The Punchestown pool marked the 34th occasion that the pool had reached and exceeded €100,000 during 2017, a 35% increase on 2016.

Brennan added: “It is a pool that we continue to see huge interest in and will continue to promote and develop throughout 2018 through the introduction of new features such as cash out, where punters will be able to cash out fully or partially during the Pick 6, as well as syndicate betting, which will provide expert selections and offer punters the opportunity to get involved for small stakes.”