A long-shot sweep of the top three spots paid out 10,149,930 yen on a 100 yen wager at a horse race organized by the Japan Racing Association on Saturday, the highest return in the history of legal gambling in sports in Japan.
Little-known horses Estrella, Bosporus and Future Gang finished 1-2-3 at Fukushima Racecourse as their post quinella of 12-5-4 in the 14-horse field surpassed the previous record of 9,752,820 yen set in a locally organized horse race at Oi Racecourse in Tokyo in August 2002.
It was the first time the return for betting in a Japanese sport was over 10 million yen.
The highest the JRA, which governs Japan's major tracks apart from the ones controlled by local municipalities, had paid out is 4,050,530 yen for a horse race at Kokura Racecourse in Fukuoka Prefecture in January this year.
There were only nine winning tickets out of all tickets available.