The rest of Ireland may have cheered the victory of Irish-trained Monty's Pass in the recent Grand National, but John O'Reilly, chief executive of Paddy Power, the country's biggest bookmaker, yesterday counted its losses.
As a result of the outcome and that at Cheltenham, the group said profits for the half-year would fall Eu7m (£4.8m) short of expectations. The profits warning, the company's first, led the shares to fall 40 to 341.5p.
"There's always risk in being a bookie," said Mr O'Reilly. "Sometimes the punters have a good run - God bless them."
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