An Australian bookmaker was praying Hopewell Rock wouldn’t live up to its name after Irish billionaire JP McManus launched a huge Melbourne Cup gamble.McManus and fellow Irishman Paul Byrne wanted to put around £520,000 on the British-trained horse ahead of Tuesday’s blockbuster race, which offered a £2.34m first prize.Bookmaker Chris Lester accepted around £345,000 of the bets, meaning he stood to lose around £3.3m if Hopewell Rock won.JP McManus’ gamble didn’t landGETTYHe also faced potentially heavy losses on two other McManus-owned horses, Zakouma and Trustyourinstinct, which could have cost him a further £1m.Having spent Monday night working out just how badly a McManus victory could hurt him, Lester, aided by a couple of beers to calm his nerves, got the result he wanted at Flemington.Hopewell Rock faded to finish ninth after briefly threatening in the closing stages, while McManus’s other selections also failed to deliver.Instead, 7/1 shot Point Of Law stormed to victory under jockey Ethan Brown, sparing Lester a potential multimillion-pound nightmare.Lester admitted the scale of the gamble had taken its toll, with the bookmaker struggling to calm down after the bets were placed.The former accountant and investment banker said: “It was a pretty sleepless night, I can tell you.“It took a while, because the adrenaline was rushing, rushing, rushing and I just had to have a couple of beers and settle down.“When it’s your own money, it’s a different story. It was by far the most amazing betting race I’ve had by far, with the Irish coming and betting up like they did.”About the authorJames AndersonJames Anderson is a Betting & Gaming Writer at talkSPORT. He is an expert in sports betting and online casinos, and joined the company in November 2020 to work closely with leading bookmakers, casinos, and online gaming companies to curate content in all areas of iGaming and sports betting. He previously worked as a Digital Sports Reporter and Head of Live Blogs/Events at the Daily Express and Daily Star, covering football, cricket, snooker, F1 and horse racing.Find James on LinkedIn