Doncaster Rovers chairman David Blunt banks six figures after horse wins Ascot race

Poptronic finished first in the Group 1 British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes on British Champions Day on Saturday to earn her owners and breeders £301,272.

Four-year-old Poptronic was a 22-1 outsider but upset the odds to claim her first win at the highest level.

Blunt, who normally shuns media attention, admitted on TV the “unbelievable" win left him and his wife “shell-shocked and tongue-tied”.

“It’s once in a lifetime for us,” he said.

“A small owner-breeder who comes up trumps, which is unbelievable.

"She’s been a bit unfortunate in a couple of previous races, we felt anyway.

"I didn’t think she deserved to be the outsider she was. She proved us right in that regard.”

Poptronic is trained by Karl Burke in Middleham, North Yorkshire and was ridden by Sam James.

She will be sold at auction in December.

Racing powerhouses from across the world are expected to be in attendance in search of “the finest European bloodstock”, according to the auction house, Tattersalls.

In 2017 Tattersalls made the highest ever sale for a racing horse in Europe when Marsha, a four-year-old double Group 1 winner, sold for £6.3 million.

Numerous horses have broken the million-pound barrier at the auction.

Blunt has served as chairman of Rovers since 2014, when he replaced John Ryan, and is one of three major shareholders alongside Terry Bramall and CEO Gavin Baldwin.

Blunt is said to be hands-on in his role but unlike his predecessor does not provide funding to the club.

Bramall is Doncaster’s sole funder.