A man who endured a year-long wait for a life-changing payout after winning two horse racing bets is finally set to receive his winnings.

Dylan Phelan, 25, who is a stable worker in Ireland, placed a bold series of bets in April last year on two horses trained at his own stable. Taking on odds of 80-1 and 125-1, Phelan backed Rocky’s Diamond and Diamond Nora at a Ladbrokes shop in Limerick.

Against the odds, both horses stormed to victory — though at dramatically shortened starting prices of 22-1 and 16-1 — setting Phelan up for a theoretical windfall of €319,440 (£273,935).

However, Ladbrokes cited shop terms that capped his maximum payout at €100,000 (£85,000), dashing his jackpot hopes. Phelan, frustrated by the delay, claimed that smaller bets had been honoured at other locations while Ladbrokes withheld his payout, citing an investigation by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board.

His story gained widespread attention after he shared it in a now-viral video posted by Racing’s Inside Track TV, which has garnered nearly 3 million views.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think it was going to come off, but I was hoping they might both be in the money and I’d get a little return out of it.”

Reflecting on the drawn-out ordeal, he added: “Before I knew it, I was sitting on cloud nine. It’s like holding a winning lottery ticket you can’t cash. It’s been mentally draining.”

He continued: “They are refusing to pay out number one, and they’ve been so unhelpful. No real justification why I am not getting paid. At the end of the day, they are withholding money due to this IHRB investigation. That’s nothing to do with me. I placed a winning bet and was lucky enough it won.”

The IHRB has indicated that their investigation is wrapping up, but made it clear that Phelan is not under scrutiny in their probe.

Ladbrokes provided a comment to the Racing Post on Friday, stating: “We have now discussed this matter with the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board [IHRB] in order to seek a resolution as quickly as possible.

“Although the IHRB is unable to provide details of the investigation, or its likely duration, we are satisfied that it is appropriate to proceed with payment of the relevant bets in accordance with our terms and conditions.”