I want to bet £1000 on all 20 horses in a horse race. I want this
because I want to offer it to 20 prixe winners in a competition. Is
there a 'clever' way I can do this which won't necessarily cost me
£20,000

---

Clarification of Question by quickthinking-ga on 09 Feb 2006 12:48 PST

prize winners - not prixe winners!!!

There are several of different ways you can approach the problem.  If
you bet on 20 horses to win, only one will pay out, and your cost is
capped at £20,000.  However, the actual payout to the winner may be
more or less than this amount, depending upon the odds associated with
the winning horse.

This creates a potential opportunity to self-insure, but this has
risks.  If the payout on the winning horse is greater than 20:1, and
you have not placed a bet on that horse, then you would have to pay
out more than £20,000.  However, if none of the horses have a payout
greater than 20:1, then you could elect to self-insure by simply
making a payment to the holder of the winning virtual bet in the
amount they would have won and pay less than £20,000.  Alternatively,
you could place bets selectively on those horses with high potential
payouts and self-insure by not placing bets on the favorites that have
lower payouts.  Done properly, this could potentially cost you less
than £20,000, although it would depend on the number of long shots and
their associated odds and how low the payout was on the favorites.

Another approach is to buy an insurance policy to cover the payout.  A
Google search on "prize insurance" UK brings up a number of firms who
might be able to assist you in both designing your prize and
controlling your associated expenses.  See:
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=%22Prize+insurance%22+UK&btnG=Search.

Sincerely,

Wonko