A German betting consortuim's hopes of pocketing a £1m horse racing jackpot looked to be dashed after a 20-1 rank outsider won the 3.10 at Warwick.

The seven-man contingent from Munich, led by British journalist David Conolly-Smith, collected £917,021 last week as a result of their successful 'Scoop6' bet last Saturday.

The spotlight was on them again as they set their sights on the bonus race at Warwick, which could have net them a further £1,084,422 if they had picked the winner.

But the horse that television reports suggested they had picked - Slideofhill at 7-1 - trailed in third from last.

With £1m riding on the race they would have been brave - or foolhardy - to have picked what turned out the winner, 20-1 Choisty ridden by Paul Flynn.

'Scoop6', Tote's latest invention, was introduced to counterbalance the lure of the British lottery.

Participants must back six winners of six nominated races in a day to win the jackpot, before being invited back to compete for a roll-over pool.

If successful, the consortium's total winnings would have exceeded £2m - the highest ever from one single racing bet.

The selection for the big race had to be made at least an hour before the scheduled off-time at 3.10, on a secret telephone line.

The syndicate was believed to have ignored the race favourite, the top-weight Kingdom of Shades at 2-1, trained by the in-form Venetia Williams.

Speaking before the race Tote spokesman Rob Hartnett said: "If I was offered a shot at £1m I would throw my formbook into the bottom drawer and let my heart rule my head," he said.

"I'd go for Slideofhill, although the way he jumps won't making it easy viewing. He's trained by Jonjo O'Neill who won lots of money for me when he was a jockey."