A builder was stunned after finding a 62-year-old time capsule containing a bizarre betting tip only to discover a horse matching the clue is running in the Derby.
Hidden beneath a famous statue in Crystal Palace Park, Bromley, the note came with old coins and instructions for the future finder to place a bet on a horse whose name could be linked to Santa Claus.
In an uncanny twist, a horse called Christmas Day is running in Saturday’s Derby at Epsom Downs.
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The discovery was made when construction worker Craciun Marius Dorin uncovered the capsule while working on the park’s £22m regeneration project.
Adding another remarkable coincidence, Craciun revealed his surname also had a festive meaning, as reported by Whats The Jam.
“I’m Romanian and Craciun in Romanian actually means Christmas – isn’t that crazy?” he said.
Dorin found the capsule in April and immediately handed it to site manager Josh Smalls.
“It was very exciting,” Josh said.
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“I was like a child on Christmas Day.
“To find a piece of history like that – and for it to link up so well with the horse this year – it was kind of spooky.
“I looked through the rosters of the last few years and couldn’t find any other horse with a Christmassy name.
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“Unbelievably, there is a horse in this year’s Derby called Christmas Day.
“And after going down a bit of a research rabbit hole, I found out that the trainer of Santa Claus was a fellow called Vincent O’Brien, and it turned out the trainer of this horse, Christmas Day, is actually called Aidan O’Brien.
“So I’m not sure if there was a direct relation there, but I thought it was quite cool.”
The note explained the money inside had come from winnings on a horse called Santa Claus in the Epsom Derby.
Its author instructed whoever discovered the capsule in the future to use the money to back another horse with a similarly festive name.
The discovery immediately caught Josh’s attention as he grew up around horse racing.
“My uncle was a racing horse trainer, I’d go to about two races every year,” he said.
“So this note sparked quite a bit of interest.”
Josh placed a £20 bet on Christmas Day shortly after reading the note.
“Hopefully he’ll win on Saturday and make everyone a bit of money,” he added.
Bromley mayor Christine Harris has also placed a £15 bet on Christmas Day, with any winnings set to go to her chosen charities.
The capsule contained four old coins – four shillings and two half crowns – worth around £10 today.
They were found wrapped in plastic beneath the bust of Sir Joseph Paxton, the Victorian garden designer who built the Crystal Palace.
The statue was being removed from its plinth to be relocated to a new position on the Italian Terraces as part of the wider regeneration of Crystal Palace Park.
Sir Joseph Paxton was an English gardener, architect, engineer and Liberal Member of Parliament.
He is best known for designing the Crystal Palace, which was built in Hyde Park, London to house the Great Exhibition of 1851, the first world’s fair.
And for cultivating the Cavendish banana, the most consumed banana in the Western world.
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