An Australian jockey travelled 17,000km to play one leg of darts in the hunt for a near-million-dollar jackpot, but in the end it was English tungsten-throwing royalty who downed mighty Luke Littler to earn the monster payday.
Zac Spain, the Melbourne professional hoop who has ridden 686 winners including multiple major race victories, crossed the world and passed his audition to win a coveted opportunity in his second sporting love to play world champion "Luke the Nuke" in a lucrative Netflix-screened special.
Spain, who has dubbed himself "Zachariah the Electrifier'' in his darting guise, was one of 20 amateur throwers given the chance to tackle the young superstar over a single 501-leg in a glitzy made-for-TV event in Manchester, attended by celebrities and presented by former England soccer star Gary Lineker.
They'd all been promised that if anyone could beat Littler, the first to do so would go home Stg 501,000 ($A955,000) richer.
First, the good news.
"The Electrifier'' made a grand entrance to the stage next to a model of a horse, even though health and safety chiefs quickly said "neigh'' to the idea the 30-year-old might ride into the arena on a real nag.
He then produced a more than capable performance on the oche, and was warmly congratulated by his esteemed opponent.
The bad news?
After the Electrifier had suggested bullishly that "being a professional jockey, I am used to pressure, and with my darting ability I can definitely win a leg against Luke", Littler happened to produce some of his best darts of the night, with three 140s, to swiftly turn off the power.
To be fair, 14 challengers all went the same way, including a 14-year-old wannabe Littler, a trash collector, a restaurant owner, and an Irish student, who did at least land a shot at the bullseye to win the jackpot.
But then came Littler's real test, against Fallon Sherrock, the one-time "Queen of the Palace", the first woman ever to beat a male thrower in the world championship at the sport's celebrated Alexandra Palace home back in 2019.
Ah, but did she really fit the show's "amateur player'' criteria, the critics had muttered about Sherrock, a fine player who had for a moment in time been more famous in Britain than even Littler.
Ignoring the fuss, the 32-year-old mum won the nearest-the-bull throw to start the leg, then landed a maximum 180 en route to winning the leg with a double-20 check-out and collecting a prize only ever surpassed in the sport's annals by Littler's own second world championship triumph.
“I fit the criteria for this. I’ve never had a tour card, and I wouldn’t class myself as a pro really, because all I do is just play darts for the enjoyment of it," protested Sherrock.
"It's been tough, because obviously I do see the backlash and all the negative comments ... but I'm just so happy to overcome all the hate.”
