A single woman's gamble to find a date for the Royal Ascot race meeting, with an advert in a local newspaper paid off last week after she found the man of her dreams.

You may recall that Ukgamblingonline.com brought you the story of  Sue Phillips from the South Coast.

The 52 year old and her friends picked two potential suitors from nine responses to her advert offering an all-expenses paid trip to Ladies' Day.

The Dorset sales and marketing director left one date before dinner, but her second date Rod Grainger was "perfect".

Both she and Mr. Grainger, 56, are from Weymouth and work in business.
 
They also share an interest in cars - Ms Phillips prefers high-performance motor vehicles while he likes classic cars, she said.

She added: "I was always convinced there was somebody in this town who was perfect for me and it just came about by that stupid advertisement.
 
"He loves the fact he won me in a competition - we all do."
 
The criteria for her advertisement headed “Susan desperately seeking..” - included a man who “looks good in a tuxedo and can drink his own body weight in champagne.”
 
However, Mr. Grainger was not her first choice.

"I have my operations manager to thank for that, she picked Rod," she added.
Before placing the add in the Dorset Echo newspaper Ms. Phillips said “I don't have a partner and I don't particularly want to go to Ascot by myself so we came up with the idea of putting an ad in the paper. I have a brilliant circle of friends, but I'm always the odd one out when we have dinner.”

Candidates had to submit a full-length photograph and a written statement outlining why she should pick them for the trip.