LONDON -- A lorry driver from Scotland is planning early retirement after winning a record payout on a horse that doesn't even exist.

 Stuart Johnstone from Livingstone, Scotland, scooped 84,198.50 pounds after placing a bet on a virtual horse race at his local bookies.

A spokesman for bookmakers Ladbrokes, which owns the shop, said 59-year-old Johnstone landed the huge prize after betting just 7.50 pounds on four computerised nags -- each of which romped to victory.

"We're delighted Stuart has found a spot for himself in the bookies' record books," spokesman Warren Lush said on Wednesday.

"The win has smashed all the previous records for a Virtual Horse Racing payout."

Launched in May 2002, Virtual Horse Racing broadcasts 10 live races a day across 10,000 Ladbrokes' betting shops.

Around 250,000 punters a week watch computerised horses race round computerised courses. Turnover has doubled in the last three months alone.

While the result is determined by a random number generator within a central computer, Lush said gamblers studied the winning patterns as if the races were real.

And to enhance the authenticity, horses and even courses are given suitably racey names -- Portman Park and Steeple Down are the virtual world's two leading race venues.

Commenting on his bumper payout, Johnstone said: "This is absolutely magic, I'm the virtual magician.

"I can't believe that at last I've beaten the bookies and it isn't even on a real horse."