27 May - 2nd June
My day began at 5.30am and I arrived at Epsom racecourse for 'Breakfast with the Stars' at 6.45am. The purpose of the breakfast is to hear from the trainers of all the leading Derby hopefuls and see a few of them go through their paces around Tattenham Corner (the horses that is, rather than their trainers!). Well, sadly the bad weather prevented the helicopter carrying Jamie Spencer, Michael Bell and Sir Michael Stoute from taking off... but the show (and more importantly, the breakfast) still went on. Bell's Coordinated Cut worked well, although I'm not sure he is good enough to threaten the Ballydoyle battalion. Speaking of which, Aidan O'Brien (in a pre-record with Clare Balding) told us about his four 'lovely' colts but didn't tell us which ones were actually running! Anyway, I left Epsom firmly of the opinion that Jan Vermeer was the one… everyone bar O'Brien seemed to be tipping him, including Jim Bolger!
I felt mildly depressed by my trip to Sandown later in the day. I remember going to Brigadier Gerard night years ago and having to queue in a traffic from the motorway. Sadly (for racing), I waltzed straight in as there was plenty of room to swing a horse, let alone a cat. Don't worry about Racing For Change... It will be racing for 'any spare change' soon!
Politics aside and Akmal got the job done for me from the front in the 7.10pm contest. Richard Hills rode just about the perfect race from the front (never thought I'd ever write that!) and proved there aren't many better jockeys around when it comes to a front-running ride (or that!). My £10 buy at 18 returned just over a £200 profit after the Rule 4 (Opinion Poll stayed at home).
Glass Harmonium was less impressive in the feature race. My £10 buy at 29 looked in good shape for the first half half mile, then Ryan Moore began to send out distress signals turning in and the pair could only muster third place. All Richard Hills' good work was undone in a matter of strides.
Friday 28th May
I promised myself not to have a spread bet on the England v Bangladesh test series, but a trip to Lord's meant the temptation was too great to resist. As reported last week, I sold £4 of both Strauss match runs at 95 and Cook at 92 and things got off to the perfect start when Cook went for seven on the very first day. Sadly, Strauss went on to make 83 which was less pleasing, but I was still in good shape.
Lord’s looked stunning as ever and having sat through a shambolic and frankly boring England batting performance in the first session (where certain individuals were playing for their own averages rather than their country), it was time to have another spread bet. Bangladesh seemed to be coping admirably with England’s bowling attack and I decided to buy £5 of their runs at 265 (they were 30 odd without loss at the time) and also £5 of Iqbal runs at 45.
Imrul Kayes was batting like it was a One Day International. Tamim Iqbal was batting like it was a Twenty20 and reached his fifty in no time… everyone of his boundaries was winning me £20! Then he was run out for just 55 and I was gutted even though I’d made £50 on the bet. The score was around 95-1 when I left Lord’s and the magic target of 265 looked in reach.
Saturday 29th May
What a difference a week makes. This time last week, I was literally on the beach. Now, it was pouring with rain and I was in the local town trying to grab some 11/4 about Main Aim in Haydock's feature.
It was also pouring down at Lord's (wiping out most of the day's play) and at Haydock, my fancy Main Aim was shortening in price with every drop. As the race approached, the 11/4 had become 2/1, but the one that caught my eye was old friend Mia's Boy. I couldn't think of another horse in training better suited to seven furlongs on rain softened ground. I bought £20 on the index at 10 and watched him miss the break as usual.
The good news was that Main Aim travelled strongly and battled on to win at the business end. The bad news was that Mia’s Boy did the exact opposite and finished last. I made a few quid on the race, but threw away £200 on Mia’s Boy.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh were limping towards 265 – they certainly weren't going to beat it by much, if at all.
Sunday 30th May
Bangladesh eventually posted a total of 282 which meant a profit of £85 on my runs bet - it had promised to be so much more. However, the real concern for me on a quiet punting day was how well they were doing 'following on'. It was essential for my Strauss/Cook position that England didn't bat again. The openers put on in excess of 180 and they were targeting 400 runs plus. It was a disaster... Cook and Strauss were certain to have a bat on Monday and I'd sold £4 of both of their match runs!
Monday 31st May
Bank Holiday Monday... well, in short, the day that Cook and Strauss ate into my spread betting bank! They came out to chase a total well under 200 in what looked a confident mood.
Cook did go relatively cheaply (23) which was good news. Having sold his match runs for £4 at 92, he only posted a total of 30 which meant a £248 profit. However, the problem was Strauss who continued to pile on the runs and reached 50 with ease.
He eventually fell one short of his first innings total of 83 meaning he scored a whopping 165 in the match... not ideal when you've sold £4 at 95. He'd missed out on a century twice, but cost me exactly three centuries (in pounds)!
Tuesday 1st June
The worst kept secret of all time is out... St Nicholas Abbey won't run in Saturday's Epsom Derby. That's bad news for everyone who has backed him (I can almost hear the sound of ante-post tickets being shredded), but potentially brilliant news for anyone, like me, who has backed Jan Vermeer. Let's hope Jan is the man come Saturday!
Speaking of torn up tickets, Theo Walcott is now tearing up his for South Africa. I was surprised, as I thought his pace could be a match winning injection from the bench. Spot the Arsenal fan!
Wednesday 2nd June
Very quiet day’s punting as I'm writing this and then going to the Derby Dinner this evening. Having said that, I will be having a few quid on the Brian Meehan trained Field Day at Nottingham. One of the shrewdest punters I know gave me the nudge last night!
