29th April - 5th May
My wife went to London for the day, so I did the 'school run'. Alfie (our two-year-old), has yet to ‘go into training’, so just helped me in getting the other two to the right place on time. I had been instructed to stay with Eliza at her Nursery for a little while after drop-off as she can get a little bit upset ‘down at the start’. However, I am happy to report that she didn't give the stalls handlers any problems and went in easily.One of her friends had brought in her pet lizard for 'show and tell' and the whole class crowded around in amazement. 'What are you going to do with your Dragon when it grows up to be the size of a car?' I asked. She looked terrified and dispersed pretty quickly. Oopps.
Anyway, I'm going to give Eliza a copy of my Leeds/Notts County ante-post double voucher for 'show and tell' next week. Any three-year-old who knows his/her football will gasp in amazement... How did Leeds bottle it from where they were at Christmas? Perhaps Miss Carol will know the answer. She seems to know everything else!
Not surprisingly, my first (and only) bet of the day came once the kids were in bed. I liked the look of Granny Mcphee in Brighton's 7pm contest and bought £10 at 21. I screamed at the screen when Blue Tango set sail for the judge a furlong out and thought my pilot had massively misjudged things. Yet, after the horrors of last week, my luck was changing and he nipped through and won a three way head bob. It must be God's way of thanking me for doing the school run... I think I'll do it again!
Friday 30th April
If you spend as much time studying horse form as I do, then you should never back a horse simply because you like its name or colour. However, two horses running at Lingfield flew off the page at me and my will power was severely tested.
Basically, my eldest daughter is called Phoebe (6-y-o) and my other two have great difficulty in saying her name. Eliza (4) has a slight lisp and calls her sister 'Phoebs', while Alfie (who currently sounds like Professor Stephen Hawkins with a lisp) tries to copy her but it comes out as 'Thebes'.
Well, cut a long story short, I left a horse called Phoebs alone in the opener and watched it bolt up at 5/2. Then, as I had missed the wedding, I didn't fancy the funeral much and left Thebes alone as well. You know what happened next! Thuck it!!! Why didn't I do the school run today!
Saturday 1st May
2000 Guineas Day... and the vast majority of my ante-post portfolio, like me, were going to spend the afternoon sitting on their backsides watching rather than participating. I did, however, have two running for me. One firmly in the mix and the other, well, firmly out! I backed St Nicholas Abbey at 4/1 immediately after the Racing Post Trophy last year and as he hovered around the even money mark just before the off, I felt pretty confident.
I also must confess to backing Viscount Nelson at 33/1 last June before he made his racecourse debut. It was therefore a little frustrating to see him line up at nearly double the price 11 months later - that wasn't in the script!
Well, they both ran like 100/1 shots and neither looked like winning at any point. I have to admit I looked at the French trained winner on the index earlier in the day - I thought he looked a great sell!
Anyway, I quickly turned over to see how my £200 sell of total goals at 2.3 in the Charlton v Leeds match was going. It was still 0-0 after 20 minutes and remained that way until half-time. When I checked in again after 80 minutes, it was still 0-0 - I remember thinking to myself, that there was no way anyone was going to score and mentally penciling in a profit of £460.
Enter Richard Naylor who put the ball into the back of his own net on 88 minutes and wrestled back £200. The whistle went soon afterwards and I felt a bit flat (you can probably remove the 'l' too!) even with £260 in my back pocket!
Sunday 2nd May
Only John Higgins and Gordon Brown could have felt worse waking up this morning! Every drop of rain that was falling on Newmarket represented another nail in Special Duty's 1000 Guineas coffin. I backed the French Filly last September and it’s not every day of the week you have 33/1 about a 3/1 shot in a Classic. Sadly, the constant rain meant her ability to stay the mile was going to be severely questioned.
Anyway, as the race unfolded it soon became clear that my filly (sorry Prince Khalid) was on the right side. The major problem being that she was a mile back, albeit on the right side. Then, she sprouted wings and came flying through to battle it out with 66/1 Jacqueline Quest. But, she didn't go past. To my naked eye, she lost out in a head bobber and the judge soon confirmed my worst fears.
I stood and stared at the screen. My mouth was 'dentist chair' numb... I had missed out on a £2000 payout by less than a tooth... If only Special Duty had buck teeth!
The claxon sounded soon after to signal a Stewards enquiry, but like John Francome on Channel 4, I hadn't seen enough to suggest they would throw the winner out. However, the more they played the replay, the more I began to think Special Duty had a chance. Yet, the more I began to learn about the life of Noel Martin (Jacqueline Quest's quadriplegic owner), the more I felt that he deserved the win. He may be bitter and political, but he has been dealt plenty of cards from the bottom of the pack and deserved ‘an ace’ for a change.
Then, mid-live Criquette Head interview, the claxon sounded again and Newmarket's PA system announced, 'here is the result of the Stewards Enquiry'. I expected, ‘the placings remain unaltered', in fact, a little bit of me wanted ‘the placings remain unaltered'. Martin had buried his wife three years earlier and this was their moment. At last their time in the sunshine.
'The placings are revised as follows'. Special Duty had done it. Criquette head celebrated as a stunned Henry Cecil starred at the floor. I had landed my punt, but I felt for Martin, I really did. The cameras homed in on his emotional face and my celebrations were muted. My memory of the 2010 1000 Guineas will be of that moment. The moment I watched a carer dry a broken man’s tears with a white towel. Yes, life is cruel. But, that winning bet felt irrelevant. If one man deserves a Classic winner it was Martin. Here's hoping the racing gods look after him at Royal Ascot!
Monday 3rd May
We had friends to stay so punting opportunities were thin on the ground. I fancied Dott to win the snooker but left it alone when it became clear it was going to end on Tuesday!
Tuesday 4th May
Pick up any newspaper, choose any race, at any meeting, anywhere in the country. Then, find a horse that you think will beat more than three other horses home. Sounds easy? Well, former Sporting Index PR man Wally Pyrah can’t do it! He rang me with a good thing in Newcastle’s 5.10pm contest and I bought £10 of Pipers Piping at 18 on the index. It finished seventh!
Wednesday 5th May
I’ve got a three day car journey to Chester for the start of their May Festival, but Gertrude Bell should make it all worthwhile in the Cheshire Oaks!
