8th Apr - 14th Apr
Having spent the best part of five hours in the car yesterday afternoon, I arrived at the Holland Hall Hotel in Skelmersdale (20 minutes from Aintree) just in time for the United v Munich game. In fact, just in time to see Darron Gibson (with 28 on his back) give the hosts a 1-0 lead inside two minutes - not an ideal scenario when you've sold £150 of supremacy at 0.7 and £8 of shirt supremacy at 10.When Nani (17) doubled the lead four minutes later, I was not a happy camper. I have become accustomed to doing my bollocks at Aintree over the years... but usually it happens once I have set foot on the racecourse. Dinner tasted even worse when Nani scored again on 41 minutes and it was suddenly 'gumshield out' time. "That's the tie"... shouted the commentator - "and the shirt and trousers", he should have added. I was £345 down on the goal supremacy bet, while my shirt position stood at £416 over par!
I remember hearing someone at the bar saying, 'this could be another Roma job'. ‘It better f****** not be’, I thought/prayed. My prayers were answered by Olic (11) who popped up minutes later - the goal immediately wiped off nearly a third of the debt. I bet Gordon Brown wished he had an Olic working in the Treasury!
United were reduced to ten men after the break and Robben pulled another one back which not only settled the contest, it reduced the final debt to £293. I was actually pleased under the circumstances as just before half-time I had been over £750 down on my two positions.
Aintree was as tough as ever. Instead of selling Imperial Commander on the index in the feature, I bought Nacarat. The former fell and the latter still only managed to finish third - I lost 4 times my stake instead of winning 26.
As for the Masters, I have sold Tim Clark, KJ Choi and Jim Furyk’s finishing positions and have bought both Weir and Harrington. I left the racecourse with Clark on -1 and Furyk on -2… things were looking up.
Friday 9th April
My golfers may have been going alright when I left the races last night, but by the time I arrived back at the hotel, things had taken a turn for the worse. Furyk amazingly had slid from -2 to +8 in 15 holes which must be a record. Tim Clark slipped back and posted a limp round of 75 (+3), while the only bright light was Choi who shot a 67 to sit at -5. The two I had opposed (Harrington and Weir) recorded rounds of 71 and 74 respectively which wasn’t bad enough. I certainly didn’t master the first day at the Masters!
Anyway, things were looking up as it was Ladies Day at Aintree and all of Liverpool’s finest flocked to the racecourse in their thousands. It was like a wave of orange flesh, blonde hair and cheap perfume that made my eyes water. Sadly, my eyes did water when old favourite Schindlers Hunt had to be put down after the Melling Chase. I didn’t back him, but have been with him on plenty of occasions in the past. He was humanely destroyed in front literally thousands who deserve that lethal injection far more than he did!
The day got worse when Frankie Figg crashed out when booked for a place in the Topham Chase. My £10 buy at 11 was set to return at least £190 when disaster struck at the second last. I was pleased to leave course…
Saturday 10th April
I woke up and checked out my Masters positions. Two of the three golfers I had sold (finishing positions), Furyk and Clark, both missed the cut which cost me £480. However, they were joined by one that I had opposed (Harrington) which won me back £190. That all meant that I was £210 down with the prominent Choi still running for me and Weir the potential thorn in my side.
My phone vibrated in my pocked all morning with various texts and calls from old school friends and acquaintances who only ever make contact on Grand National day. ‘Who do you fancy?’ was the first text I received at 8am… I replied back, ‘Cheryl Cole’. In truth, I liked Black Apalachi and Snowy Morning and felt that my luck was about to change.
As the runners circled down at the start and they flashed up the previous winners of the race on the screen, I realised that I hadn’t backed the winner since Hedgehunter five years ago. Sadly, that remains the case as Don’t Push It finally landed McCoy the win he richly deserves. Black Apalachi ran a cracker to finish second and Snowy Morning plodded on for sixth. However, everyone only remembers the winners! I left Aintree and its flesh, fake tan and perfume and like Furyk and Clark in Augusta, headed home early.
Sunday 11th April
It was nice waking up at home rather than at Aintree. It was even nicer waking up to discover that Weir shot a 76 and Choi recorded a round of 70 to stay bang in contention at the Masters.
I did sell £100 of goals in the Wolves v Stoke lunchtime game at 2.2, so the 0-0 final score won me back £220 after a disastrous few days. I left the rest of the action alone as my punting confidence was shot to pieces… anyway, I had the evening to look forward to and Mike Weir’s gradual slide down the leaderboard.
Monday 12th April
Good old Phil Mickleson. He deserved his win at the Masters and played the best golf on the day. He has been through a hell of a lot with his wife over the last few months and I had an Aintree-esque tear welling moment when they embraced on the 18th green. Choi hung in there to finish tied for 4th and won me £185, while Mike Weir collapsed (not literally) to finish tied for 43rd. Opposing the Canadian actually won me a further £45, when I had feared a potential disaster.
I had been given a huge tip for Richard Hannon’s newcomer Zebedee in the opener at Windsor, but it seems that I wasn’t the only one who’d been given the nod. Richard Hughes’ mount was sent off 4/6 and won a tad cosily – sadly not carrying my cash.
Tuesday 13th April
I fancied Newcastle to win at Reading and bought £150 of their supremacy at 0.1 – you can imagine how I felt when I discovered they were 2-0 up at the break. The hosts did pull one back in the second half, but I still made £135 on the game.
If only the same could be said for my £100 buy of Millwall at lowly Yeovil at 0.75. I was too busily wrapped up in Holby to realise that the home side went 1-0 up and stayed there. That result cost me £175 and meant a £40 loss on the evening.
Wednesday 14th April
No interest in the football, but I have a real strong fancy at Cheltenham in the afternoon. Good Old Thyme will love the ground, comes from a stable in form and looks a cracking buy at 7 on the index in the 3.20pm. I suppose only Thyme will tell if I’m right or not!
Comments
ezrknfiv | 10 Jun 2010 at 05:15