Ayr 12 March 2022 - Bar 1

For our pre Cheltenham jaunt we were at Ayr betting in the bar- it's a good thing we got in (with 2 picks to spare in the end) as it was a single enclosure meeting so Tatts ring would've been pretty poor compounded by the massive Tote portakabin sitting astride picks 1, 2 and 3.

Ayr are running a restricted crowd for the National in a few weeks and we got our first look at the bar/tent down where we usually bet and it appears to be considerably smaller than previous years so sleepless nights ahead wondering where on earth to stand. The correct answer may even be "Chepstow". But I'm getting ahead of myself- here is our Cheltenham warm up;

The first was a relatively quiet betting heat- perhaps the punters were all stuck behind the Tote booth in the Tatts- who knows? We ended up with the very well bet Jessiemac and the fairly well bet Lissen To The Lady (what DO they teach them in school?) as our two bogeys. The favourite Charm Offensive was a taker and the rest moderate winners. Charm Offensive obliged and we were off to a non existent start from a p&L perspective.

The 2nd race was, to be honest, pretty boring from a book perspective as the field was bet in more or less odds related proportions leading to a small loser (Better Getalong) a load of takers and a couple of chances at the bottom of the field price wise. The favourite, Ned Tanner, duly won and another taker meant we were fish and chips ahead in the book but still work to do just to cover expenses.

We had 2 modest losers in the 5 runner 3rd race, Ardera Cross the 2nd fav and Victory Echo. The 3rd favourite in 3 races led to a small profit in the book and we finally had the expenses covered.

In the 4th we couldn't lay Leitrim Chief (not for the want of trying) and our losers were Ballycoose and Hasty Brook. The well bet (off course) Gaillimh A Stor was an easy winner and was our best result despite the price collapse. The betting level, however, was pretty ordinary and "our best result" was still a pretty modest return.

Don Brocco was the only name in town in the 5th and was comfortably our biggest loser of the day. It travelled well throughout and just held on despite a late rally from the favourite- also a loser but for a lot less and all semblance of profit and covering expenses were wiped out.

The 6th brought about the famous Cairn Bet one horse book which, in this case, was Kalaharry for the biggest potential jackpot of the day (plus a reasonable winner in Donnas Delight) . It travelled well throughout and looked to be in control until a bad mistake a couple out left Donnas Delight looking the inevitable winner until the favourite Niceandeasy rallied from a mile back (and about 25s in running) to get up and another very small win got us back to covering expenses but no more. We stood the original favourite Juge et Parti for plenty and were disappointed to miss out after getting it beat.

4 favs and 2 second favs didn't make for good reading and we were happy to just have our head above water. It was at this point that a rather inebriated chap asked how we were doing. I'm not sure why people do that as, even after the results we'd seen, he didn't believe a word we said and told us we were £1000s ahead. If only.

The tide finally turned and we got our rewards for standing 2nd favourite Paddy the Panda for plenty and Cellar Vie for half of plenty. Hidden Commander collapsed from somewhere around 100/30 to go off 6/4 and just keeping up with the market moves was a full time job with a constantly shifting market. Kev was told in no uncertain terms to leave me alone while I tried to keep some semblance of pricing. As it turned out Hidden Commander was under pressure from a long way out and finished 3rd to Nick Alexander's Atlantic Dancer which was a nice winner for us also. Nick sometimes reads these blogs I believe- I appreciate the interest Nick, but next time you're gonna have a 5 timer remember that sharing is caring! In all seriousness congratulations to Nick on a great day for his stable and it may even have been 6 if Final Reminder hadn't refused to race in the 3:20

We are off to Cheltenham next week. I am hoping to put out daily updates but we are up at 7:00am, returning to digs at 8:30pm after racing with all the prep needed for the following day so, if I can, I will but they will be short and to the point.

Finally some sad news as I believe we have lost another stalwart of the ring, Tommy Morton, who was still laying favourites at age 90 and was on course today. I had a few minutes with him before we pitched in and you could see the glint in his eye when he was asking me about Cheltenham next week and you just knew he would've loved to go down there and get stuck into some of those short ones. Condolences to Billy and all his family and friends; we'll try to get Honeysuckle beaten in your honour on Tuesday, Tommy.

Until next week...