Quick run through as kids' football followed by trip to Nairn for a few days to enjoy the delights of a Scottish spring break (sleet, snow and hail for the uninitiated) await me today.
3 options where to stand and I didn't have a clue which way to go. The bar was initial thought but the previous day's work in there brought back the memory of earlier years with half your day spent in crowd management trying to clear a space for punters to get through. The upgrade fee is incredibly high (effectively trebling your expenses), the additional cost of replacing your kit/clothes/shoes after the inevitable late afternoon spew fest and the decent weather forecast meant this option was the outsider of the 3 and, as we know at Ayr, outsiders weren't winning this weekend. It was also interesting to see a couple of books who had bet in the bar in previous years also decided against it and, in the end, we were told it didn't even fill with the permitted 8 bookmakers, though I don't know for sure if that's correct.
One of the first picks in the Tatts ring was the next option and a much more lively chance. Ultimately we decided against as the ring was going to be inundated with books. We also didn't like that the exit from the bar area to the Tatts ring (and the main thoroughfare for picks 1 and 2) was half blocked by a temporary bar which felt like it would impact flow of custom. We decided on betting down in the old silver ring provided we could get one of the end two pitches at either end of the line of 14. Bookmaker numbers in this area were restricted to 14 and an end or next to end pitch is usually busy enough, less so in the middle. There is a large beer tent, a few pop up bars/food stalls, plenty of seating and a band at a volume sufficient enough to attract punters down from other outside areas. We ended up with the option of pick 2 next to our friends from the Jimmy Latham team. As it turned out the weather was kind and the area was busy enough to justify our decision.
1) As is usual with an early pitch up (2 hours before first race yesterday) there is panic amongst books when they've not taken 100 bets by 12 o'clock but there were plenty of folk about and betting never really starts until half an hour before the first race and that was the case again. The first race is also, always the quietest and we were relatively happy with our take, even more so when the 11/1 shot Return Ticket gave us a very nice start beating our biggest loser, Malystic in a tight finish. The tide had turned and we were on our way to clawing back yesterday's losses. It was the first double digits winner of the meeting, sadly, it would also prove to be the last.
2) Back to our now traditional game of choose your liability with the top 2 in the market clear- our big loser, Dusart, looked held against our small loser, Sounds Russian but the favourite got back up to halve our profit for the day and leave us scratching our heads in frustration.
3) Barrichello was our biggest loser, though not massive, as the majority of the field were bet. Onemorefortheroad was our other bogey, albeit quite small. West Cork (a taker) and Onemorefortheroad were battling it out- our jackpot, Anna Burina, was going well but short of room on the run in. Switched right at the last and finished like a train to reel in both on the line and the gratifying sound of silence from the crowd told its own tale. We had got back yesterday's loss. For now...
4) Do Your Job the only horse in town. Solid loser for us, solid winner on the track and the cacophony of noise returned to the tent with only the places providing a small sticking plaster over a gaping wound.
5) As a former professional punter once wisely observed "It's like deja vu all over again Geoff". In a re-run (from a bookmaking point of view) of The Gold Cup we had our own private game of "Which one is the least worst?" as the joint favourites Win My Wings and Kitty's Light went clear miles out and the "worst" was confirmed when Win My Wings hit 20s on with 3 to jump. Profit decimated. Expenses now barely covered as places could barely have been worse either. For completeness sake we also laid Stormy Judge, The Wolf, Ask A Honey Bee and Vintage Clouds to lose. One more monster betting race to come next week, at least there's no Tiger Roll.
A brief eejit interlude followed as the inevitable scrap started behind us. One lone paramedic entered the fray followed shortly after by 5 or 6 boys and girls in blue. Someone's day was worse that ours- maybe one of the eejits laid Win The Wings as well...
6) There's always a heartbreaker and this was it. Bass Rock, our only loser, was the outsider of 4 in running on the run in and looked surely beat. Our biggest winner, Enemy Coast Ahead was going beautifully until it rearranged the final hurdle and Bass Rock got back up. Dent after dent after dent and we weren't even at expenses for the day let alone getting back yesterday's
7) Psychologically, the worst was to come as we couldn't lay the favourite, Groom Doudair, and a chunky bet near the off on Getareason made it our bogey along with Oot Ma Way which was the most inevitable loser in our book of the weekend based on the "Bet the one with the funny name" theory. In a similar vein we have, literally, never had Wor Lass as a winner anywhere ever. Of course Getareason won. and our joint (stand) got it's first kick of the week. I felt our restrain had been admirable up until this point. Was it to be a lucky kick?
8) There's no such thing as luck, karma, effective superstition etc- you just can't be a bookmaker and hope that it's lucky pants day. However that kick was to finally change our fortune just in time to salvage the weekend. Call Me Harry and Magic Wave max losers, Jimmy's Jet a small loser and we had the smash up, Autumn Return, plus the bottom 4 in the market fairly and squarely on our side. Magic Wave looked beaten by Autumn Return but nothing was easy this weekend and a late rally left us begging for the line and, fortunately for us, Autumn Return hung on and our best win of the weekend ensued. We had yesterday's loss back and a cup of tea on top which was a pretty awful weekend overall but a get out in the last always provides relief and we'll be back next week (at Newcastle) to hope for better things.
Finally, as I write, there's been a couple of cry offs in my son's under 14 footy team and we're down to 10 outfielders and a couple of goalies. An early start away to the league leaders on a freezing cold day is surely coincidental. I'm looking out my boots and wondering if I can pass for a teenager at age 54- given the eyesight of some of the refs we've had I might get away with it until my lad calls me Dad.
Until next week...
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