One job. One bloody job Kevin had. I'm doing the driving so he's on jumping out and picking up the takeaway/milk/beer en route back to the digs. Get some Hazy Jane on the way home for the embattled warriors after another 12 hour day at the coalface (including travelling down pothole alley) was today's teeny tiny errand. He didn't notice it was Guava apparently. He'd have bloody noticed if it had been his bloody coffee he was buying. Honestly, it tastes like the kids' summer fruit cordial mixed with porridge.
The error was further compounded when the curry sauce that went with the Chinese takeaway turned out to be sweet and sour. So, technically, two jobs. He's getting some pelters in the digs. No wonder he opted for semi early retirement. The rest of the shopping list comprised of sausages and bread rolls for breakfast- I haven't checked yet if they're vegan but in vegan v meat, I'm laying evens the pair.
1) Next day, same as the first. Stand the odds on shot for the max, watch it cruise past and hit 1.01 going over the last and win going away. We were saved, though, by pretty much skinning the "Without" market for more or less what we'd lost in the main race.
2) Next race, same as the first. Stand the odds on for the max, watch it... ach, I can't even finish the sentence. No "Without" market saviour here and yesterday's hole was filling at an alarming pace. Not waving and close to drowning.
3) You have to laugh really. Langer Dan tailed off or pulled up in 4 races since he won this 12 months ago. Goes off virtually favourite. Another max loss and the post race interview saw the trainer state that horse had great timing. No idea how he kept his face straight. Like great comedy, it's all in the timing. We were more Greek Tragedy than Only Fools and Horses.
4) There was always a point where we wouldn't get enough in on an odds on shot to get a liability. This was the race. Of course it was. Mistake ridden and pulled up. Our very good friend suggested we should lay the really short ones on the machine. We could only laugh. In fairness we ended up winning a few quid on the race. We laid Edwardstone for plenty in the race and in the "Without" market but bemoaned our luck again as the big lump to turn El Fabiolo from small winner to decent loser stayed resolutely trousered. Opportunity missed and we wondered if another would come around.
5) And then it did. In absolute spades. We pasted on our smiles, we stuck at it, we worked hard and we had the biggest race turnover of the day. We stood 4 of the top 5 along with a ton of place liability dotted all over the show and dodged the lot. Pretty much a bonafide skinner and we wiped 2 days of almost unrelenting misery away in a dream of a result that barely seemed possible. We'd fired up the metaphorical generator and hooked it up to the metaphorical industrial strength water pumps and, whilst we were still subterranean, we were wringing out our shoes and socks, shaking the water out of our hair and peeling the leeches off various body parts. Our race 3 nemesis became our race 5 saviour. We were too elated to hear whether Unexpected Party, like Langer Dan, also had the benefit of immaculate timing from the trainer's point of view but, for us, we'd just seen the racing equivalent of Del falling through the gap in the bar multiplied by Eric playing all the right notes in all the wrong order. It's always darkest before the dawn.
6) The bumper was a rather quieter betting affair but we still took a fair bit on the favourite which ensured max liability whilst we had another couple of maxes dotted around the book. Fortunately not on Jasmin De Vaux and whilst the result was more "solid" than "skinner" we took another very welcome step forward and started construction on the bottom rungs of the ladder to attempt to clamber out. Only time will tell whether we're constructing it out of solid oak or balsa wood and papier mache.
After 4 today I'd have bitten your hand off if you'd offered me the chance to cover expenses and get out of Dodge but there is now the tantalising prospect of potentially even making a couple of quid. Still a long way to go and still more potential potholes than the Shipston to Winchcombe road but maybe, just maybe.
Back again tomorrow where we're not sure what to do as we won't be betting without on anything.
Until then...