So, as promised, a very quick run through today as I have chicken pathia and IPA sat on the kitchen table then off to bed. Forecast rain affected the crowd, actual rain affected the flow of the crowd- a day to have a pitch in the Centaur...
1) Good Land was the slightly surprising max bogey along with a couple of other tiny liabilities, one of which being the original favourite, Impaire Et Passe which won nicely. Places we fairly negligible but slightly in our favour so we started with a no score draw.
2) Took on Gerri Colombe for the max but sadly had The Real Whacker in for half max plus much the same on Thyme Hill. Bronn was a jackpot and we looked like we had an outside squeak turning in but it was not to be. Places hurt us further, as they had all day yesterday, and we were losing with a long way to go to even cover costs.
3) A relatively modest take (for Cheltenham at least) and half maxes all over the book (HMS Seahouse, Sa Fureur, Bold Endeavour, Scaramanga and Off Your Rocco). Campround looked the winner for a while, then An Epic Song which were both jackpots but another one from the top of the market gave us a modest win instead. Finally nicked a couple of quid in the places but we were still only back to level with expenses still miles away.
4) The rain continued and the crowd scurried for cover which was a shame for the feature race. The ones that came out were mainly betting Edwardstone which was enough for a decent liability but not enough to have Energumene any more than a nil - nil so no move forward but at least no more damage done and we did nab a small amount on the unlaid forecast.
5) As in every other year in the cross country they ran round and round for 10 minutes and the favourite won. The only surprise is that anyone is surprised. Top 3 in the betting in order. As usual. The easiest Tricast of the meeting. Same every year. We lost the max. Of course. We never learn.
6) The unrelenting rain was taking its toll on the crowd though at least we knew we'd clear the car park within the hour. Possibly. We stood the top 3 in the market plus Global Citizen. Finally a little relief for the good/bad (delete as appropriate) guys but the rain had affected the take to mean the jackpot result in the race didn't translate into a jackpot result in the bank. Still, we had a move forward which was very welcome. It wasn't to last though.
7) In the rain v punters battle the rain continued to hold a healthy lead and it was a fairly tepid betting heat. Didn't stop us taking a lump on the winner, which was a depressing end to a thoroughly depressing day. A loss in the book, a bigger loss when expenses taken into account and a long climb to even consider the possibility of a week where we don't lose after taking costs into account.
Finally, my usual gripe which will appear to be sour grapes but it really isn't. There's no question that Cheltenham attracts the best of the best. It would just be nice to actually see them run against each other occasionally. I'm not sure how long they can continue with the number of races being an exercise in seeing if the jolly jumps a clear round. On reflection, it really does sound like sour grapes in fairness.
Brevity as promised as it's brutally long days and exhaustion kicks in.
Finally, apologies to one of the guys who reads my blog who came up to see me today and cracked a stupendous gag. I promised him I'd include it tonight and I've completely forgotten what the gag was. In my defence I wasn't wet and losing at that point.
We'll try again tomorrow. And you can read all about it here.
Until then...
This picture you paint sounds like the bitter end and though we're not a slave to the wage we'll try better next time and keep running up that hill. Too many friends doubt us but by Friday evening we'll be ahead ....