We start at Cartmel last Wednesday. We didn't go. Thank goodness. In case you missed it there was a "winner" that lost the weight cloth and was subsequently, correctly, disqualified. The problem was that it was quite some time after the race that the stewards enquiry was called. It's pretty standard practice for on course bookmakers to pay out on the unofficial result unless there's something obvious (like there was the previous Saturday). I totally appreciate that there'll be a lot of people saying we should wait for the weighed in call to pay out but it just isn't practical. You'll just have a jammed up betting ring with folk wondering why they're not being paid out. Punters watch the race, see their horse win or place and excitedly come up with their ticket and want to be paid. And, if I'm honest, if we waited for a weigh in before paying we'd never strike a bet for the rest of the day.
Anyway, we rely on our eye when it comes to paying first past the post and, if we miss an obvious bit of interference and pay out that's on us. In this case though the bookmakers that were there had no chance. In theory. They may have had a chance with a bit of external help though. I understand that at least 2 media outlets suggested the weight cloth had come off more or less immediately. And the "winning" horse, I believe, was still being laid on Betfair as it crossed the line. So plenty of people with tellies knew something was amiss but there was no announcement for some time on course by which time thousands of pounds had been paid. The official line is that a stewards enquiry could only be called once there was an objection from the clerk of the scales but surely, in this day and age, there can be a protocol for someone on course to make a quick "hold all bets" announcement in circumstances like this until it's cleared up. Paying first past the post helps everyone, bookmakers, punters, racetracks so a bit of help when there's clearly something wrong that everyone with access to the media (which bookmakers on course don't have) can see would be really appreciated. Ta very much. One final note, I've spoken to a couple of bookmakers who lost on average £700 per pitch. Doesn't sound a lot but most of us are small businesses and, whilst it's not life changing, it stings and it is, often, preventable.
On to Musselburgh now. We had a couple of picks and ended up with both of them on the edge of the picnic lawn right next door to each other. Not something we normally do but, with it being Derby Day, we felt we could split what we bet on and, effectively, turn the meeting into an 8 race card. We ran into a few technical problems early on. Computers wouldn't link, board wouldn't display and when it did display it was randomly flashing like pre season Blackpool. Me, Steve and Kev scratched our heads whilst Amanda got the flask out awaiting the technical white smoke. Calls were made, laptops were switched on and off in the hope of resolution whilst Amanda took her tea all alone and our friends in the pitch next door made hay whilst their sun shined and our dimmed. Especially when the big betting coach party boys lined up at their pitch and stayed their all day. In they came on the National Express and, based on the bet size, their life wasn't even in a mess. We looked on with envious eyes all day...
1) 5 runners. 3 losers- 2 for the max (Alpine Sieirra and Cuban Cigar) plus a small loser at the bottom of the market (Monhammer). Alpine traded very short in running but it was our 2 big winners that were in the photo and ensured we had a great start, supplemented by a good place result and and unlaid forecast.
2) Barely touched the book here. Modest losers in Stolen Glory and Don't Fight It and 3 modest winners plus a jackpot (Bon Marine). Turned out the favourite Explicit was a modest winner for us and another positive tick in the book.
3) 4 runners- 2 losers at the top and bottom of the market. Our 2 winners were any price you like in running and we'd metaphorically ripped up our ticket when Dig Two came from Berwick upon Tweed to give us another good result.
4) Big race. 5 furlongs. 2 losers. Both miles clear and only crumb of comfort was the least worst of the 2 won. Grim
5) Not quite as big a race. 5 furlongs. 2 losers. The inevitable Lord of the Glen and eventual favourite Bridgetown. Only surprise was that The Gloaming wasn't a loser as well. Eeh Bah Gum was a good winner for us- the wife is a Yorkshire Lass as well so double bubble for us.
6) Only 2 horses in it and they were both jackpots. Nothing else could possibly win. Literally one refresh of the in running prices and the jackpots were in a hole and we had 2 max liabilities fighting it out for a total and utter irrelevance from our point of view ended up with max loss Mr Strutter beating max loss Bobby Shaftoe.
Epsom Break. It was around this point that our genius plan of betting on race 6 on one pitch and Derby on the other resulted in our second loss in 10 minutes when fav Desert Crown won in phenomenally impressive fashion. Genius huh?
7) A rather disappointing 3 runner race to end the day. We stood Tommaso in the race and also took a very interesting forecast bet leaving out the favourite Bollin Neil which certainly caught our attention but it was never looking likely to land and the favourite was our best result to cover the losses in the previous 2 races.
It's midnight and that's about it other than to say it was a pleasure to meet Allan Morton today who took the time to come and say hello.
And finally; lyrics spotters- Divine Comedy and 10,000 Maniacs. Free quid bet for the first person to give me the 10000 Maniacs song at Perth tomorrow. It's a toughie.
Until then...
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