Musselburgh Ladies Day 8/8/25 - Strange Currencies

We start by skipping forward to the betting around race 4. A couple of issues with card machine and we were in "cash only" mode. The procession of card requests continued, we explained that the card machine was down and we could only take cash at this point. You wouldn't believe the number of folk who said "oh, you take cash"? You then wouldn't believe the number of folk who then got out wallets and purses full of cash. Further investigation revealed the usual racecourse line of "we are cashless" led to the assumption that we were too. I reckon of the 30 odd requests for a card bet ended up with only 2 people not actually having cash. Further education required. Every day's a school day.

We opted to stand in the centre course by the picnic tent. 700 punters was the number of folk due at the tent, but a quick check of picnic benches showed about half that many seats. It turned out that it was an "upgrade" to the normal ticket and, for most of the day there were probably around half that number over there at any one time. It was still a busy enough day but we gazed across at our colleagues by the main bar in envy, though we missed out on that area anyway so no FOMO.

Similar to Derby Day, we were pitched up in the hinterlands of the lawn by the toilets (next to the smoking/vaping zone- nice) whilst the eponymous Tote had the prime pitch smack bang in the middle of the tent- they were so obviously excited to be there that they decided to make their stand look exactly like an on course bookmaker's! Imitation the most sincere form of flattery and all that. Now, we don't begrudge the Tote their favourable position under normal circumstances, they clearly put more into the pot than our badge fee does but we may make a small exception today... At this point we would like to take the opportunity to crown or "Favourite Punter of the Year" to the delightful lady who popped out to the bar and saw we were stood near the fog zone. "I didn't realise there was a bookmaker out here" she said. "Yeah, we're here all day". She went on to explain that she'd been to the Tote (in the tent, looks like an oncourse bookmaker, in case you've forgotten) and asked if there were any bookmakers (remember - we're hidden round the corner halfway to Prestonpans, sited somewhere between nicotine and urinal) in the area. "No, we're the only one here and you'll get better odds with us anyway" opined the Tote. We were there and we probably were offering better odds as well. Our lady said she'd bet with us all day (and she did)

I'm a fairly easy going guy (unless Simon picks 2nd line in the gap at Thirsk) but this felt like a declaration of war. So off I went, to each and every person at each and every picnic bench to point out that, yes, they could bet with the Tote and that, yep, the Tote lady was, no doubt, absolutely lovely but we were also there. I said it loud enough for our Tote lady to hear as well. I even gave directions. If I had a printer I'd have gone full on orienteering map. "Where are you love?" a few asked. "Out the end of the tent, turn right just before the folk having a wee and we're just where it looks like the sea mist rolled in. But it smells of raspberry and elderflower". At this point we also saw our Punter of the Year doing much the same job we were. If I wasn't already married to the most wonderful woman on the planet I'd have proposed on the spot.

1) Upside down book as is often the case on Ladies Days. Didn't want the 4 double digit selections at the bottom of the market. Particularly didn't want Concert Boy. Got off to a good start with 2nd in, Falcon Nine and avoided the place nightmare of Concert Boy and On The Bubble.

2) Step backwards in race 2 though. Hollie Doyle on Ladies Day never a good combination for win or place, topped off by Ecclefechan placing for both tart and Dumfries and Galloway fans. We wanted Schrodingers Cat, we didn't get it. Though we did say "don't open the box" with every bet. Went down about as well as our Punxsutawney Phil joke but it made me laugh.

3) More bottom end of the market woe in the book with Bobby's Pride the inevitable shocker along with Going Commando and Social Exclusion - an interesting combination on Ladies Day. Obviously couldn't get enough in on the short one and we had a monster result on jolly Homestrait and we even nabbed a bit on places despite a shocking each way book.

4) And the bottom end of market bogeys continued though jolly Crimson Spirit was also well bet. We wanted 2nd fav Bellarchi for another good win and we got it, the jolly placing in a 7 runner giving us a dream each way top up.

5) When your luck's in... Ziggy is an alien in Scottish kids' educational books. A bit like the paper equivalent of the 1970s public service TV adverts but without the graphic X rated violence (the kid's foot frozen 6 inches above the broken bottle on the beach was particularly harrowing, whilst "Put a rug on a polished floor? Might as well set a man trap" was comedy writing at it's peak). Anyway, we normally lay Ziggy "anything" in Scotland but this time we didn't and, whilst the field sizes weren't huge, the plethora of 6 and 7 runner races meant the place markets were a bookmaker's dream.

6) Our friendly Security guy popped along to tell us that we didn't want any Janis Joplin fans getting a result here. As you know, I do like my music, but Me And Bobby McGee had passed me by. He was right that we didn't want it though. Or Naturalia. Jolly Simple Star wasn't our best winner but a winner it was, nonetheless, and we nudged forward in win and place.

7) And a jackpot to finish. PatOnTheBack the best winner in the book and yet another 7 runner race gave us yet another place book we'd love all year.

An excellent day for us. You always have more of a chance when you are at a busy meeting when the crowd are betting most of the field but you still need the chips to fall in your favour. I even hoped the Tote had a good day on the way out before remembering that they always do regardless.

A week's golf with Steve, bookmaker legend Pinno and our mate Fish for us before Perth next weekend. Golf updates on Twitter if I'm winning. Golf updates on Twitter from Pinno if I'm not.

Until then...