If I ever get to name a horse these are the names I would consider;
1) Whichonedidiwantagain
2) Whichonedidyoudo
3) Whichoneisthegreyone
4) Ohf***iveforgottenwhatiwanted
I'd have laid 500 bets on almost any of these names today...
Anyway, despite the above, I really enjoy Ladies Days. Sometimes the lads involved in Ladies Days are a little challenging but the good ladies of Ladies Days are almost unilaterally delightful. I don't want to stereotype (but I'm going to) but there are a significant percentage of the crowd who go once a year and take utter, utter delight in having a bet. It's truly joyous. And, as bookmakers, we should be equally delighted to look after our once a year delightful punters. In the last someone won £27.50 and I have seldom seen such joy. Marvellous. Be nice fellow bookmakers and your joy will be reciprocated. It's a simple message (and I'm leaving out the whistles and bells).
We intended betting at the far end of the ring near the lawn but there was a lot of bluff and counter bluff with bookmakers picking in front of us however when it all shook down we did, eventually, end up where we expected (2nd last in the line) with Kevvo manfully taking the reins on the 2nd pitch on his own a few more pitches down.
Our favourite poultry farmers were in attendance today and the "away" betting summary reads "we lost". Well done to Stevie and Moira and also thanks for the change.
1) Foxhollow was incredibly popular and our biggest loser along with Lucinda Russell's outsider Snow Joeking. The winning favourite, Cirque Royal, was a very small winner in the book and we also had a win in the place book after standing the aforementioned bogies in the each way market as well.
2) We bookended our book, not by design I hasten to add, with losers at the top of the market (Brave Way) and the bottom (Our Ted) with 2 Champagne winners, Superover and Sparkles respectively. We were surprised how many, we presumed, Fast Show fans were there with Our Ted our worst result. Nice. Ted ran a nice race but at the sharp end it was the 2 at the top of the market battling it out and we saw our best winner Champagnesuperover win which meant a great start for us overall. Forecast added a further top up, albeit a small one.
3) We knew we'd lay Amalfi Doug with its fine record at Perth and so we did. Max liability there and plenty in the place market 2. Similarly max with Eaglehill which drifted alarmingly on the off. Heavey rounded out our losers and another winning favourite for us (If Not For Dylan) meant 3 on the run. We probably lose on favourites around 75% of the time but the nature of a Ladies Day crowd means we have more liabilities on outsiders (and less on the shorties) and, after 3 races, we were very grateful for this!
4) Finally we had a liability on a favourite in Aurora Thunder and we got the best result of day when Highway Companion won and was barely laid. Overthetop our other significant loser. We avoided the bad places as well and everything was falling our way. We probably should've come home at this point. Actually, we definitely should've come home at this point.
5) Another favourite (Jackhammer) into liability but this time we couldn't get it beaten and to rub salt in the wound our jackpot, A Mere Bagatelle, was a fairly close up 2nd. 4 other losers dotted throughout the book (Well Planted, Kayfast Warrior, Fathers Advice and Wilhelm Vonvenster).
6) This was the day's heartbreaker. We had Boys On Tour (another guaranteed lay anytime it runs) and Victory Echo as max liabilities and the eventual winner Sword of Fate as a small loser. Coming past us it led comfortably and was about 1/40 in running. It badly needed the line though and Tico Times (our best result, obviously) nearly got up on the line. Nearly ain't good enough though and the places were the absolute worst to chalk up another loss.
7) I'm not sure what to say about this one. The favourite, Durragh, was bet by everyone in the ring. Everyone. Including several lumpy bets with us. There were rumours abound that there were eye watering sums being laid at the other end of the line. It shortened and went off 7/4. Within 200 yards of the start and without a fence being jumped it was 5/4 in running with no real reason, on the eye, for the collapse. We knew at that point. Sometimes you just do. It was 1/5 with 3 to jump and would've won with our kids on board facing the other way. We lost max and it was a thoroughly dispiriting way to end the day, especially with the processional nature of the race.
In retrospect it would've been easy to lose today and we had a reasonable win so shouldn't complain. But we're bookmakers and we ALWAYS complain... the last 2 races were a kick in the teeth for different reasons but, either way, we metaphorically experienced the sensation of Doc Marten on enamel.
Just the one lyric today and one of my all time favourite songs. Good luck.
We have something of a break now until Musselburgh a week on Saturday. Until then...
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