I’ve taken a look back over my punting career to come up with my top 5 Cheltenham memories…
1) Something Wells
I’ll never forget the adrenalin rush I experienced last year as the horse laid down his challenge on the home turn before leading over the last and then battling on bravely to hold on from his stablemate. Heaven knows what my neighbours must have thought as I shouted, cheered and charged around the front room like a lunatic. My family had taken refuge in the kitchen and only came out of hiding once he was back in the parade ring and I had calmed down a little. It was the most money I’d ever won a single horse, which was obviously great, but knowing so many other people had won big money too was just as gratifying. If only every confident tip I gave out could run like that….
2) Norton’s Coin
Up to 12 months ago this was the highlight of my betting career. I was working as a betting shop manager for William Hills in Torquay and had little knowledge of the form book back then (some will say I have little knowledge of it even now!) but I was keen to learn and there were plenty of successful punters in the shop keen to teach. My punting guru Phil Laister and I used to talk most mornings and go through our fancies for the day. Neither of us were ever what you would call ‘favourite backers’ and we were always trying to find the big outsider to beat the jolly and give us a big pay day. I have come close on many occasions but never closer than Gold Cup day 1990. We were both keen on the chances of a massive outsider in the Gold Cup and we both took the 200/1 in Ladbrokes. I stuck him in a multiple bet with Call Collect in the Foxhunters, Bigsun in the Kim Muir and after Nortons Coin had done the business my dreams of retirement hinged on 12/1 shot Multum In Parvo in the Cathcart. No prizes for guessing where he eventually finished.
Nortons Coin remains the longest priced winner I’ve ever backed and that bet the nearest to a 6 figure payout I’ve ever had.
3) Monkerhostin
He was a horse I had noted running a cracker in the Tote Gold Trophy at Newbury when finishing third to Geos and Rooster Booster having looked the likely winner over the last. I checked the entries for Cheltenham as soon as they were published and took 14/1 on him for the Coral Cup. He had a prep race at Kempton (a Grade 2 hurdle) a couple of weeks before ,which he won nicely, and I was as confident of him winning the Coral Cup as I’ve ever been about any horse winning any handicap before or since. I topped up £200 on him before the race, which was a massive bet for me back then, and settled down to watch proceedings in a London boozer with Matt. The result was never in any doubt throughout the race and he eventually won by a length. Happy days!
4) Unsinkable Boxer
It wasn’t my biggest ever bet, I didn’t win massive amounts, he wasn’t a big outsider and I didn’t tip him to hundreds of people but he was the easiest winner I’ve ever backed at Cheltenham. For the horse to win so easily in one of the toughest handicaps of the season was just a joy to watch. Sent off the 5/2 favourite for the 1998 24 runner Gold Card Final (now the Pertemps) he led 2 flights from home and never came out of a canter with Tony McCoy turning around up the run-in to taunt those behind him by waving his whip in a rare show of cockiness. It was probably also the last time Tony McCoy smiled at the Cheltenham Festival.
5) Space Fair
This one holds particularly good memories for me because it came at a time of extreme desperation. For a disastrous 18 months my brother and I had a betting shop in Poole and we were on the ropes due to a very shrewd local bookmaker having an incredible winning run. We were constantly having to pay him out and struggling to keep afloat when I finally made a breakthrough and backed Space Fair to win the Grand Annual. He obliged at 5/1 and I followed it up by backing the Cathcart and The County Hurdle winner for good measure. We took the money and got the hell out of Dodge. I had some good times there, can claim to have lived in Sandbanks (albeit for 2 months) and met my good mate Matt but the thought of that betting shop still sends shivers down my spine….
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Festival Trends
Another post, another plug.
It’s still not too late to get a copy of this years Festival Trends which includes our Ante-Post Guide and 4 from the Handicaps Sheet. A lot of our horses have come in for some good support over the last few days (none more so than our Grand Annual selection) which is good news as it means that they’re probably running in the correct races for us and that they’re fancied by connections.
I’ve had my Lucky 15 on our 4 handicap horses and according to betfred I’ll be winning just short of a £million if they all oblige. There’s nothing wrong with dreaming!
The 6 day race declarations will be made over the coming days and we’ll be tweaking the guide as running plans become more evident. The final version for each day will be made when the 24 hour decs are announced.
The main guide is currently 129 pages long, covers all 26 races due to be run at the Festival and is just £19.95….
You can get your copy here>>>> http://www.festivaltrends.co.uk/amember/signup.php
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Latest Cheltenham news
Dunguib took a step closer to even money when Sporting Bet eased the Irish super novice to 5/6 yesterday. It’s only a matter of time….
I obviously didn’t rub my lucky rabbits foot hard enough on Monday as within 10 minutes of writing my post the connections of Solwhit announced that he was doubtful for the Champion Hurdle. He’s said to be less than 50-50 to make the line-up…
Having written an email to Charlie Egerton wishing him luck in the Triumph Hurdle with Westlin Winds he replied yesterday to tell me everything was going according to plan with the horses preparations. He also invited me to have a look around his stables which was a nice touch and an invitation I hope to take him up on in the Spring. I think I’ll try the same trick with Henry Cecil and wish him luck with Twice Over’s Dubai World Cup challenge. I wouldn’t mind having a look around Warren Place…..
And finally, William Hill finally joined in with the rest of the bookmaking fraternity to offer non-runner/no bet on all ante-post Festival bets. And about time too…
Good luck,
Gavin.