It was a game of two halves. It went from the sublime to the ridiculous. In just 5 days I went from winner to loser and in less than a week I experienced the complete range of emotions from euphoria to frustration to anger and finally, total despair. Welcome to my Royal Ascot punting diaries which really was like a remake of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

Part I. The Good…..

Previous to Royal Ascot I hadn’t been punting too much since Epsom finished and I wasn’t sure what sort of shape my luck was in. I hadn’t even been playing that much poker as I had been up to my neck in statistical research but I was feeling pretty confident and was itching for the meeting to start. However by the time Saturday had arrived I couldn’t wait for the meeting to finish and my only consolation was the knowledge that at least they haven’t extended the meeting to include the Sunday.

The meeting started as it finished, with disappointment. Richard Hughes gave Goldikova too much of a headstart at the furlong pole and couldn’t close her down in those last 220 yards. Another 20 yards might have made all the difference but until the Government’s National Measurement Office decree that a furlong has been increased by 10% I won’t be getting paid out on my £100 bet. I also had £20ew on Zacinto in the same race which was looking okay with 1/2 furlong to go but, as I was to find out many more times over the next few days, a lot can happen in a short space of time. My win bet was 2nd and my each way bet was 4th. Normal service had been resumed….

In the next my hopes were pinned firmly on an old favourite of mine Equiano. After 18 months in the wilderness he had returned to top form this season and in what looked a pretty sub-standard Kings Stand he looked value at 10/1. I had £4oew at the price and, in what turned out to be the highlight of the meeting for me, he led from start to finish. Apparently he had undergone a wind operation during the winter which seems to have sorted out his previous inability to win. I’ve booked myself in for the same operation next week….

It was then time to pick up Dylan from school and with timing critical to make sure I was back for the St James Palce stakes I had to do a bit of bribery to persuade him that watching the race was going to be far more fun than a kick about in the park with his mates. It cost be a £1ew on Keiren Fallon’s horse but, as it turned out, that was money well spent.

So, onto the third Group 1 race of the day and I was confident that judged on his Irish Guineas romp Canford Cliffs could reverse Newmarket placings with the front two that day. I had £100 at 5/2 and another £40 at 11/4. I’d also had a tenner each way at 100/1 the night before on Beethoven as I couldn’t believe a Group 1 winner could be such a big price. Despite running well on his seasonal debut that one didn’t make the frame but the result was still music to my ears as Jim McGrath called Canford Cliffs the winner. To quote the German born composer, ‘I shall seize fate by the throat’. Things were looking very good at this stage…

In the Coventry I had made Zoffany my bet of the day and buoyed by my recent successes got a bit carried away and followed up my £100 at 5/1 in the morning with another £50 on the O’Brien runner. Richard Hughes decided to have another go at giving a horse 3 lengths headstart at the furlong pole but amazingly he managed to succeed this time and got Strong Suit up in the final stride. Zoffany became just another O’Brien horse to run badly at the start of the meeting. As his luck improved throughout the week mine went the opposite way…..

My placepot perm was still going nicely though.

A 20 runner handicap over 2 1/2 miles. Just the type of race you need when you’re looking to bounce back from a poor result. From the 20 runners I had managed to get it down to a shortlist of 19 as novice chaser Junior couldn’t win. I thought about backing the other 19 but settled on three in the end. Rangefinder (£10 ew at 33/1), Callisto Moon (£10ew at 25/1) and my main bet £25ew on Som Tala. I really liked the look of Mick Channon’s runner as he had run very well in the race previously, was lower in the ratings than he was for last years Northumberland Plate win, was drawn well for a front runner and tactical genius Richard Hughes was on board. I couldn’t have read the race worse if I tried! Junior won, Callisto Moon finished last and the other two finished in between. To rub salt in the wound the judge decided to give a dead heat for fourth place which meant that although my placepot was still going, thanks to one of the deadheaters, he had to share it with the favourite and this massively affected the dividend. Som Tala has done all of his winning and run all of his best races when allowed to run from the front. Why oh why oh why didn’t Hughsie bounce this one out and lead all the way? I seem to remember asking the same question many times last season before Mick Channon finally listened and instructed the jockey to lead in the Northumberland Plate. He’s declared for the race again this year but looks unlikely to get in and I may have to wait until Glorious Goodwood to try and get my money back.

The final race of the day and I was interested in only two horses, Excello and Stone Of Folca. I had £20ew on each and a £5 rfc. Tea was put on hold for 10 minutes while I watched the 5.30pm and 50 yards from the line it looked like the perfect result and a trip to the Tropical Tandori was on the cards. Not for the first time, or the last, those final few yards of the Ascot turf proved my downfall and incredibly I ended up with 3rd and 4th. I didn’t see the in-running betting on Betfair for the race but I’d imagine that there must have been carnage for a few layers/bettors as Paul Hannaghan gained the advantage close home. I just about broke even on the race and my tea was slightly ‘overcooked’ but at least my Placepot had come up. My £40 perm returned £200 leaving me to wonder what might have been if the judge had called the correct result for 4th place in the previous race. ‘Wish he’d gone to Specsavers’

I was nicely in front for day 1 and eagerly awaited day 2 as my bet of the meeting was due to run in the first….

Shakespearean really caught my eye at Epsom as he carried the penalty well that day to put in a fine front running performance. I went against the trends here because penalty carriers don’t have a great record in the Jersey Stakes but they have restructured the penalty scale and 3lb didn’t look unsurmountable to me. Not for the first, or last, time at Ascot I got it completely wrong and Frankie never got into a winning position. Why oh why oh why didn’t he try to lead all the way? Jockeys, they’re a law unto themselves. Anyway the upshot of it all was that I was £300 down after the first race…..

Strawberrydaiquiri is a favourite of mine and the missus. She drinks nothing else when we’re in Vegas and we’ve backed the horse every time she’s run. Last week was no exception and in what is a very big bet for her she matched my £40 win although, unlike me, she didn’t back Saphresa for £40 as well. What an incredibly exciting race it was and we cheered and shouted louder than a stadium full of vuvuzela blowers. It was her biggest ever win on the horses and she was so overcome with delirium offered to pick Dylan up from school and treat us to dinner in the Harvester. Good times indeed as I’m quite partial to their chicken and ribs combo….

Another favourite of mine is Twice Over and as a Group 1 winner he looked nailed on for the frame in the Prince Of Wales. I managed to steal £100ew at 6/1 and under a less than inspiring ride from Tom Queally bagged the place part. I’m sure if he could ride the race again he’d sit a bit closer to the pace and would have ovrhauled the winner but at least for the second day running my Placepot was still going well….

The Hunt Cup has never been a great race for me but I was quite confident of a good run from Mull of Killough this year. It seems I wasn’t alone as he was gambled on all the way down from 20/1 to an SP of 10/1 but it seems the weight of money riding on him was all too much and he laboured home a well beaten 26th of 29 runners. Incidentally the last 6 home all raced down the centre which obviously wasn’t the place to be. While Mull of Killough was being eased out the back, Frankie was powering home Invisible Man up front to run out a 1/2 length winner. My brother had convinced me the previous week to back him ante-post and I’d had £20ew at 20/1. Some tipster he is. Tells me to take 20/1 and the thing wins at 28/1. That’s the last time I listen to him…..

In the Queen Mary I wasn’t sure of anything but the trends had thrown up a big outsider so I decided to go with her. I had £10 ew Dress Up at 50/1 and £10ew Sarenas Pride also at 50/1. Both ran well but were no match for the front three and finished out of the frame. With all these favourites going in I was sure glad that for the first time in over 20 years I wasn’t working in the bookies. It’s much more fun losing your money on this side of the counter….

The final race and despite the worst possible start it hadn’t been too bad a day. My placepot was still going and there were only 17 fillies running in a handicap to spoil the bet. There were many I could have given a chance to but I settled on just three in the end. My personal choice was Clairvoyance and I had £40ew at 16/1 on her. That was no good and a return to 7f looks the best option for her. Safina was a strong trends horse but Sir Michael Stoute continued his good record of getting his horse placed in this race without winning when she finished 3rd. The other one I backed was Timepiece but this was purely a recovery mission as I had lost quite a bit of money on her in the Oaks. I didn’t have anywhere near the amount I had on her in the Oaks and I didn’t even win enough to cover that Oaks bet but the £30 at 8/1 was very welcome indeed and ensured I won for the second day running.

The placepot paid a miserly £129 which meant I won about £3 on my £50 perm. Still a wins a win and over the next couple of days I’d have been happy to take a £3 profit on any of my bets….

I don’t remember breaking a mirror, walking under a ladder or tripping over a black cat on the Wednesday night but something definitely happened to me in the short space of time between Timepiece winning and the start of Thursday’s racing as my luck completely deserted me. Thursday was probably the worst days punting I’ve experienced this year.

I’ll be back tomorrow to recall the full horrors of Black Thursday…

Gavin.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 21st, 2010 at 12:23 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.