Thursday 19th November
I didn’t see Henry’s handball final evening – sadly for all Irish fans, neither did the referee! I had to make do with watching it on YouTube in the early hours of the morning right after acquiring back from Kempton and it was a shocker. I was frustrated with myself for not promoting total ambitions in the game at 2.1 as it had seemed the clear pre-match sell. I hope that FIFA do make the sides replay, not on sporting grounds, but due to the fact I’ll be 1st in the queue to slot objectives if they meet once more.
Kempton were a small disappointing as nicely with only 1 tiny winner to report. What’s he grumbling about you could ask? Effectively, that tiny winner was surrounded by a host of losers on a actually frustrating evening. I had gone with a handful of operate colleagues and we had discussed acquiring SPs ahead of the initial race as the card looked difficult. We didn’t and 16/1, 25/1 and 33/1 shots all produced their way back to Kempton’s deserted Winner’s Enclosure. I have no concept why the track fails to attract decent gates to its All-Climate meetings as the racing is frequently great, the meals in the restaurant good and general the facilities are as very good as you will locate anyplace. I’ll undoubtedly go back and subsequent time I’ll be extended of SP’s – possibly I’ll go the evening France and Ireland replay!
Friday 20th November
Ascot staged a quite decent hunting jumps card and I was fortunate adequate to be there as a guest of City AM. The Climate cleared up following a poor begin and it turned out to be the ideal day for watching national hunt racing – not for punting sadly! Nevertheless, we had been fed and looked following truly effectively even though (and I don’t have shares in Kempton or Ascot!).
I fancied Volador to turn more than Paul Nicholls’s Red Harbour in the initial and purchased £10 at 18 on the index. The 5-year old was obtaining his very first run more than hurdles and looked decent worth against the drifting favourite. Nicely, he did handle to beat the jolly but may possibly only handle third beaten less than the length of one particular of the pieces of lemon from my smoked salmon starter – the jockey almost got the other piece hurled at him from the stands. I kicked myself for not performing the match bet.
Amazing George got me back ahead in the subsequent obtaining looked in significant difficulty turning for residence, but The Rainbow Hunter failed to land a blow in the third which place me behind once more at the halfway stage. Then came the initial of 2 genuinely sturdy fancies... Go Silver Bullet in the 2.40pm. The steak and mushroom pie have been cleared away and it was time to buy stuck into a horse greater referred to as to run in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint than 2 ½ mile handicap chase round Ascot.
The spectacular grey jumped like a stag the complete way round and my £20 get at 18 on the index looked in very good shape as they passed the stands with a circuit to go. He was jumping soundly in third and was travelling at a sensible pace. The issue was that the sensible pace in query turned out to be his fifth gear and he was never in a position to reel in Psychomodo or Soulard. An additional £160 in the bin and it was turning out to be a single of these days. The 11/1 winner was the second in rapid succession for Sporting Index Marketing and advertising Manager David Turcan, as well a guest on the table, soon after he had backed Inventor at 14/1 in the earlier race. He showed no emotion as the winner crossed the line – either he was also drunk to realise he had won or backs so several winners it doesn’t bother him any longer (I reckon the latter).
My subsequent massive fancy was Bowleaze in the huge race of the day and I purchased him on the index and in his match bet with Fairoak Lad. He ran an nearly exact same race to Go Silver Bullet but faded right after the final and completed sixth... he had looked particular to be placed approaching the third final. I believe, just like me, he’s a pound or 2 to higher at the weights at present. Annoyingly, Fairoak Lad completed third which means a wipe out across the boards... I didn’t think like obtaining any cheese.
Left the final alone – must have followed David Turcan who backed the winner once more! In reality, if I’d followed him property I may have bumped him on the head and nicked all his winnings – I almost certainly nevertheless would were down even though!
Drove property and managed to purchase a puncture leaving the motorway – One more £85 down the drain to cap a genuinely memorable day. ‘Did you win?’ asked my wife as I walked in the door...
Saturday 21st November
A new day, a new dawn and a trip to Twickenham to watch England lose to the All Blacks. The trains had been a nightmare but managed to acquire to the Duke of Cambridge in time to meet our celebration for a pre-match drink and burger. The grey clouds gathered more than head as we created our way to the ground and I sold £20 of points at 36. As we took our seats, the heavens opened and I felt confident that I was about to place my very first winning bet in a extended time. That self-confidence grew as the sides trudged off the field half-time with only 12 points on the scoreboard.
New Zealand added One more 13 unanswered points in the second period, but England declared at six which means a last total of just 25 and a £220 profit. Sadly, Notre Pere took back £100 of that as my ante-post bet on him to beat Kauto Star ended up in the identical place as the onions from my hot dog... on the floor!
We had a horrendous walk from the ground in torrential rain back to Twickenham town exactly where we ended up watching the initial half of the Scotland v Australia match in the planet’s most crowded pub. I attempted to ring up and sell points from the staircase outdoors the loos (the major pub was also noisy), but kept getting asked to move by some freaky bearded American bouncer. I ended up promoting £15 at 35 from the loo itself. The floor was soaking wet and I hope it was just rain from men and women’s footwear rather than...
Anyway, the very first half went truly nicely as the rain fell on Murrayfield. I produced my way residence throughout the second half and the score remained at 6-3 to Scotland for the duration of my train journey. I was pressing refresh on the sportinglife web site each and every 30 seconds and possibly spent what I won on the match in world wide web charges. The game completed 9-8 and I won £270... at final a winning day!
Sunday 22nd November
Practically nothing considerably to report on the punting front at all... except for a little wager on Danyl to be in the bottom 2 in the X Issue. He wasn’t and I was back on the losing trail, albeit only £65.
I had to choose up a Czech Au Pair from Reading Station for an interview and she was a monster – her perfume was generating my eyes water in the car. I believe I’m going to attempt and line her up with that bouncer from the pub in Twickenham.
Monday 23rd November
Spent most of the day travelling to Ireland for perform and spent the evening in the Crowne Plaza Dundalk... which is precisely like you would envision it to be. I became Alan Partridge for the evening and Ben, my perform colleague, and I sat and watched the second half of the Newcastle game on Sky. He was desperate to back Newcastle but we both agreed it would almost certainly finish goalless. Up popped Kevin Nolan and Newcastle had been abruptly heading for all 3 points.
Went up stairs and watched Life (ironic as that’s specifically what I didn’t have at the time!) on BBC 2 at 11pm. It was all about the Hunter and the Hunted... it was brilliant. I’m just glad I wasn’t born an ostrich as I wouldn’t back myself to outrun a parking warden let alone a jaguar.
Tuesday 24th November
Terrible flight house in the wind and rain sitting subsequent to a large African bloke named John who loves his gambling. He struck up conversation as quickly as he saw my Racing Post and only stopped as we reached baggage reclaim. He professed to becoming the worst gambler in the globe and mentioned that the final Derby winner he backed was Dancing Brave. I didn’t want to inform him it got beat just in case he didn’t know – boy, he’s going to be disappointed when he goes to attempt and gather!
Anyway, he told me that 5/1 Liverpool to qualify for the subsequent stage of the Champions League was the perfect bet he has ever noticed (even greater that Dancing Brave to win the Derby). I attempted to clarify the intricacies of spread betting to him but he wasn’t obtaining any of it. ‘Spread like butter’ he kept saying... right after a couple of ‘not fairly’s, I gave up. His favourite jockey is Kieren Fallon and he hates Graham Lee (he’s an ‘A hole’ apparently). My new buddy John stated that he went to Ascot final Saturday and backed a badly ridden Graham Lee horse that got beaten. ‘I went all the way down to the paddock and shouted at him as he went to weigh-in’, he told me. The worrying thing is that Graham Lee was genuinely riding at Haydock that day... I was going to inform him that, but did not want to embarrass him – I may possibly have mentioned that he was up there to ride Dancing Brave.
Anyway, got residence in time to see Liverpool crash out of the Champions League... poor old John.
Wednesday 25th November
An additional evening of Champions League action and with no view in the United game, decided to sell £100 of objectives in the Porto v Chelsea game. Not a powerful view, but an interest anyway. Possibly I need to ring John and locate out if he fancies something...
