A Lack of Written Attention, not of Genuine Affection...

You may very well be forgiven for thinking that the notable absence on these pages of a meaningful foray into the feast of flat racing, somehow indicates a loss of appetite for the sport over the summer months.

A friend of mine, who has been mentioned on these pages before, even went so far as to say he was insulted by my perceived lack of attention and interest in the code of horse racing that is contested over distances of five furlongs up to around two miles and during which the animals are not encouraged to leap gallantly over bristly obstacles.

Well, while I am always keen to take on board constructive criticism, the insinuation that a withdrawal of words and writings on this website equates to an absence of interest or excitement is wholly inaccurate.

I will acquiesce that this weekend, with the Cheltenham Open Meeting in full flow and with Punchestown delivering knockout blows in the shape of Mullins one-two Champagne Fever and Hurricane Fly, I certainly return to these pages with more vigour.  But I have taken huge pleasure and eked the occasional pot of profit over the period during which my Raymond Weil has been set to British Summer Time.  If anything, I've been enjoying it too much to have found time to write about it!

A few Palphabet highlights of the 2013 flat season:

- JP Murtagh - what a man - although not backing Royal Diamond on British Champions Day after having circled him in the morning's newspaper was a real error.

- Getting on a Producer / Lost in the Moment 4/1 double with a £100 stake the weekend after a visit to the Hannon yard.  Made all the more special by the fact that the double in question took place in Istanbul, was brought to my attention by Richard Snr in a "conversation" I was fortunate enough to share with him (I basically overheard him mentioning it), and required real endeavour to get on - I really savoured the rewards on this one.  Balthazar King's raid on a French cross country course at something ridiculous like 22/1 also provided under-the-radar European entertainment.

- BCD3 - I've not missed one yet! Breton Rock, Olympic Glory and Farhh ensured that although it wasn't a case of "Frankel who?!" on the richest day in British racing, there is life after the Sir Henry Cecil wonder-colt.  Meeting Paul Bittar; James Knight, Simon Clare and the Coral crew; merely seeing Julian Muscat from afar - all these characters ensured a fantastic day out.  Getting so obliterated on red wine that I knocked a table of drinks over some well-dressed ladies was only a small low point of an otherwise perfect day.

- The young Irish apprentice champion - Conor King - caught the eye many times, and none more so than when completing a 14,725/1 quadruple over at Cork.  Spoke very well when interviewed on the telly during some of the more high-profile meetings, he's definitely one to watch.

- Ryan Moore vs Graham Cunningham - this was an enjoyable exchange, with Ryan taking to his Betfair column to very eloquently put the outspoken TV pundit back in his box for a while.  Cunningham was not quite so scathing in his analysis of Moore's Melbourne Cup ride on Dandino, although somewhat ironically the horse's owners decided to boot him off for next month's Hong Kong vase.

- Treve - what a horse.

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So, yes, I have thoroughly enjoyed the thoroughbreds throughout the warm months, and now I've worn myself out with memories I actually can't think straight about today's National Hunt contests, so I'll just leave you with my selections:

1.15 Cheltenham - White Star Line

1.50 Cheltenham - Goulanes

2.30 Cheltenham - Rajdhani Express (& adding Gift of Dgab to White Star Line for a Bryan Cooper double in anticipation of his new Racing Post Column tomorrow)

3.00 Cheltenham - I think his horses could be undervalued at the moment, and with Harry Derham taking five pounds off Salubrious I just wonder if he's worth an each way bet..

2.00 Lingfield (yes, the flat!) - Bronze Angel

1.00 Punchestown - Champagne Fever - NAP (also pairing him up with the Fly for a Mullins - Ruby Walsh double.. was great to see Ruby back at Cheltenham yesterday giving a great ride to win the last on board Quick Jack)

Palphabet Relishes the Pressure of High-Profile Personality Props

Since my last post, celebrities have flocked to follow my Twitter handle at an alarming rate that has left me honoured, humbled and hopeful for a future in full time micro blogging.  I must say that I use the term “celebrities” with a looseness normally associated with the lips of wartime ship-sinkers.   These tweeters are household names only in the houses of men who probably live on their own, watching sport and staring at numbers on screens looking for value bets, but their encouragement has still done wonders to boost my enthusiasm for and dedication to the Palphabet cause: to move full-time into a life dominated by nothing but sporting enjoyment. 

I am also grateful for the kind comments from other readers who might not edit a national newspaper or represent the views of a multinational bookmaker!

The facts and figures on my account over the past couple of weeks seem to reflect the additional vigour I have for that cause.  Here's my P&L for December so far:

(yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm) to (yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm)

Football: £850.86 | Golf: -£123.87 | Horse Racing: -£383.97 | Snooker: £177.78 | Tote: | Total P&L: £520.80

The football has centred around backing red cards in high-octane, wet-weathered, midweek games (Fulham v Liverpool and Chelsea v Manchester City), and the racing, despite delivering inauspicious losses, includes a significant win on Gauvain last week who, tipped by both Pricewise AND James Boyle (http://betbuddy.mobi/ ), duly obliged with a Huntingdon victory at nearly 7-1.  As I said at the time, when those two tipsters agree on something, and given that Boyle's mission is to out-tip Segal, you just have to take note!

Horse Racing > : 2m4f Grd2 Chs > Gauvain Showing 1 - 1 of 1 Bets

Selection Odds Stake (£) Liability (£) Bid type Placed Matched (GMT) Profit/loss (£) Gauvain 7.6 51.39 Back 08-Dec-11 10:20 08-Dec-11 10:20 339.17

Let’s face it, those who risk thousands of pounds on the financial markets, researching the FTSE100 and AIM market movements, studying the 12-month moving averages of share prices and making decisions based around P/E ratios, EPS figures and director deals still very often end up losing their hard-earned dosh.  Yet these people are permitted, nay encouraged, to sit in pubs and at dinner parties, waxing lyrical about their investment portfolio and diversified strategies whilst those of us with a penchant for punting on sport are looked upon with pity and disdain by those who are convinced we should be attending GA meetings on a weekly basis.  

*****

A few things have made me happy to be flying the Palphabet flag over the past couple of weeks:

·         Denman – yes, I may have placed a couple of small antepost wagers on the Lexus and next year’s Gold Cup on The Tank – but I’m glad he’s been retired healthy, and his memory lives on both in the stables at Ditcheat and in my own household through my cat, who we named after the gorgeous gelding.

The Tank in feline form, wearing the famous colours of the planey2k stable

·         Matt Chapman – I’ve developed a man-crush on the ATR presenter – he’s articulate, amusing and handles live television with more aplomb than X-Factor, I’m a Celeb and BB presenters put together.

Chapman driving the girls wild

·         Judd Trump – Man-Crush subject #2.  I tipped him on Twitter and backed him with £30 at 14.5 on Betfair, but I also like his playboi banter off the baize and his happy-go-lucky attitude to life.

Judd Trumps them all with his playboi potting

·         George Porter – the final object of my homoerotic man-crush desires – his drop of the shoulder against the dumbfounded Exeter City defence was a joy to behold, and I hope he’s able to stay with Orient for a while longer yet.

Georgeous George ...phwooaarrr

·         Gary Neville – no, I don’t have a crush on him, but his scutiny of Barcelona’s footballing philosophy on last night’s MNF had me reaching for the tissues – truly insightful stuff that makes Andy Gray’s analysis look as modern as his view on women.  If he can learn how to stand still whilst presenting the show, he will have it all.

Gary Neville looking uncharacteristically still...in a still photograph

These little things in life make me happy, and keep me focused on my pursuit of a world dominated by alrightness.   It’s out there somewhere!