Cheltenham 2012 - Day 4

The dust has settled, the souvenir festival magazines have been published, the BBC has lost the rights to cover major horse races, and the time is right to have a glance through the legs of the fading hangover horse, as last week is pulled up to a spontaneous and heart-felt round of applause.

Ruby Walsh & Kauto Star prepare for battle

Having laid Long Run and followed Tom Segal in on Synchronised, I was never overly concerned about the winner of the Gold Cup on Friday as I had pretty much all eventualities covered (the fact that Nicky Henderson’s stable boy didn’t add the favourite in the 3.20 to his acca spoke volumes and I was happy to oppose The Dentist’s horse at 2-1).  I just wanted Kauto Star to come back unscathed.

Yes, having placed a 4pt wager at around 6-1, I would have preferred him to have gone all the way and cross the post ahead of his rivals, but the second it was realised that he was being led away from the track there was a wave of distinct emotion.  First, momentary deflation could be felt amongst the throngs of onlookers packed inside the enclosures.  This gave way to a palpable sense of relief (accompanied by the impromptu clapping) before finally, I think I felt a twinge of pride.  Proud to have been present to see him bowed out by the horseman who knows him best. 

Ruby Walsh demonstrated in two very different rides this week why he is such a lauded jockey – on Big Buck’s, who seemed to be cajoling his rider: “go on Rubes.. prove to me that you really want to win this fourth World Hurdle” – and then on Kauto: “come on Rubes.. I’m not right here fella.. let me bow out with dignity.”

The fact that AP McCoy went on to give Synchronised such a gritty, determined, talented and vein-bulging push to beat The Giant Bolster and Long Run up the hill, felt to me like a fitting tribute to Kauto and to Ruby.  Festival Gods seemed to be saying "If the people’s horse isn’t able to finish the race, let’s give the people another white-faced horse to love." 

Synchronised ain’t as pretty as Kauto, and AP’s ride was a real street brawl to watch, but it showed heart, and too many heads had backed Long Run for my liking.  Emotion and devotion won the Gold Cup on Friday in many ways.

Here’s how I finished the week from a gambling point of view. Relatively satisfied with the final figures, particularly after the run of losing bets on what I’m now dubbing “Black Wednesday,” there are a few lessons that have been learnt and some “what-ifs” to consider. Overall, though, I went with my gut, and loved every minute of it.



-£33.65 on Horse Racing over the festival.  Noteworthy profits were banked thanks to the 45-1 winner (0.5pt each way) in the Triumph Hurdle on Friday, Countrywide Flame.  I only got a text with the tip on the day so couldn't blog it in advance - sorry!  A close second to this was Sunnyhillboy, Tom Segal's tip in Thursday's amateur riders' handicap chase.  I also had a 10pt bet on Big Buck's to claim that fourth World Hurdle.  At 1.91 on Betfair, I thought this represented both great value and also provided the racing highlight of the week. 

Offers like Paddy Power's "money back special" in the Arkle meant that Sprinter Sacre could be cheered on readily as the bookmaker refunded my losing bet on Al Ferof.  Sprinter Sacre's performance was undoubtedly one of the moments of the week, and whilst many turf accountants' race day deals made me think that backing horses in the ante-post markets is becoming increasingly less attractive, I doubt Mark "The Couch" Winstanley will agree on this occasion.  He advised SS a couple of months ago, recommending a 10pt maximum stake at a monster price! 

Apart from £20 lost in cash on the tote at the track, and including this return of £65, my total P&L for the week came to about -£58 to goodness only knows what stake.  As a wise man once told me: turnover's vanity, profit is sanity. 

At the track: Palphabet pals Westdrop aka The Alpha (left), Norbet (right) and yours truly.

Westdrop tucks into our hosts' famous fry-up on festival Friday morning.

The Racing Post did a magnificent job of capturing the essence of the festival with some breathtaking front-page splashes.  Norbet and I were pleased that the local outlets had stocked up with copies of the 'paper.

As the festival draws to a close, the Palphabet gang contemplate what to do next. Synchronised seems smug at the enormity of his day's work, and back at the guest house, a little kratooie seems sad to have missed out on proceedings.

     



Jaegerbombs are ordered and consumed at the Racing Post party (sadly I couldn't find any of their journos to harrass, so pestered Mark Langdon on Twitter instead) and in the morning the tweed is packed away until next time.

Cheltenham 2012 - Day 3

In Amongst the Action

The Palphabet Pals (without our other pal, Alpha, who arrived later)
Left to Right: Norbet, Me, Simon, Paolo

Apologies in advance for the permeating hangover dribbling out of my supine position in a Cheltenham guest house.  I say guest house, I’m basically staying in someone’s family home, in their attic spare room.  But it’s fine – the family who inhabit this fine tenement, nestled just 15 minutes from Cheltenham’s bustling Montpellier district, are warm and welcoming, reflecting the overall vibe of festival week.

Last night the only downside of an otherwise pleasant evening was the disappointing service in Indian Voojan.  The food was decent but after a memorable meal last year, they certainly let themselves down this time.  Aside from that, the afternoon spent watching races in the familiar surroundings of a pub, with free WiFi allowing online gambling transactions to flow swiftly and without complication, made me realise that time has flown by so quickly since last Cheltenham Festival Thursday (when I was doing much the same as I’ve just described).

P&L was healthily restored by Big Buck’s triumphant defence of his World Hurdle crown.  As if it needed confirmation, he really is an all-time legend of staying hudlers and I just love his lazy attitude to a race – Ruby really had to work hard to get him over the line, but only because Buck’s wanted him to.  Watching the re-run of the exciting contest in a pub later was just as thrilling, and was punctuated with the audio backdrop of the Kaiser Chief’s “Ruby Ruby Ruby Ruby – ahhhhhahhhahahhhh” and the Stones’ “Ruby Tuesday”.  It was Thursday, but fine.

Today I cannot describe how special it will be to see Kauto Star win back the Gold Cup title for a second time.  Surely it will guarantee his status as the greatest race horse of all time.  I’m on antepost at prices ranging from 4-1 to 11-1 (during “the scare”) and will top up at the track.  Burton Port is my alternative selection at 7-1 e/w.

Our hosts are making breakfast for us now so I have no time to go into great detail about the rest of my Friday bets.  In short they are:

1.30: Baby Mix (backed antepost at 22-1 and now 6-1) and either Grumeti or Balder Succes – not sure yet – both 8-1 .. also like Dodging Bullets and 24-1 looks big

2:05 Raya Star 12-1

2:40 Lovcen 17-1 and Fox Appeal 28-1

3:20 as discussed above

4:00 no selection yet

4:40 I’msingingtheblues 25-1

5:15 Tanks for That 14-1 and Kid Cassidy 13-2

Anyone know any other good curry houses in Cheltenham?

Cheltenham 2012 - Day 2

P&L after day 2 hides some very close bets.. honest!

Henderson - what's not to like?

Barry and the Henderson stamp a Big Foot on the Fest

Ignoring Henderson's strong challengers proved a downfall today but I was a whisker away with Get Me Out of Here, who gave £96.17 back to the pot but would have returned over £800 if he'd have managed to get home ahead of Son of Flicka. Elsewhere Soll, my tip of the week fell early on, along with stablemate Allee Garde. Simonsig, who I decided to lay, duly won for Henderson, who also took the RSA with Bobs Worth and the Champion Chase with Finian's Rainbow.  Nicky then had a 40-1 winner in the Fred Winter with Une Artiste, as I was lamenting another well-backed Alan King horse (Vendor).  It got me wondering - why don't I back Nicky Henderson horses very often?... and I think it's due to something buried deep in the realms of my subconscious...

Now, I'm certain that Paul Nicholls doesn’t hold Nicky Henderson in anything but the highest esteem.  I know Henderson, a former Champion Trainer and seemingly top bloke, is well loved in the horse racing fraternity.  He is clearly a fantastic trainer, with more festival wins under his belt than any of his current competitors and boasts a stable full of talented horses, worthy winners over all manner of mileage and obstacle. Yet, on television, I’m sure I've seen PFN appear to blank NH on a couple of occasions – at both Haydock and Kempton Park – after Kauto Star twice inflicted recent defeats on Gold Cup chaser Long Run.   So I have taken a position of harbouring a totally irrational dislike towards the Lambourn trainer, and hardly ever feel compelled to back his horses.

Now, after a day like today, I have two choices – I can either maintain a bitter and unfounded aversion towards contenders from Henderson's yard, or I can adapt to the environment.  I certainly don’t hate the bloke, I just like Nicholls, love Kauto Star and Denman, and found it more than slightly amusing when I saw the Ditcheat man seemingly turn his nose up at Nicky’s advances for a congratulatory handshake. 

I look back after today and wonder if there was anything in it – have any of you seen the footage from Haydock? – Paul Nicholls comes bounding up the gangway towards the winners' enclosure, delighted with Kauto Star’s return to brilliance.  Henderson approaches to say “well done fella” and gets, well, gunned!  

In retrospect, I think to myself “that was a bit out of order Paul!”  I find myself feeling sympathy towards Henderson, his big wet eyes resembling a likeable amphibian, just showing some affection for his victorious competitor on the day.  It’s making me think that tomorrow, when I would usually shy away from backing Henderson's horses, I should consider that he is absolutely flying at this year’s festival, and act accordingly.

Therefore, although I'll stick with Medermit in the Ryanair (in which Henderson's Riverside Theatre leads the market), first up is the Jewson Novices' Chase, in which Peddlers Cross is favourite, but where Solix is priced up at 9-1, and I'm going to do it - show some respect for Henderson and the pink-armband-wearing Barry Geraghty - and back the leading jockey / trainer combo with a pt e/w.

Our Father  (5-1) is my choice for the 3m Pertemps Final and is well fancied.  Then after the Ryanair comes the World Hurdle.  Watching this in a Cheltenham pub last year was one of my most memorable sporting events ever.  Ruby dropped his whip and using the reins alone, powering Buck's up the hill to beat off a genuine challenge from Grands Crus.  The choice for tomorrow is still there to be made: either lump on big-style for a 16th consecutive Big Buck's win ...or go with Oscar Whisky - trained by Nicky Henderson and undoubtedly a class act - who is trading at 5-1.  That may be a leap of faith too far! 

Thinking Hector's Choice or Notus de la Tour in the 16:00 handicap and will be interested to see what Pricewise says in tomorrow's paper.  Finally, I'm really looking forward to see if, like last year with Junior, there will be another monster gamble in the 16:40, and if Sir Henry Cecil can win the charity race again - does anyone even know if he has a runner? Plato's victory in the "Derby" was a nice way to finish St Patrick's Thursday a year ago.

If anyone's in Cheltenham tomorrow night - do say hello!

DP

All-Time Monster Chaser - the Star may never be Kaut

The Festive Season & a Retrospective Glance at 2011

Did any of you heed my Boxing Day treble?

"Why not back the following in a triple.. all PF Nicholls runners at Kempton on Boxing Day:

Silviniaco Conti 4/1
Rock on Ruby 15/8
Kauto Star 4/1"

Hope not - as it would not have paid out - but it was mightily close on a Boxing Day that will long live in the memory for reasons other than bubble & squeak and turkey sandwiches.

The three Grade 1 races were all fiercely contested, treating the packed galleries to spine-tingling finishes in the very short run-in to home after the last flight.

Grands Crus rewarded those of us who have stuck with him this season (http://palphabet.blogspot.com/2011/11/crus-ing-into-jump-season.html), showing that the step up from Novice Hurdling to Novice Chasing is not asking too much of this powerful grey, who jumped gracefully under Tom Scu and held off Silviniaco Conti.  I backed the 1-2 in this race with a toteexacta and a reverse at the track, and also had profitable returns using the same tactic in the Christmas Hurdle.

AP gave Binocular a vintage ride, switching from out wide of Rock on Ruby and Overturn, who looked strong three from home, and turned the former Champion Hurdler towards the rail, where he just had enough to beat Ruby Walsh on a mount bearing his name, but not named after him.  “Ruby” actually refers to a Ladies’ Shop in Sherbourne:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/racing/article-1343274/Captains-log-Emerging-star-Rock-On-Rubys-Newbury-success-music-Festival-Goers-ears.html




The highlight of the day (and arguably, year) was obviously seeing Kauto Star regain his King George title.  Column inches in national newspapers and racing press alike have done more justice to l ‘Extraterrestrial than I could here, so I’ll just post a few pictures and direct you to this tweet of mine (right).  It shows Kauto leaping eight from home like a gazelle on springs and the collective intake of breath from the packed Kempton gallery will ring in my ears for many a year.





For readers not familiar with the greatest chaser of our generation, have a look at this excellent piece from “Honest” Frank Keogh:  
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/horse_racing/8425970.stm

 Finally, I’m going to use this blog to summarise some personal highlights of 2011, many of which I have experienced first-hand.  They’re in no particular order, and are subject to debate, but for one reason or another they have heightened my emotions throughout this memorable year of sport, betting and betting on sport:

Frankel – The Freak was the feature on the flat in 2011 and I had increasingly large stakes and ever diminishing odds in the Guineas, the Sussex “Duel on the Downs” and on Champions’ Day at Ascot, which was one of my best days out of all time! There are loads of pics from the day here: http://palphabet.blogspot.com/2011_10_01_archive.html

Nice & close to the action at Champs Day

Denman – we got a cat this year and named him after “The Tank”  - seeing him finishing a gallant second to Long Run in the Gold Cup was a beautiful sight.  The horse that is, not my cat.

Denman enjoying his retirement

Kauto Star – as mentioned above – what a fantastic return for this high class chaser –  he may be less of a “horse for the people” when compared to his next door neighbour, but Kauto paid for Christmas!

Don't fret, Mr Christie, I'm sure you'll be seeing me again

The Gold Cup at Cheltenham featuring the above two Ditcheat superstars was a classic, and seeing those two bomb up the home straight, albeit behind the Dentist & Long Run, left all the respective connections feeling like winners on the day.  We’ve already booked our tickets and accommodation for the 2012 festival, which is only a few months away.

The honours board at Cheltenham - this McCoy cha(m)p seems fine

Barzalona – his celebration on Pour Moi was so iconic that Ruby Walsh replicated it on board Kauto Star on Boxing Day!  I listened to this race on the wireless whilst at Lord’s watching England v Sri Lanka’s test match and it sounded like Andre Fabre’s colt was out of the picture.  He touched over 30-1 in running and came from the back to steal it, but Mickael’s arrogant fist-punch, standing up in the stirrups would’ve left most thinking he’d romped home.  He’s obviously had his fair share of photo finishes in the past.

We all know "that picture" of Mickael but I like this shot, from Edward Whitaker's superb "Beyond the Frame"  

Barcelona V Man United – Barcelona available at evens to win this contest in 90 minutes still looks like a great shout if you were on.  I enjoyed it in a Spanish bar in Shoreditch with my Barcelona shirt on – a masterclass in football, firmly putting Fergie et al in their place again.



Journalists beware...

I will find you

Meeting Henry Winter & Guillem Balague at The Emirates v Barcelona – two doyens of sporting journalism took the time to pose with me – I don’t know how often they get stopped by fans of their work!

Djokovic – in 2010, I failed to lay Roger Federer as he had two match points over the Serbian in the semi-final of the US Open, and Nolé made me pay.  I lost £425.  This year, I didn’t make the same mistake, and was more able to savour a great year for the likeable powerhouse. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/sep/11/us-open-2011-federer-djokovic

Yes, RFed went on to LOSE this match - look at those numbers!

Darren Clarke – my first experience of live golf was down on the Kent coast – live links golf.  I backed Clarke on my way down from St Pancras with £100 at 4s on Betfair, and was on the 18^th green as he lifted the Claret Jug.  No phones allowed on course, but I bought a lovely branded radio to listen to events unfold whilst following DC, Mickelson, Jiménez and the Yank in orange around the undulating countryside.

A-FORE-mentioned Open branded wireless radio

Ashes – this seems so long ago now but the start of the year was characterised by late nights and red eyes as Essex boy-wonder Cookie showed the Aussies how to bat.

Sachin – I honestly thought that I would see him get his 100^th ton this summer, and was sure, with tickets booked for Lord’s, the Oval and Edgbaston, that I would witness it in the flesh.  He was looking in great shape in the midlands with an ominous strike rate of 66.66 before stepping on his stumps for 40.   http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/aug/13/sachin-tendulkar-india-england

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-india-2011/engine/match/474474.html

Tendulkar takes guard at Edgbaston.  Little did those stumps know what he would do to them later.

Orient 1-1 Sheffield United http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15319619.stm it may have just been a relatively early-in-the-season league fixture to most, but to this blogger it represented a confirmation that our poor start to the campaign was unfortunate, rather than indicative of a deep malaise.   Down to 10 men, having had left-back “Champagne” Charlie Daniels sent off by idiotic official Oliver Langford, veteran striker Kevin Lisbie snatched the draw for the Os in the 6^th minute of 2^nd half stoppage-time.  A pitch invasion nearly ensued; saliva was allegedly projected in the direction of the Blades’ dugout.  As savoury as one of Brisbane Road’s infamous Chicken Balti Pies, I’m not going to defend that behaviour, but I leapt out of my seat and jumped around like a maniac and gyrated in a way reminiscent of the Kassam Stadium, Oxford, May 6^th 2006, when I was chased off of the pitch by a police horse.

"He's got no hair but we don't care" - Slade celebrates the point against Sheffield United as it all kicks off in E10

http://www.leytonorient.com/page/MatchReport/0,,10439~57712,00.html

http://www.leytonorient.com/page/MatchReport/0,,10439~29206,00.html

Judd Trump – OK, so my punt on him to win Sports Personality of the Year was foiled by all except those nice nominators from Nuts magazine (or was it Zoo?) but I had sizeable returns from him making the final of the World Championship in 2011 and going on to claim the UK title just a few weeks ago, beating Rocket Ronnie on the way.  This playboi is one for the future, no doubt, and yes, I’m talking about SPOTY.

Palphabet finds itself in the rarest of scenarios - a green book

Phew - I have enjoyed one hell of a sporting year!  Finally, a cursory mention for a) Hamilton v Massa – I just found their episodes this year mildly amusing; and b) David Silva – for me, the 2^nd best thing in the Premier League after Mario Balotelli, but certainly the best player on any pitch in England throughout 2011, apart from Paul-José M’Poku.

M'Posing with Belgian wonderkid PJ M'Poku.  I do miss him terribly.

I wish all Palphabet readers a happy new year and the best of luck during 2012.

Mwah!