Cheltenham 2013 - Day 3

There are many occasions that arise in the life of an amateur where you just have to doff your faux-tweed cap towards your professional counterparts.  I say counterparts as though it implies equality, parity or even comparability, but the gulf of knowledge and insight that exists between myself and Tom Segal of the Racing Post is equivalent to the 19-length canyon of space that stood this afternoon between equine perfection and mere mortality in the Queen Mother Champion Chase.   

On days like today, this fact makes me an extremely happy man as it helped me lift my sinking body out of the quagmire of deficit and catapulted me back into contention for days three and four, when I will be trackside at the Cheltenham Festival.

Sprinter Sacre’s performance was simply spectacular, and was everything pure racing enthusiasts longed to see.  Sizing Europe, himself a significantly more impressive horse than the rest of the field in the 3.20 Grade 1 contest, was left so far in the wake of Sprinter Sacre’s magnificence that you could barely see him cross the line in the background on television. 
 

Having the Sacre / Sizing straight forecast at 2.04 with bet365 was satisfying (as was the £0.38 I won with Betfair), and it means the “banker” portion of my festival Super Yankee did not fail to deliver, but truth be told, by this point in the afternoon, I was struggling for profits. 

I like the Whatsapp notification at the top

Nina Carberry got well and truly whipped in the 4-miler at the start of the day, trading as low as 1\100 on Betfair in-running as her horse, Tofino Bay was impressively beaten for pace and stamina up the infamous hill by Mullins’s 9/4f Back in Focus, who I think I heard traded at 26/1 in-play.  Nina’s own excessive whipping landed her a week’s ban later in the day.  My other selection, Godsmejudge, came third, but no profit was made on this race due to outright win stakes outweighing any win on the place-only stakes.

I had 3pts on “sure thing” Pont Alexandre in the Neptune, only to realise that the price of 6/4fav may have been based more on hype than substance as The New Onebreezed past to give likeable jockey Sam Twiston-Davies a clear and professional duck-breaking festival win for his father / trainer Nigel.

 

More funds evaporated in the RSA Chase, as Unioniste was left well back in 4^th, with my alternative selection Goulanes nowhere to be seen as Lord Windermere gave three-time Gold Cup winning jockey and 2002 Grand National winner Jim Culloty his first festival win as a trainer.  His jubilation, along with that of his rider, the jovial Davy Russell, brought just a weary half-smile to my lips.  I was around £190 down for the day.

 
After clawing about £100 back on the Champion Chase thanks to predicting the first two past the post in the correct order, the 4.00 Coral Cup sent me spiralling down out of control, like Goose ejecting from his F-14 Tomcat in Top Gun, having already broken his neck ejecting straight into the roof, before plummeting into the sea.  Where was my wingman, my Maverick?  Being more than a casual follower of Segal’s Pricewise tips meant that on top of my three selections, I had another two to add to my handicap portfolio in this race.  All failed to provide profit, leaving me another £245 down.

 Channel 4’s coverage had long since finished, and Maverick (Segal) had seemingly thrown my dogtags out to sea.  I was down and out for the day, over £350 out of pocket and deflated after yesterday’s successes.

 That was until a flare was put out there – Gordon Elliott’s Flaxon Flare.  The William Hill shop in which I was watching the Fred Winter may have been quiet, but somewhere on a distant radio I could hear Flare-way to Heaven being strummed out.  This horse had been tipped up by Segal in the morning at 25-1 and was now available at 32 on Betfair.  I upped my stake from a standard £25 to an increased £40, sensing both a value opportunity and a lifeline to claw on to (despite having enjoyed a few decent days of late, I am miserably myopic when it comes to seeing the bigger picture of punting at times).  Segal, not just a professional, a genius...

 
It won’t be of huge recompense to those who followed my tips today, but for followers of Tom Segal – a man who provides more useful professional advice than the Citizens’ Bureau – it was exactly what was required.  Just like that, my wingman and I were back in the bar of life, pounding out “Great Balls of Fire” like the good old days and ready to shoot the pesky migs outta the sky.  Right, I think that's enough of that terribly forced extended metaphor.

 A bit was lost on the bumper at 5.15, but it seems more or less everyone I know incredulously failed to notice that a trainer / jockey partnership well clear at the head of their respective festival leaderboards saddled up a 25/1 chance in the race, Briar Hill, who provided Andrea and Graham Wylie with some welcome compensation for the Boston Bob fall at the last in the RSA earlier in the day.  Willie Mullins having won this bumper with yesterday’s hero Champagne Fever just 12 months ago... how did we not see it?  Did you?

 
Total profit for Day 2 stood at just over £800.

 

Tomorrow..

 

Jewson & Pertemps

Dynaste is another supposed banker but I will just watch this race I think – I got my fingers burnt on Pont Alexandre today and don’t fancy David Pipe’s grey enough to lump anything meaningful on.  I will be at the track by this time and plan to enjoy the first couple of races, having already backed Sam Winner for the Pertemps in my Festival-week Super Yankee:

Ryanair

I’ll have a weighty bet on First Lieutenant, the favourite, here.  Wearing the Gigginstownhouse Stud silks of white star set against a maroon backdrop, he’ll be as easy to spot as his owner is to hear. Having backed First Lieutenant at 22/1 for the Lexus Chase in which he was runner-up only by a head to a stunning Ruby Walsh ride atop Tidal Bay, I expect FL to go one better here, giving Michael O’Leary, the guy whose company also sponsors this race, reason to shout... as if he needs one.   Thinking about it, I will also double up Dynaste (mentioned earlier) with this pick for a 7.75/1 multiple bet.

 
World Hurdle

To think we only got tickets for the Thursday this year so we could cheer Big Buck’s home at the track, rather than from the boozer.  I’ve backed Wonderful Charm in my Super Yankee.  I’ll also back the Wayne – King combination, Smad Place, who at 10/1 offers decent each-way value for a horse who came third in this race last year and who is young and presumably learning his trade.

 

Byrne Group Plate

“Lump on!” says Anthony Knott about his fans’ favourite Hunt Ball.  Quoted around 6/1 to defy top weights is pretty unattractive, but I’ll back him (having inexplicably backed him last year for this year’s Gold Cup) and hope to share the success with many elated punters.  I’m sure Segal will have a say in this race too!

 

Cross-Country

As discussed on Day 1, I’m on A New Story in this rescheduled, quirky card-closer.

This time tomorrow, we'll be out on the town in Cheltenham, so I'm not promising much.  Get on Far West for the JCB Triumph Hurdle on Friday, Silviniaco Conti and Long Run (E/W) for the Gold Cup, and have a good one!

Part 2: Memories of the National Hunt 2011-12 Season...

Last weekend’s stag-do involved a 6am flight to Tenerife, and then three monster nights out following the same pattern of: gentle trot at Oasis Bar to “Call me Al”, stepping up to a gallop at Joyce’s Bar with “Strings of Life” and finishing at a canter on stage at Linneker’s with the occasional veering off the beaten track to Voodoo Gentleman’s Club.

The afternoons were spent (when not evacuating one’s organs) munching Tabasco-topped toasties and supping San Migs in Leonardo’s Bar, watching the FA Cup Final or the 2,000 Guineas, gambling easily and steadily via the pub’s first-class free WiFi facilities.  Opposing AP O’Brien’s winning horse, Camelot, on the Saturday was a mistake.  Not opposing fairer-sex stable companion Maybe on the Sunday, another mistake.  Stag parties are expensive enough without doing your brains on iBetMate, but it certainly beats sitting under that roasting ball of plasma around which the Earth inexorably orbits.  Brains Done 1-0 Skin Cancer. 

At the risk of being somewhat out of date, I’ll quickly round up my memories for the 2011-12 National Hunt season, so we can put that to bed and focus on the summer:

January

After the jubilant scenes on Boxing Day with Kauto, and even with Adrian Lewis defying wasps, wafts and Wade at Alexandra Palace, 2012 hadn’t started well.  Despite some successes, I was spreading myself thin and showing no signs of focus.

Had a bit of luck with one of my At The Races “Tracker” horses Bronze Angel, partnered on the all-weather a few times over the winter by the gorgeous Hayley Turner, as I stuck him in an each-way £20 quick-fire double with Dr Richard Newland’s jumper Act of Kalanisi.

The Victor Chandler chase saw Henrietta Knight’s Somersby break his Grade One duck at Ascot while I sided with Nicholls grey Al Ferof, who finished in third place with Finian’s Rainbow nestled in between.  Elsewhere that day at Haydock a fillip came in the shape of a horse who would end the season as an Aintree fatality, the likeable According to Pete.

February

It was difficult to stay fully focused during this month of distraction: Valentine’s Day, a trip to Dublin for an engagement party, the postponement of Newbury’s newly named Denman chase to a Friday where I had to work in Glasgow meant the build up to Cheltenham was somewhat punctuated by dissatisfaction.   Whilst in Dublin, I was buoyed again by the way in which racing, and gambling thereon seems a more acceptable line of conversation than it does back here in the UK.  I also got a tinge of excitement as Chance du Roy went close at Ascot, heading the pack 4 out before falling away on soft ground.  Setting off for the 3m challenge at 16-1, some compensation was found as my stake lay was snapped up by greedy backers before CdR made a mistake 2 from home.

Brief interruptions of joy came in the shape of Oh Crick’s win at Chepstow, Portrait King’s win at Newcastle and Tom Segal picking Medermit for the Ryanair after I had already placed a bet on the same selection, thus beating the inevitable price-crash. 

Paul Nicholls inexplicably “favouriting” one of my less interesting tweets, despite ignoring all previous attempts to catch his web-roaming eye also lifted the spirits.

March

Cheltenham’s ‘Black Wednesday’, where my tip of the festival, Soll, fell over and I lost nearly a grand overall, was a real low.  Big Buck’s provided a stratospheric high, and the Gold Cup was particularly special for many obvious reasons that I have already documented elsewhere on the blog.  Sprinter Sacre’s performance was breathtaking and Hunt Ball etched himself further into the hearts of horse racing fans, defying top weight against a field of 20 when winning the 2m 4f Novices’ Handicap Chase.   

At the track on the Friday, after receiving a tip for the JCB Triumph Hurdle, I stuck ½ a point e/w on Countrywide Flame at 45-1 on Betfair.   With figures of 113123 going into the race, John Quinn’s consistent competitor beat my antepost fancies Grumeti and Dodging Bullets and returned me to [near] financial parity for the festival. 

The week after the festivities was emotionally cloudy and difficult to accept until Chance du Roy triumphed at 9/2 in a 2m 4f handicap chase at a good-to-soft Haydock Park on the 21st. 

A fantastic rollercoaster of a month!

April

At the Aintree meeting, Grumeti got his own back on Countrywide Flame, I got my own back after ignoring decent prices about Simonsig and Sprinter Sacre for Cheltenham by pairing them up in a winning odds-on double, and Liverpool got its own back on my liver, by poisoning me with horrid shots bearing my name. 

The Grand National aftermath led to racing public emotion, general public outcry and many public house discussions. 

Mates of mine whose love for the sport was initiated by spending formative years watching the National with their parents were suddenly questioning whether or not they would, or could ever watch the race again.  Some pundits, with far more experience than I, argued that people should just accept it.  Paul Nicholls snapped during an interview that people needed to “grow up”.  More considered devotees of the turf suggested further changes were required but yet many were not able to put their finger on exactly what amendments are appropriate.  Watch this space.

It's great to be ON!

My Luck was in! Palphabet meets his hero

A great view of a formidable obstacle

Finishing the season on a dreary day at Sandown Park gave some of the great horses of the year a chance to be paraded in front of the crowds, who treated the rain with the contempt it deserved.  Somehow, however, I managed to miss it! 

I did enjoy one my favourite jockeys, Brendan Powell, earning a place on board Act of Kalanisi.   Read more about the lad here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/horse-racing/16396736  

With Ruby Walsh in Ireland for the delayed Punchestown showpiece, Grand National winning jockey Daryl Jacob was put atop Sanctuaire and many were worried that this nutty horse would be too much for Nicholls’ second-string jockey to handle.  Dazza promptly blew away the field in the 2m chase, including that group one winner mentioned above, Somersby.  Sanctuaire can be backed at 14.5 on Betfair for the 2013 Champion Chase if you reckon he can outclass Sprinter Sacre.

Particular pleasure was also derived at Sandown from Joseph O’Brien’s unorthodox and savvy ride of Imperial Monarch as the jumps gave way to the flat, although I had sided with unfancied Thought Worthy for this four-horse race.  Trained by John Gosden and ridden by the jockey I’ve backed for the Flat Championship this summer, William Buick, I’ll keep an eye out for Thought Worthy this season.

***

The Palphabet National Hunt 2011-12 Gongs go to...

Horse – Chance du Roy – picked because I liked the name, stuck with because I enjoyed the returns.

Jockey – Brendan Powell (7... or is it 5) – big future ahead for him.

Trainer – Alan King – great stable of loveable beasts and top quality jockeys.

Bookmaker – Paddy Power – eye-catching offers and hilarious adverts.

Tipster – James Pyman – considered analysis, painstaking number crunching and insightful articles.

Track – Newbury – fell in love with racing here and my 30^th birthday sojourn was splendid.

Owner – Anthony Knott – Bugger the Cows! Need I say more?

Moment – Kauto Star at Kempton Park.

Tied Up in Knotts Over Hunt Ball

Before I begin, Chance du Roy runs in the 4.25 at Haydock today – I’m on 1pt e/w at 4-1.

Now, If you haven’t already seen Matt Chapman’s interview with Anthony Knott on At The Races, I implore you to view it:

Knott: farmer, one-time winning jockey, and now an owner who backs his own horse Hunt Ball with rhetoric and roubles alike, is everything we love about racing here at Palphabet.  His boundless enthusiasm for the sport has seen him recently jump on board Hunt Ball after victory at Wincanton and he famously celebrated his only win as a rider by punching the air and gesticulating to onlookers.  This is all well and good, only Anthony chose to do it with a furlong and a half left to travel on Wise Men Say, with other horses just a length or two away and whilst adopting one of the most unconventional horse riding techniques I have ever seen...Well, it had taken him 28 years to get a winner.  Again, I implore you to watch this race (fast-forward to 4:00 into THIS clip and then watch Nick Luck try to make sense of it all in the post-race interview on RUK) - hilarious!

Going back to that ATR interview, Chapman failed in his attempts to coax out of Knott the race into which Hunt Ball will next be entered.  Seeing as I’m attending Ladies’ Day and the Grand National Saturday at Aintree in a few weekends time, I certainly hope we see him in the flesh there, so that I can follow Knott and “lump on” again:

I'm pleased to say I was on Hunt Ball on Day 1 of the Festival

 
As I type, sponsor’s spokesman Mark Pearson is on talkSPORT coyly mutering about HB’s chances in the Aintree Betfred Bowl - they haven't chalked up a market for it yet - whilst  www.oddschecker.com shows he is as short as 20-1 for next year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup.  The handicapper has raised him over 70lbs, more than five stone since he started his winning spree and he continues to deliver.. only time will tell how long this can go on!

***

Eschewing a good think, and instead going with my gut again, I’ve put together my nominees for the Palphabet Alpha Moments of the 2012 Cheltenham Festival.   Please post your answers or alternatives in the comments box below - I did try to embed a proper poll, but I couldn't work out how to do it :-(

Ride of the Festival

1.     Barry Geraghty on Riverside Theatre – Ryanair Chase

2.     Ruby Walsh on Big Buck’s – Ladbrokes World Hurdle

3.     AP McCoy on Synchronised – Betfred Gold Cup

Shocker / Grimace of the Festival

1.     Cotton Mill’s refusal to jump the second-last Neptune hurdle

2.     The Cross Country Course Deaths

3.     The final-fence debacle in the Champion Chase

Greg Wood's Blog is worth a read on some of these matters - it wasn't a bad week so don't wish to overplay the dramas...

Man / Gelding of the Festival

1.     Nicky Henderson

2.     Barry Geraghty

3.     Synchronised

Woman / Mare / Filly of the Festival

1.     Quevega

2.     Alice Plunkett

3.     Eve McCoy (after telling her dad to "pull his finger out")

Moment of the Festival

1.     Anthony Knott’s celebration – “Bugger the cows!”

2.     Spontaneous applause for a champion – Kauto Star being pulled up in the Gold Cup

3.     Sprinter Sacre’s emergence as the most exciting chaser in racing

4.     Big Buck’s

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.