29/01/2011
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On January 29, 2011
Today was a really good day for us; with just the one account bet placed on The Giant Bolster who won well for us. The 8/1 which the horse was advised at disappeared very shortly after the email was sent out, so for purposes of transparency of our account bets we’re recording the price at 7/1. The horse was backed heavily just before the off and hit a low of 9/2 at one stage before returning 5/1.
We’ve had some tough luck of late and, as we all know, we so nearly had it again at the first fence where The Giant Bolster came rather close to being brought down. Thankfully though, despite losing a few lengths, we were ok.
From then on we crept into the race. Turning for home our class eventually through and jockey Rodi Green produced The Giant Bolster at the last to win, going away in the end. After the race there was a good interview with David Bridgewater who thinks in couple of year’s time this horse will be a Gold Cup contender. He also said the horse would improve greatly by March and needs three miles.
Regardless of the race, if the horse starts off of level weights he must hold a fair chance of victory. Today that was the main advantage for us. So after all the tough luck and near misses we’ve had, we finish January around 10pts in profit. We stuck to our guns and rules today and, as they will for the long run, we have done well.
Will have news on Bensalem this Sunday once we have spoke with our connections, I was very pleased with the recent run where the horse travelled like the second best in the race, that is until two out where he blew up. Choc Thornton never got stuck into him at any point and eventually Bensalem was only a few lengths from being placed.
28/01/2011
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On January 28, 2011
We backed Angus A Vic 1pt E/W at 10/1 in the rescheduled Thyestes Chase. As the race panned out, everything looked promising when turning for home as, whilst the majority of the field were struggling, Angus A Vic was making rapid headway into 3rd position, staying on as we knew he would.
We were in third place approaching three out and this is the point when I am not entirely sure what happened. After jumping the fence, Angus A Vic stopped very rapidly which eventually led to him being pulled up before the last and even dismounted by the jockey. As a result of the horse being walked back to the stables I can only presume something must have gone very wrong after jumping that fence. Will have to wait and read the post race comments for further details.
22/01/2011
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On January 22, 2011
We started the day with our bet on Somersby who ran a blinder and, simply put, should have won. Unfortunately the horse made one slight mistake that cost us the race. When jumping the last we were flying, bearing down on Master Minded with every other horse well beaten. As a result Somersby traded at 1.05 on Betfair. One more hit of the whip, one more shake of the reigns and we would have done it, but the post arrived a fraction too early. We were level with Master Minded, but his head was down and ours up losing out on the line by a whisker. One stride after the line Somersby would have been a length clear.
It would have been a great win with near 20 points profit. The amount of big priced runners we’ve backed in the last month that just got touched on the line is unbelievable. On the positive side, we did come home with the E/W money but in comparison to the win it should have been much more.
Master Fiddle ran a poorly, the horse did not stay on with the step up in trip; a big surprise for connections.
With an unlucky morning, it was down to Hawkaller to change the outcome of the day but once again justice was not done. We backed the horse at 16/1 in the morning prior to a huge gamble that went down. This led to the horse being backed right into 6/1 and a realized a great trading option. At two out we looked certain of a big win as it was only us and one other rival in it. Approaching the last we only needed a clear jump for at worst a place, but we crashed through the hurdle as we never taking off and that was that.
With the gamble down the pan it seems the case that both connections and ourselves are leaving money in the pockets of the bookmakers. The information was spot on, and it’s no coincidence that the horse was backed from 16/1 into 6/1.
19/01/2011
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On January 19, 2011
Today had our first bet of the week which we place on Morar who ran at Kempton. However, whilst Morar did run, the horse ran a shocker and there’s no escaping that fact. After the race I spoke with our contact at the track and as far as we can gather, since the jockey returned his comments are that the horse just stopped immediately in the home straight and except from that could not offer an explanation.
Morar broke well and was travelling consistently well and despite not having much cover, there was no pulling during the race. On the turn for home I was assured of Morar’s chance to go on and win the race, but the response was nonexistent and Morar virtually walked over the line pulled up.
We backed Morar at 16/1 and this was followed by heavy support in the betting markets all afternoon. The eventual SP was 9/1 and it can’t be denied that we still had a good value bet in our hands. The most frustrating thing was that Phoenix Flight won the race at 9/1; this is a horse that Morar beat easily last time. A simple reproduction of that previous effort would likely have secured the race. We’re expecting more information tomorrow from connections concerning what happened to cause such an uneventful race.
15/01/2011
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On January 15, 2011
First up was Khyber Kim, a long time favourite of ours, who, in all fairness, ran a shocker. We spoke with connections last night who said he was beaten after two hurdles and never got going at any point in the race. After the race the jockey commented that even prior to the start something didn’t feel correct.
I wish there was an explanation other than it just looks like the horse had an off day (as we all do at times). Ultimately we had a poor start to the day.
Finally we got around to our antepost bet on Riverside Theatre who ran in the rearranged King George at Kempton Park. I received quite a few emails and texts during the day when the horse hit 16/1 with all the major bookies and even 20/1 on Betfair with just under 5/1 available for the place.
We expressed our opinion that despite the small drift, that was still a big price and it seems quite a few of you went in again, especially on the Betfair place market. Riverside Theatre ran a good race, although that wasn’t the focus of events for 99% of the general betting public, finishing second at 10/1 after receiving another wave of support prior to the start of the race. We achieved an antepost price of 12/1.
The horse lost quite a bit of ground on the turn for home when approaching the lake. It appears that the ground was very soft at this point and as a result he seemed to be wasting energy going nowhere for a few strides, losing 5-6 lengths in the process. On the home straight he stayed on really well, passing the heavily odds-on favourite Kauto Star and finishing a clear second.
The winner, Long Run, was without doubt very impressive. I feel slightly frustrated that despite beating Kauto Star we did not win the race. The jockey, Sam Cohan, who gave Long Run a great winning ride, deserves all the praise. Nevertheless I will still not be backing him in the Gold Cup with Sam on board. The Gold Cup is a rough race where the fences are much tougher and come at you very quickly.
A decent profit was made on the antepost bet and congratulations to those clients that made decent money on the place.
