SIMON NOTT: CHELTENHAM Friday Report

Despite the firm being an across the board £800,000 down in the week Ben still managed to smile and look positively on Gold Cup day. He was determined to get the first favourite Apple’s Shakira in the book, even inviting big-hitting connections to come the joint and take him on.

BEN AND BIG MAC BEFORE RACING

Man of the moment, our brand ambassador Davy Russell marked punters cards in the Star Sports on course shop. With an intro from Ben and questions from head of PR Luke Tarr.

DAVY RUSSELL and LUKE TARR BEFORE RACING

1:30 JCB Triumph Hurdle (Grade 1)

Where were the punters? The office laid a £24,000 – £20,000 but the biggest bet on course for the favourite Apple’s Shakira was just £2,000.

The only other horse laid on the pitch was a £10,000 – £1,500 Redicean (13/2 fractions, come racing).

Now let’s not get greedy we had a great result with 9/1 Farclas winning but having wanted to fill the hod and not being able to was a slight downer. Still, the punters stopped crowing for the first time all week.

2:10 Randox Health County Handicap Hurdle (Grade 3)

The County Hurdle always used to be the ‘getting out stakes’ on Gold Cup Day. It’s now second on the bill but still as hard as it ever was. Early betting of 8/1 the field reflected that.

Brand ambassador Davy Russell had certainly got the off course firms on edge, their ring-rusty reps had to remember their fractions and snap up the big prices Ben Dundee including to win £10,000 with us.

The punters were silenced again when Bridget Andrews rode 33/1 Mohaayed to victory, a virtual skinner in the book. That was more like it.

2:50 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1)

Marching straight on to the Albert Bartlett where Santini had been a warm order all morning 4/1 in the 11/4 it was on course when betting opened.

Ben did give the jolly a gentle tug and took a monkey out of it at 3/1 but it was generally steady at 11/4, we did lay one ‘funny’ one £10,000 £250 ew.

The punters didn’t find Colin Tizzard’s 33/1 winner Kilbricken Storm, funny that. Calls of ‘Pay Pay’ from bookies that had a skinner rang around the ring, not from this pitch though, after all we’re gentlemen. The fightback was well and truly on. Now for the Gold Cup.

3:30 Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase (Grade 1)

The office had laid two bets of £40,000 – £10,000 Might Bite in the morning. They’d not done it wrong because that price was still hawking on course when betting opened.

12 minutes before the off the office came through we’d laid £100,000 – £25,000 Might Bite.

At the off Might Bite was for £200k in the office but hard to lay on course. Definitly Red was the course loser after laying a bet of £10,000 – £1,200 ew.

What a race, even more exciting, when one of the combatants loses £200,000. Might Bite looked all over the winner in running but Richard Johnson on Native River had other ideas, the run up the hill seemed to take a lifetime but Colin Tizzard’s 5/1 shot got gold. The result wouldn’t have been a great one for most of the ring but for Ben Keith and Star Sports it was momentous.

BEN: RELIEF PALATABLE

4:10 St. James’s Place Foxhunter Challenge Cup Open Hunters’ Chase

No offence to aficionados but the Foxhunter gave everyone the opportunity to take stock and breathe again for a moment or two. With three races to go there was still work to do and a huge deficit to try and claw back from the punters.

The field money was a fraction of that in the Gold Cup but we still had Wonderful Charm losing £6,000 at the off.

25/1 winner Pacha Du Polder just added to what was becoming a dream day, for bookmakers of course. The mission for bookmakers now was to not give it back.

4:50 Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle

The Martin Pipe was one for the punters again, their confidence surely dented after a day of bookie-friendly results.

At the off we had three losers care of bets of £5,500 – £500 each way Blow By Blow, £10,000 – £300 Brillare Momento and £7000 – £1000 each way Flawless Escape.

Blow By Blow was the lesser of the three losers but still halted the fight back.

5:30 Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Challenge Cup Handicap Chase (Grade 3)

Unless there was an absolute pile on in the concluding Grand Annual, today was going to be a good winning one. Getting back the previous three day’s losses was too much of a task but the punters returned a nice chunk back to us.

Top Gamble was the gamble in the race and bogie having been supported from 10/1, losing £4,000 at the off. Winner Le Prezien did no damage. There was no getting away from it that the overall meeting had been an absolute disaster but there was no doubting the fightback had begun. Next stop Aintree.

Cheltenham 2018. OUT.