SIMON NOTT BETTING BLOG: Cheltenham Sunday

The Sunday of the November meeting has usually been the quietest of the three. That was reflected by the considerable reduction in the number of bookmakers standing today compared to Friday and Saturday, writes SIMON NOTT.

Star Sports were betting on the rail, Lofty had returned to the fold with Nick and Ricky while Amberley, Steve and Tony bet on the Tatts pitch. The Sovereign Lounge team had been reduced to a trio with Chris headed back up North. Steve’s team were soon in the thick of it when a punter asked for and got a bet £4000 – £9000 Qualimita in the 12.10 over at Navan. The punter certainly had value, Qualimita went off the 3/10 favourite, but it also got beaten which was a great start for the firm though I suspect the punter has had better starts to their Sunday.

1:10 – Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court Hospice Maiden Hurdle (GBB Race) (Class 2) (4YO plus) 2m ½f

Betting on the first event was slow to get going, the crowd looked very thin but started to come out from the warmth of the bars late on. The Tatts pitch offered a couple of special doubles which proved quite popular with the punters. There was a bit of a buzz around the ring when one bigger punter was spotted which gave the teams hope there’d be some decent cash about. It was off time when a punter came into Tony and Amberley and had an even £4000 Ace Of Spades adding to the grand at the same price laid on the rail. Two out it looked as if the jolly was in trouble as both Country Park and Whimsy came to challenge, but it was not to be. Ace Of Spades found another gear to forge ahead up the run-in. The rails pitch lost £900 and Tatts just under £4000. The bookmakers pretty much gave it to the punters regardless of the result betting well over broke at the best prices done. The real rubdown for the ring came when the racecourse blasted out Motörhead‘s Ace Of Spades over the public address system, something in itself that would have been a big price ever happening!

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1:45 – mallardjewellers.com Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase (GBB Race) (Class 3) (4YO plus) 2m 4f

Between races, there was a mascot race, but I don’t think anyone in the already shell-shocked ring had the heart to bet on it. Star Sports also had a team betting at Fontwell, they reported laying top of the head £42,750 – £19,000 Hecouldbetheone over there and got it beaten. 15/8 was the best on offer for the jolly Peaky Boy when betting opened here at Cheltenham, the Tatts pitch laid £1400 at the price quite early. That was it as fair as bigger money went, Over on the rail Lofty didn’t fancy Primoz so got stuck in at 10/3. The punters appeared to agree with the big fella as 6/1 was available at the off red for £3000 in the book.

Lofty was right, Primoz was well beaten, the trouble was that Peaky Boy won the race, returning 9/5 favourite. The Tatts pitch lost £2500 though Steve was quite stoic about it, given the connection they could easily have been handed a right old lump on the winner so there was a feeling of getting away with it despite the loss. Lofty’s team copped a carpet so that eased the blow, and of course the sometimes morose Lofty was like a dog with two dicks after getting it right, we prefer that Lofty to the grumpy one.

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2:20 – Three Counties Christmas Handicap Chase (GBB Race) (Class 2) (4YO plus) 2m

Next up and my weather app put me away again, it confidently predicted no rain at Cheltenham, but at 2.10 the mushes were going up as the unpredicted precipitation rolled in, albeit lightly. The rails laid a couple bets £440 – £400 Matata and £900 – £400 Calico. Not to be outdone, the Tatts pitch laid £4400 – £4000 Matata but that was pretty much that. The terrible run of winning favourites continued with Matata winning unchallenged. It might have been a different story if Gunsight Ridge hadn’t fallen at the last when closing rapidly, but he did. The Tatts pitch lost £4700 plus £700 on the Skelton double that had been so popular with the punters early on. Lofty’s team lost just £30, he said he felt like a hero, not a superhero I hope, the thought of Lofty in tights and externally worn Y fronts isn’t a sight I ever want to see. At least the rain hadn’t come to much another bonus. I know you all love reading about layers losing, but by this point, bookmakers were walking around in a daze, not really able to believe how bad the results have been for them.

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2:55 – Holland Cooper Handicap Chase (Premier Handicap) (GBB Race) (Class 1) (4YO plus) 3m 3½f

Next up and the announcement that 11,074 people had turned up today. Most of them must have been in front going into the race before the penultimate. This race looked much harder to solve than the three heats that preceded it, punters staked accordingly, the biggest bet on the Tatts pitch was £600 – £200 Hymac, the Sovereign Lounge team laid the same horse, a monkey at 5/2. The rails pitch laid £3000 – £500 Manothepeople their sole bet of any note. This time they got the jolly beaten, by the second-in Abuffalosoldier, the Tatts pitch lost £500 but the rails team copped £1300, a winning race!

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3:30 – Unibet Greatwood Handicap Hurdle (Premier Handicap) (GBB Race) (Class 1) (4YO plus) 2m ½f

Next up, the penultimate and the feature of the day but there was a hush around the racecourse as betting started. The winner of the previous race Abuffalosoldier collapsed and died out on the racecourse. Heartbroken connections were consoling each other as the green screens were still up which was incredibly sad to see. The atmosphere, already somber was compounded when it was announced that Bangers And Cash suffered a fatal injury during the race.

Despite the dark mood on course betting is a hard-nosed business and of course continued. All the action early was on the favourite Dysart Enos including £2250 – £1000 with the Tatts team, £1350 – £600, £1000 – £500 and £800 – £400. The market mover, though not backed much on course was Teddy Blue which halved in price from 20/1 into 10/1. At the off both teams had just the favourite losing, topped off on the rail with a £900 – £400 right in the hole. That last bet was a handy one to lay for the rails team meaning they copped £2500 when Burdett Road, the 7/2 second favourite won the race, Tatts were a monkey better copping £3000. Going into the last that’s exactly what the rails pitch was winning, the Tatts pitch was a monkey in front.

Given the results today both had performed a feat to be in front at all. Oh Lofty backed the last winner himself, the big fella’s been on fire today. Someone else who has been on fire this week was Amberley, for the second time this weekend she had an admirer come up to say hello, the latest a smitten man from Dundalk. While I’m talking about Amberley, she saved us from a night under the stars last night. Steve, our on-course leader took an early bath last night after the team meal. The rest of us stayed on for a nightcap or two. When we arrived back at our digs Steve had gone to bed but neglected to leave the key out for us. We were locked out and our man had gone to the land of nod with his phone on silent. Luckily, after trying and failing to wake him with a call, Amberley got to work calling a dead of the night piercing ‘Steeeeve, Steeeeve, Steeeeve’ to be honest I’m not surprised the whole town wasn’t woken as well as Steve, but woken he was and the hyperthermia boogie was averted and Steve is hitherto pronounced Steeeeeve.

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4:00 – Junior Jumpers Open NH Flat Race (Listed) (GBB Race) (Class 1) (4YO to 5YO) 2m ½f

The concluding heat’s opening betting boasted an odds-on favourite Minella Hollow. As the field went down to post, neither pitch had taken any bets of note and it had started spitting rain again. Then bad news came in from the Sovereign Lounge, they ran into the winner of the last race to the tune of a monkey at 10/3, then good news from Fontwell dwarfed all today’s business, they’d a bumper day and copped a nice few quid. Talking of bumpers, as they set off here the rails had the second in Fortune De Mer losing £1300 while Tatts had the jolly Minella Hollow losing a grand. A real result would ensure a decent winning day but certainly not a winning meeting. It was not to be, Fortune De Mer won very cheekily, the firm did about £700 across both pitches and the November meeting concluded a losing one.

We’re back at Ascot next Friday and Saturday from where I’ll be writing betting ring reports both days. Thanks for reading.

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Views of authors do not necessarily represent views of Star Sports Bookmakers.

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Simon Nott is author of: Skint Mob! Tales from the Betting Ring
available on Kindle CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS

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