SIMON NOTT BETTING BLOG: Brighton Festival Of Racing Wednesday

By my reckoning, this is my fourth consecutive Star Sports Brighton Festival, writes SIMON NOTT.

We have had some extreme weather in the past the worst of which can ruin the meeting an day abandonment one year the proof of that pudding, but mostly we’ve been blessed with sunshine, the run of fine weather looks to continue this week so there’s a lot to look forward to, with the Shergar Cup at Ascot the cherry on the top on Saturday.

The car park was packed when I arrived just under two hours from the first and2 there were even coach parties in evidence so all looked set for a good day, though it was yet to be seen if the big punters would be here to play.

They were and they weren’t. A bagman approached Star’s staff for the day, Tony and Eddie and bet £3000 – £1200 Mad Man in the 6.00 at Kempton this evening which was a good start.

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2:15 -⭐ Star Sports We Believe In Bookmaking Handicap (Class 4) (3YO plus) 5½f (5f60y)

Thereafter, there was very little of interest in the first home race.

The biggest single bet was £800 – £100 Savannah Smiles, which made up a big chunk of the £360 field money at the off. The race went to weak in the market Fancy Dancer which got up by a neck to win at 14/1 from the 7/1 bogie Savannah Smiles which would have cost the book a grand. As it turned out, the book copped £36. Things will pick up.

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2:45 – ⭐ Download The Star Sports App Handicap (Class 6) (3YO only) 6f (5f215y)

They did pick up, all the money was for ‘Summertime Blues’, no doubt named after the classic Eddie Cochran song.

I’m guessing that the 2/1 into 13/8 move wasn’t from rock n roll fans, I didn’t see any teddy boys in evidence but there were punters with £200 and £1000 bets for the jolly after it had shortened. At the start there was £1810 in the hod, but there was a slight worry for jolly backers as it announced he’d be running without his off fore shoe.

It’s hard to say if the lack of a shoe cost the jolly the race, but he had to settle for runner-up spot behind the 3/1 second-in Campani. The book won £1440 from what looked like a very large crowd, but most of whom were extremely recreational punters.

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3:15 – ⭐ Star Sports Classified Stakes (Class 6) (3YO plus) (7f216y)

Next up and The Kamikaze King was supported from 7/2 into 3/1, but that must have been the exchanges wagging the dog’s tail as the volume of bets I witnessed on course wasn’t enough to move it, though plenty of punters got in before the ‘carpet and a half’ was clipped.

It appeared that Star Sports had been giving out £5 bet vouchers. Sadly, for the several people who made their way to the rails pitch with them, they were redeemable only online. A few people did pull up the readies when told that news so all good. As the horses loaded, the pitch had fielded £830 with a bet of £40 each-way the biggest laid.

Lunanova winning at 9/2 under Hollie Doyle initially look like a good result but the places went against Eddie and Tony which resulted in them blowing £77.

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3:45  -⭐ Sapporo Japanese Premium Lager Brighton Mile Challenge Handicap (Brighton Mile Challenge Trophy) (Class 4) (3yo+ 0-80) 1m (7f216y)

The jolly in the race before the penultimate was Man Of Mancha, which attracted a bet of £1000 – £500 then a late £4000 – £2000 the horse from a bagman which made that one a loser for £5376. Though those sorts of make-or-break books on a day like today aren’t ideal as far as bookmaking goes, that’s what the firm’s identity is.

It was watch and hope time. Just when the book needed a result, they got one. Uncle Dick, course and distance winner and with a name that might be expected to attract some recreational dollar was a cracking result winning at 20/1, copping £2851 for the firm.

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4:15 – ⭐ Starsports.Bet Handicap (Class 6) (3YO plus) 1m2f (1m1f207y)

The even £3500 Orchestral Wave from a punter who just sidled up to the joint early took Tony and Ed by surprise. Looking around Tatts after the bet was laid, there was still plenty of even money about the well-touted expected to be odds-on jolly to be had.

The guys might have done well to lay it; time would tell. It looked as if there was opposition to the favourite, bookmaker’s hedging was the source of a £2000 – £360, that’s 11/2 with the fractions, bet over Gretna Dreams though the favourite was tumbling too, having never been evens in the live show.

A breathless bagman running to the joint managed to puff out a request of £4000 at 4/5 just before the horses were loaded. Maybe even £3500 wasn’t such a great bet to lay, after all. The bookie’s money was sharpest. Gretna Dreams veritably bolted up; it looked like a touch of sorts had been landed.

The winner returned 5/1 and still copped £4446 in the Star Sports book, a cursory glance at the breeder, Curley Leisure. It’s enough to give you a warm glow.

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4:45 – ⭐ starsportsbet.co.uk ‘Confined’ Handicap (For horses Which Have Not Won A Race In 2025) (Class 6) (3yo+ 0-60) 7f (6f210y)

The lucky last isn’t often the sixth race these days, but today we were afforded that luxury. Ed told me that the firm were winning £8697 going into it. I’m sure that if the truth were known, the team would be hoping the bagman had gone home to beat the traffic so they could sit on the decent first day of the festival winnings.

Nobody would ever say that of course. This race was for horses that haven’t won this year, so caution from the punters was expected. Talking of punters, Alan Francis came to the pitch. He’s a pro-punter who has been around constantly since I started racing in the 1980s, a very nice unassuming man.

Back to the betting, Ideal Guest was the 9/4 jolly in the race, a bagman came to the joint, so much for that theory, asking the prices for various horses, he appeared to be going to have a bet but price sensitive about which one to back. As the horses started to load he was still there lurking the bet £12,000 – £3000 each-way the second-in Oh So Audacious which could total make or bugger up the entire day losing £11,651 on the win side.

I won’t beat around the bush, Oh So Audacious won, returning 4/1, the book blew £14,023 on the race resulting in a £5235 loss on the day which was jolly annoying for all concerned. ‘We live to fight another day’ was Tony’s stoic summing up.

We’re back tomorrow.

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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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