SIMON NOTT BETTING BLOG: Cheltenham Saturday

There were loads of young people here getting involved and looking around at what could have been a new experience, writes SIMON NOTT.

For all those who came racing for the first time today, I hope you fell in love with our great game and will still be coming in 42 years time as I am today. The first bet I had at the Mackeson meeting back in 1983 was with Rick & Son, the Son was the chap filling his face on the feature photo, still taking bets and filling his face.

I’m sorry if you are reading that story for the second or third time, apologies! The teams were slightly changed today, bolstered by one, the mighty Keiran who was primed and ready to set off once the 7.30 inspection was passed.

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12:35 – JCB Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle (Registered As The Prestbury Juvenile Hurdle) (Grade 2) (GBB Race) (Class 1) (3YO only) 2m ½f

The first race was a pleasure to work around in the ring. The books that were here yesterday were just happy not to have rain running down their backside, the ones that weren’t keen to get stuck in after missing a day yesterday.

Business was very brisk with both Star Sports books taking plenty of public money on a wide range of horses, the rail team of Lofty, Amberley and Ricky took a bet of £1500 – £600 Precious Man which was the only notable bet in their £3600 book, Tatts took £3466 with nothing of note to bump that figure. Feature of the market was the weakness of the original favourite Secret Force which Lofty described as unlayable which was similarly hard to get on the Tatts pitch.

Precious Man was the only one the punters wanted to be on, backed to 9/4 market leader at the off. Those that followed the money would have been quite happy with how he was going for most of the race, but when push came to shove he couldn’t get past the 10/3 winner One Horse Town.

That suited the Tatts pitch which copped £1568 but not so much the rails which won a round of drinks, the winner had been small punter popular as well as a bet of £1000 – £200 each-way, come racing. Neither book would have wanted runner-up Precious Man so a very decent start to the day’s sport.

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1:10 – Debenhams Amateur Jockeys’ Handicap Chase (GBB Race) (Class 3) (4YO plus) 3m 1f

Next up and race which looked as if it would be attritional, a large field of handicap chasers running over 3m 1f ridden by amateur jockeys.

Money was once again, and understandably on the smaller scale but plentiful. The biggest bet Lofty had taken on the rail was £1500 – £300 the well touted Kelce, Tatts biggest bet was just £200 in a book holding £2148, the rail’s hod weighed down with £3260 at the off.

‘The best jockey in the race by far’ was Nick’s summing up after 28/1 Hung Jury won for previous interviewee Martin Keighley’s racing club.

It’s the racing club bit that was the fly in this particular ointment, Tatts copped £762, not really their whack while the rail lost £50, all those small bets at 33/1 and 28/1 added up, oh did I say 28/1 winner? The SP was 22/1, come racing.

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1:45 – Paddy Power Arkle Challenge Trophy Trial Novices’ Chase (Grade 2) (Registered As The November) (GBB Race) (Class 1) (4YO plus) 2m

Next up and there was some good betting, some bookmakers were having problems accepting card payments which was frustrating punters, cash is still king in the betting ring when the tech lets you down, don’t forget your racecourse readies.

Lofty’s card machine worked OK taking the £2500 – £1000 Be Aware, he was lucky his team got that bet in the bag as the Skelton beast was hard to lay thereafter.

The money in the ring was blooming Tatts took over £4000 and the rail almost £5000 in mostly modest stakes, July Flower was the one the punters wanted to be on, they got it right too, Lofty’s pitch laid the Irish raider £500 – £400 right in the hole contributing to their £1200 loss, Tatts blew £1654.

Oh, and the SP? 6/5, come racing, sorry if I’ve said that before, my memory again.

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🏆 2:20 – Paddy Power Gold Cup Handicap Chase (In Memory Of Edward O’Grady) (Premier Handicap) (GBB Race) (Class 1) (4YO plus) 2m 4f

Next up the big race, business held up on the Tatts pitch with £3312 in the hod but Kaan described it as disappointing.

Over on the rail, they held £3500 at the off, a monkey of which was on Coming Up Easy at 6/1. Turning for home there looked like several horses would be in the shake-up but the unstoppable Skelton machine got the money with Panic Attack winning at 6/1 complete with ‘aeroplane’ celebration.

Kaan wasn’t happy, Tatts lost £1829 which prompted a right old moan up, I left that with Keiran, Nick and Tony to deal with and left to the more cheerful ambience of Lofty.

Yes, I know, the rail lost too, a bottle but Lofty was happy, he’d backed the winner having followed in former #BettingPeople interviewee and HWPA content finalist, Stephen Darbyshire, who put the winner up mid-week.

It’s OK to cheer home the bogie when you preempted the market, otherwise it’s a sacking offence, nobody will grass you up Keiran!

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2:55 – From The Horses Mouth Podcast Handicap Hurdle (GBB Race) (Class 2) (4YO plus) 3m

The race before the penultimate was a better betting heat than the feature. Over on the rail Long Draw was popular with bets of £300 and a monkey at 10/3 laid, as well as £1800 – £400 Kikijo. Meanwhile in Tatts they took a grand each-way Prince Zaltar at 10/1.

Meanwhile, great news the Tatts book was £1700 better off. A punter that had a score on the winner at 15/2 was erroneously given a ticket with the stake £202 on it which is a pretty obvious rick.

Needless to say the Tatts top team spotted it and were ready with the correct figure when he came to draw. He did briefly try to claim he’d actually had £202 on but soon capitulated when quizzed and was paid what he was due. At the off of this race Tatts held £5806 and the rail £3978.

The punter that had the grand each-way made the Tatts team sweat, Prince Zaltar was right there at the last but got run out of it up the hill by 11/2 winner Kikijo. It looked a good result for the books but Tatts lost £1438 thanks to the places, while Lofty copped tonight’s bar bill on the race, well you don’t get a lot of £133 in The Queen’s.

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3:30 – Paddy Power Intermediate Handicap Hurdle (Class 3) (3YO plus) 2m 5f

Tony kicked off betting on the penultimate upsetting a lady who, to my eyes, was a good 30 by asking her for ID. I’d have taken it as a compliment if I was her, but she got the needle with him, protecting, however Tony was right, if you are in doubt about a customer’s age you need to check. I’m guessing that when you are as old as Tony, most people look young.

Meanwhile, there were no rucks on the rail just steady betting, the rails pitch had almost £4000 in small bets in the hod before the horses left the paddock. The Tatts pitch wasn’t far behind nudging £3500 in the book despite Tony’s PR skills. At the off the figures had grown to £4446 and £4066 respectively.

As they were off, I dashed into the gents for an ablutions break just preceded by a group of well-dressed young gentlemen who hurried to relieve themselves among busy urinals. One of them put his three-thirds-full pint under the ceramic where he was stood, that seemed a very risky proposition to me anyway, especially considering the approximity of other users, always gamble responsibly lads. He never even checked if his pint was fuller than when he put it down when he retrieved it and had his next gulp.

Rather him than me! Meanwhile, I’ll draw your attention to the first paragraph where I was getting all misty-eyed about my youth in the game, the betting ring enjoyed a good old fashioned result here, care of Lavender Hill Mob winning at 33/1.

Kaan’s team kept £4032 of what they’d taken though Lofty’s crew had run into a few tenners each way ensuring they only copped £1900. Still, that was very handy going into the lucky last.

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4:00 – Cheltenham Guardians Safeguarding Team Mares’ Open NH Flat Race (Listed) (GBB Race) (Class 1) (4YO to 5YO) 2m ½f

The getting out stakes was a precarious proposition for punters, no matter how in the know they thought they were, a bumper in soft/heavy going is often almost as risky as a pint under a urinal. The favourite for the lucky last was Irish raider Celestial Tune which opened 11/4 and proved extremely popular with the punters.

Money on both pitches was smallish but plentiful, punters were keen to get involved. The Tatts pitch fielded £4393 and the rail £3200, the hope was the firm would kick on after hitting the front in the previous race. Sadly, the only kicking on that was done was by the 5/2 favourite Celestial Tune which would have successfully got out a lot of punters responsibly betting their way out of trouble.

Needless to say but I’ll say it anyway, the result was no good for the books Tatts lost £1233 and the rail £1400 thanks mainly to a near last bet in the book monkey at the 5/2.

The final figures for each was up £1398 on the day for the former and minus £900 for the rail, another day that didn’t quite get the exes or in other words, a lot of hard work from the Star Sports’ teams for nothing.

They’ll get the wages tomorrow, hopefully.

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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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