SIMON NOTT BETTING BLOG: Cheltenham Saturday

I was awake before my alarm in anticipation for today’s eight race bonanza at Cheltenham and on the road by 7am. OK, I was awake because I was jumped on at 5.30am by Monty aged four but I was very much looking forward to getting back to Cheltenham today.

I got here nice and early, as did many of the bookmakers, it was a big day for those that bet in Tattersalls whose pitches had been moved into new positions which came into effect for the first time today. The new spots weren’t going to directly make a difference to Star Sports today, they were betting on the rail. The team was Steve, head of on-course, Lofty, shop steward and Nick, grafter and all-round good guy.

Prior to the first race I had a wander around the ring chatting to a few friends, everyone seeming in good spirits looking forward to what promised to be an excellent day’s racing in prospect. One of those was Gary, the fastest over 65 runner in England who has some tremendous racing related stories to share every time I see him, which is usually here.

Back behind the joint one of the best connected men in racing Peter Collier was in top fettle having just celebrated his 80th birthday, all that fresh air on racecourses over the years appear to have acted as the elixir of youth on him. He was chatting to Angus Loughran who was also looking good which was excellent to see.

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12:05 – Jcb Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle (Grade 2) (Registered As The Finesse) (GBB Race) (Class 1) (4YO only) 2m 1f

At the business end Lofty was tapping the bets in on the pitch while Nick and Steve fielded the money on the rail. The race had been busy whilst nobody could accurately describe the joint as rocking with business. ‘It’s too good a book for my liking’ was Lofty’s summing up as they set off for the opener. There hadn’t been any lumpy bets, though a bagman had been lurking. Field money had been just over £2000, Sir Gino was sent off the 6/5 favourite and the loser for a monkey.

It might have been too good a book for Lofty, but from the firm’s point of view and the way the jolly won, just losing a monkey was probably a right result. Sir Gino bolted up in impressive fashion which would have got the blood of favourite-backers pumping, that’s plenty of punters off to a good start.

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12:40 – Timeform Novices’ Handicap Chase (GBB Race) (Class 2) (5YO plus) 2m 4½f

Next up and the field money had more than doubled on the firm for the second race. To be transparent much of that was down to a bet of £7000 – £2000 early on Ginny’s Destiny. Other bets of note included £1350 – £300 Blow Your Wad and £1500 – £200 Theatre Man.

Steve and team were chuffed to get the bogie in the book at the price they did because late on Paul Nicholls’ gelding was a big drifter on the exchanges. Someone influentially active on the machine must have thought it couldn’t win and took a position against it.

Let’s hope they still have some money left and have sacked their mole, because the exchange market knew nothing. Ginny’s Destiny could hardly have won any easier, the book lost £7300 but at least had the inedible value, the winner returned 4/1.

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1:15 – Paddy Power Cheltenham Countdown Podcast Handicap Chase (Premier Handicap) (GBB Race) (Class 1) (5YO plus) 2m 4½f

As the field lined up for the third heat on the card commentator Alan Howes announced that ‘flags were raised’. Stakes had been raised too, Star Sports had laid bets of £4500 – £1000 on both Il Ridoto and Victtorino. Unsurprisingly both horses had been popular with the smaller punters too so at the off they were losing £5300 and £4300 respectively, with the field winning.

The firm didn’t have to sweat too much as neither of the bogies looked like winning from a way out. Il Ridoto did scrape some place money back for cautious backers to eventually finish third behind 8/1 chance Ga Law winning from 25/1 result Lounge Lizard. That was handy, the book copped just north of £2700 and with business good and five races to go it was certainly not game over yet.

People reading this may not be aware that Star Sports also run a betting shop on course here at Cheltenham situated in the Sovereign Lounge. They’d been doing some decent business up there including £2800 – £200 each-way Frere D’Armes.

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1:50 – Paddy Power Cotswold Chase (Grade 2) (GBB Race) (Class 1) (5YO plus) 3m 1½f

The Sovereign Lounge also got the betting ball rolling in the next reporting a bet of £1400 – £400 Stay Away Fay. Down on the rails things had really started to hot up, bigger punters were getting stuck in and apparently unable to agree on what was the good thing, which is always handy.

The biggest single bet was also for Stay Away Fay which attracted a bet of £10,500 – £3000, an accountant waded in with £3500 – £1000 each-way The Real Whacker then another punter had a grand on Capodanno. ‘A good betting heat’ is how Lofty described the race.

It was a good race too, but not from winning a few quid from the firm’s point of view. The Star Sports team had been happy to lay Capodanno, especially as he’d been a much bigger price in the week. The theory may well have been right but they were made to pay for taking liberties with the green and gold. The 4/1 they laid looked great value to that punter as his fancy won in some style returning ‘carpet and half’ 7/2. To compound things, The Real Whacker finished runner-up landing the place money.

Exasperated, Lofty proclaimed, ‘The payout queue will be longer than the Amazon’, but even that wasn’t as long as the look on Steve and Nick’s faces. The book lost £7500 and like Jeramiah, the firm were back in the mire.

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2:25 – My Pension Expert Clarence House Chase (Grade 1) (GBB Race) (Class 1) (5YO plus) 2m ½f

Well, Cheltenham is the theatre of dreams and nightmares in equal measure and certainly dished up the drama in the rearranged Clarence House. Jonbon was predictably a very short order to win the race and there were punters happy to get stuck in. A bagman had £1000 – £3500 followed by a bookmaker hedging having the same bet. Star Sports also bet on the distance Jonbon would win by, punters were keen on that market too. The race appeared a formality, Jonbon only had to jump around the scenic route to the weighing room for everyone to cop.

As fate would have it, jump around was the pertinent part of that assumption. Even a superstar can’t demolish a Cheltenham fence in a top-class race and still go on to win it. Jonbon did a proper job of the demolition and also made an heroic effort at the winning. Despite coming back into the race full of running, his near uprooting of a fence out in the country appeared to eventually take its toll up the hill ultimately capitulating to 22/1 chance Elixir De Nutz close home going down by a neck.

Where there are losers, the bag man and bookie, there was someone who copped. Archie Metcalfe, fifth generation of Jack Bevan pitch incumbents roared home the winner, ‘With the fractions’ he hollered in delight, having invested £30 of his wages at 33/1. Aye Aye Archie, that’s got a ring to it hasn’t it, good man getting the fractions! Back at the Star Sports pitch, they’d almost extracted themselves from the mire unlike Jeramiah and copped £12,500 and were right back in the game.

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3:00 – Unibet Hurdle (Registered As The International Hurdle) (Grade 2) (GBB Race) (Class 1) (4YO plus) 2m 1f

The team bathed in the warm glow of being straight across for about 30 minutes. Lossiemouth was ‘expected’ to win the race before the penultimate, not least by two punters who backed her accordingly with confident bets of £5000 and £4000 at ‘shoulder on’ 4/7.

Well, what can you say, always bet responsibly, when 4/7 shots win as easy as Lossiemouth, who could knock the investment? Her victory cost the firm £7500, a large sum of money done in absolute cold blood. Nasty.

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3:35 – McCoy Contractors Cleeve Hurdle (Grade 2) (GBB Race) (Class 1) (5YO plus) 3m

Cheltenham was really serving it up today, the punters were treated to a tremendous finish in the penultimate, pretty much everything in the race had a chance over the last.

Now, before I continue, the team had done absolutely everything right, they’d laid a £4200 – £600 Champ and £5400 – £1800 Noble Yeats, so nothing wrong with the prices and plenty of smaller bets on other horses to pad it all about a bit.

‘I’ve specialised in good books today’ beamed Lofty as the field set off. I’m not sure some of the other layers in the ring would call having one losing £5200 a ‘good book’, but the way Star Sports does it, it was, not having laid the wrong prices. The trouble was, the absolute bogie was Noble Yeats and Noble Yeats won despite the best efforts of Paisley Park to reel him in.

The team were back in it with a massive plop, it would take a Biblical intervention to leave the course winning today, heartbreaking I’m sure you’ll all agree. Between races a very nice guy named Shane came to say that he enjoys reading the blogs. Thanks for coming over Shane, I’m sorry if today’s tales of bookmakers losing their money is unsettling you.

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4:10 – SSS Super Alloys Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 2) (GBB Race) (Class 1) (4YO plus) 2m 4½f

You have to give the punters their due, they really did try to help Steve, Nick and Lofty out of the financial hole they were in. A £1000 backer came in for Lucky Place early and took 13/2. Another had £1800 – £400 Johnnywho and two intrepid investors in jollies bet £2000 and £3500 on Gidleigh Park at ‘tips’ 11/10. They would have copped a minimum of £3500 had Lucky Place won, or £10,000 one of the 16/1 shots.

It was all there for the taking in the getting some back stakes. The trouble was the horses hadn’t read the script according to the bookmakers. Gidleigh Park outbattled the tenacious Lucky Place up the hill to win, breaking the heart of poor old Lofty, he’s a big lad but can get sad too when he does Ben’s dough for him.

The winner returned 5/6, come racing and the firm lost a round of drinks shy of £7000 on the race. Once again Star Sports had come second on course in the perpetual battle against the punters. It used to be hard that punting game, not any more it seems. We’ll be back at Newbury in a couple of weeks. The worm will eventually turn. Won’t it?

SIMON NOTT

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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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