SIMON NOTT BETTING BLOG: Glorious Goodwood Tuesday

You’ll still never see a bird along Kennel Hill, I don’t know why, writes SIMON NOTT.

But since Dave Phillips pointed it out to me in the 1990s, I’ve never seen one. Yes, I’m talking about that again, so it must be Glorious Goodwood.

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1:20 pm – Coral Chesterfield Cup Handicap Stakes (Class 2) (4YO plus) 1m 2f

Business could only get better after the first, the rails team of Lofty, Tony and Emily and Tatts, Kaan, Sophie, Luke and Nick couldn’t even muster £2000 worth of bets between them, though not for the want of trying.

Westridge winning at 6/1 was probably a better result than it should have been. Tatts fielded £1047 keeping £901 and the rail £680 holding on to £260. A bing-bong for a Stewards’ Enquiry was ultimately not too much of a worry as it only involved the fourth and fifth.

While the teams were paying the few punters there were to pay, this week’s #BettingPeople interviewee Jason Timms came to say hello, our conversation was cut short by what Lofty, nautical by nature hailing from Portsmouth, described as a squally shower, squally it might have been but it was enough to cut our conversation short and see me ducking for cover underneath what appears to be the world’s most useless umbrella which hovers about the rails pitch.

After the stewards had enquired, they reversed the fourth and fifth placed horses; the rail had already paid the small sums to come over the original fourth, but made no difference to Tatts.

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1 :55 pm – Coral Vintage Stakes (Group 2) (Class 1) (2YO only) 7f

Next up and they bet 15/8 the field with Dorset heading the market. By the time the horses were going to post, there wasn’t much improvement in business on the rail. But in Tatts, they’d struck their first couple of chunks £25,000 – £5000 Andab and £25,000 – £5000 Humidity to the same punter.

Over on the rail, things had livened up by the off, having fielded £2500. Of course, Tatts took more money £11,448 and kept more when 8/1 chance Zavateri won, £10,595 to be exact, to be less exact, with Lofty giving me the figures, the rail got about a grand.

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2:30 pm – HKJC World Pool Lennox Stakes (Group 2) (Class 1) (3YO plus) 7f

I packed my collection of ‘Goodwood’ blazers yesterday then removed half of them again, telling my Melanie I’d only go fancy dress for a couple of days, today being one of them. My decision was vindicated when my arrival was greeted by howls of laughter from Lofty and Tony.

Then I got the treble up when Stephen Darbyshire described me as being dressed as a beach hut. Of course, Tony wears a polyester Star Sports tie and Stephen was dressed in a suit and tie, very smart; the stains on the jacket were hardly noticeable, so I took their fashion tips on board.

Talking of the erstwhile Mr Darbyshire, after Kinross was withdrawn at the start, he was dashing around the ring, cash in hand, evidently looking for a bookmaker that was born yesterday.

Meanwhile, Tatts laid £2000 Jonquil at SP in a book that held £2700, the rails laid £3500 – £1000 the same horse, their business had picked up again with Lofty reporting £200 and £300 bets into a £3400 book. The race had a turn-up in store in favour of the bookies in the shape of 25/1 winner Witness Stand, Tatts copped £1800 of the £2700 they held while the rail managed to keep £2800 of their £3400.

The rule 4 for the withdrawal of Kinross was 25p in the pound, though luckily it didn’t need explaining to many.

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3:05 pm – Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup Stakes (Group 1) (Class 1) (3YO plus) 2m

Carol, partner of Kaan, did a ‘Lucky Dip’ £2 each-way double and copped £35. I recommended Kaan give her a right old bollocking for falling for such a mug bet. I’m not sure he listened, but at least Carol enjoyed her massive jug of Pimms purchased with her winnings.

Meanwhile, betting was getting chunkier, the rail laid £6500 – £4000 Illinois and Tatts £22,500 – £5000 Scandinavia, which would make a great geographical forecast, wouldn’t it, Carol?

There was also money for ill-fated Trueshan, £300 at 22/1, which sadly broke down during the race. The race was marred by that injury, and also went badly financially for the firm. 4/1 winner Scandinavia was a good result for the rails pitch, who copped £5000 but Tatts blew £22,515.

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3:45 pm – Coral Handicap (Golden Rewards Shaker Handicap) (Class 2) (3YO plus) 5f

It was proper drizzling as betting got underway for the fifth of today’s eight races, one where they bet 9/2 the field.

The difficult nature of the race and the precipitation didn’t help, but it was what James of DragonBet described as the ‘Strawberry Lull’.

The phenomenon he described is real; potential punters will happily queue for 40 minutes in the drizzle for a free punnet of strawberries and cream, rather than bet. The punchline was that one member of DragonBet was in the queue coming back with said delicacies for the team. Professionals!

Meanwhile, news from Tiverton was that Mrs Nott had run into a loser of her own. Well, our own. There’s no I in Team or Nott for that matter, but a pony fine for an underfunded car park ticket near Wetherspoons is a bit strong. Meanwhile, nothing much was happening in the ring.

Meanwhile, the result came up for the bookmakers again. Brazen Bolt won the race at 28/1. Both books enjoyed good wins £2700 total field money yielded £1503 in profits, those strawberries had proved costly for turnover.

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4:20 pm – British Stallion Studs EBF Maiden Stakes (Class 2) (2YO only) 6f

After the lull, wallop, in came a punter with £27,500 at 10/11 Naval Light.

Then another wallop £24,000 at 10/11 and an even £9000, then £250 at 5/4 from John and his mates from Ballinteer who read the blogs and appeared to be having a great day despite it been a bit moist, I had to tell John and pals I wasn’t going to wish him luck, they seemed to understand.

At the off, the Tatts pitch had the favourite losing £58,196 while the rail stood it for £250, the only decent bet a late £500-£400.

All of it stayed with the good guys after 6/1 chance Stellar Sunrise repelled the jolly to do the books a favour. Tatts copped £62,752 and the rail £850. Happy days.

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4:55 pm – Ridgeview Fillies’ Handicap Stakes (Class 3) (3YO plus) 1m

Before the penultimate, a punter bet an even £25,000 U Turn at Beverley, bloody hell, I thought when Kaan told me, that’s the sort of bet I’ll get accused of making up. It won, such a small paragraph for a big loss.

Meanwhile, the penultimate, where there was no sign of any bet of that magnitude until close to the off, £55,000 – £10,000 Zgharta, £15,000 at SP Dash Azure and £40,000 – £10,000 Mahra’s Love all laid. None of them were Protest the 13/2 winner which was very handy indeed.

The Tatts book copped £35,316. Then it started to get even livelier, £15,000 at 15/8 on La Notre Verte over at Galway. The rails pitch blew a monkey on the penultimate, I almost forgot to ask in all the excitement.

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5:30 pm – World Pool Bet With The Tote EBF Fillies’ Handicap Stakes (Class 3) (3YO plus) 6f

Another away bet swiftly followed, Brazilian Belle over at Beverley, £15,000 at 5/2. And to think I was moaning about the useless business in the first, once again it was a couple of punters against the firm with the public money just a sideshow. That one was beaten too. Meanwhile, I don’t know about strawberry lulls but the eighth race lull had kicked in.

The money had dried right up, that is until the big punter moved in again with a potential day denting £45,000 – £20,000 Dubai Treasure in the lucky last. There’s no resting on any laurels when some punters get their teeth in. Over on the rails, they had taken £1104.

‘They’ knew. Dubai Treasure did the business, the rails won a monkey winning £10,500 on the day, of course, Tatts took one hell of a beating in the race losing £45,108. I know you are all probably reaching for the Kleenex now, but Tatts still copped £49,000 on the day, so not too bad for traditionally the quietest day of the meeting. Chin 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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