SIMON NOTT BETTING BLOG: Newmarket Friday

What a glorious day at Newmarket, beautiful blue sky and warm sunshine to see in May, writes SIMON NOTT.

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1:45 – Darley EBF Maiden Fillies’ Stakes (GBB/GBBPlus Race) (Class 2) (3YO plus)

The Star Sports team today were Pam and Nick, as per my last meeting here, they weren’t really expecting much but got a shock as the very first punter up to the joint had £4000 over two bets £9000 – £2000 Blue Noon and £12,000 – £2000 Malika, those bets were followed by a £2.50 each-way bet on a card.

A funny old day could be on the cards as well. A flurry of bets followed before an even carpet on the jolly Earth Shot was followed by another one shortly after. Those punters got it right, Earth Shot, still an even money shot at the off though returned 10/11 sprinted home unchallenged copping the book £3569.

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2:20 – JCB Newmarket Stakes (Listed) (Class 1) (3YO only)

Next up and the Star Sports duo were at it and in it again early, £5000 – £1500 trade bet Lyneham followed by £3000 at 11/8 Poseidon’s Warrior then lots of decent bets; this was stark comparison to the Craven meeting which was very disappointing; this most certainly wasn’t, pretty much every horse in the race was backed.

‘A good spread of bets’ according to Nick, that spread of bets added to £5838 at the off with £4546 still in the hod after 16/1 chance Ancient Egypt caused a not totally unbacked surprise, it was fun in the sun after two races.

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2:55 – Betfred ‘The Classic Bookmaker’ Handicap (Class 3) (3YO only)

Between races, a face from the betting ring of years gone by came to say hello, Big Andy Hooker. Andy remembered me from my days careering around the likes of Newbury having ‘pathetic little back bets’ – Steve Gibbs’ RIP quote not Andy’s.

I have to admit I didn’t really know him to talk to back in the day but his face was familiar. It was nice to have a chat with him about the days of five rows on a Friday at Newbury. I don’t think Kaan actually believes me about that, you can ask Big Andy mate. Thanks for coming over.

Back to the racing, one of the first bets in the next heat was a hedge bet from the rails, £5000 – £500 Objector, business that followed was slower than the previous two races but still very steady. The last bet in the book was the next biggest of the race £800 – £200 on the winner Stanton, which was a blow because prior to that the colt would have been a winner, though was ultimately a loser for £582.

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3:30 – Betfred Jockey Club Stakes (Group 2) (Class 1) (4YO plus)

The fourth heat on the card was a low staking race, maybe the bigger punters had done their dough?

For whatever reason, it was still a glorious day to be at HQ despite the field money amounting to just shy of a grand at £958.

Despite the relatively poor business, Nick played a blinder copping £62 on the race despite it being won by the 9/4 jolly Santorini Star.

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4:05 – Betfred ‘Nifty 50’ Handicap (Class 2) (4YO plus) 

The race before the penultimate started quietly, but picked up in a modest way before finishing with a flourish to just nudge over the grand mark to field £1040. It was all public money small and enthusiastic from people in shorts and sporting red bits they’ll only find out about when they get home. The one they wanted was Silver Ghost which was losing £732 ‘We don’t want Silver Ghost’ said Nick as a grey hit the front going away.

Luckily, it was the other grey in the race 11/2 shot Billyjoh which won the races and £125 in the book, there must have been plenty of Green Day fans in the ring. His backers got extra excitement for their money as there was a bing bong stewards’ enquiry called shortly afterwards, which went on quite a while.

The places remained unaltered after 15 minutes which would have seemed longer to Billyjoh’s supporters.

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4:40 – Pertemps Network King Charles II Stakes (Listed) (Class 1) (3YO only)

Next up, the penultimate, where previous #BettingPeople interviewee and man about town Martin Raymond had an interest in one of the runners, Jel Pepper which opened at 9/1. It wasn’t Jel Pepper the bookmaker’s hedging money was on early though, £8500 – £4000 Stellar Sunrise and £13,200 – £600 Maximised the object of his desire. The rest of the field money featuring no bets of any note helped the total taken on the race to £5134 with two nasty boogies that had been impossible to bet up to.

Once again, the Gambling Gods smiled on the bookies, 11/2 winner Sabre Strike was a cracking result despite having been nibbled from 6/1. The book copped £4954 which put the cop on the day to £12,315 with a heat to go.

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5:15 – Close Brothers Fillies’ Handicap (Class 3) (3YO plus) 

The lucky last was a 3/1 the field handicap, the questions were would the punters get stuck in and would hedging money threaten to ruin the day? At this point, it appeared the bigger punters from earlier races had legged it.

The answer was yes and no, there was some hedging to the tune of £3000 – £330 Cinque Verde and £2500 – £500 Lightning Polka but the public money was very light.

I’ll cut to the chase, or rather 6f handicap, it was bad enough losing £1776 when Cinque Verde absolutely hosed home to win, but she did it to the cheers of the bookmakers around us, the rubdown, but let’s not be churlish Star Sports still won £10,539.47 on a day where little was expected, Nick and Pam played a blinder.

Just a nudge if you’ve not watched the latest #BettingPeople interview with Star’s Dave Stewart, it’s certainly worth your time.

We’re back tomorrow for the 2000 Guineas. 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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