No gambling Shergs. I would only bet with money I can afford to lose. Not sure I'll ever be in that position again.
Doubt it Shergs. We have a lot of horses (3 in foal) and they cost a lot to keep. I daren't risk losing money gambling. I'm happy, as I have been for 20+years, to just bet in theory and enjoy the racing.
Fair enough, I suppose everyone has to make sacrifices, to have what they want. You have a string of horses to feed, so don't bet. That's why I only have a cat
please log in to view this image Very wise. If that's all I had to feed I too would be betting. I also have a dozen cats and 3 dogs
What are you Dr Doolitle? I can understand your need of the horses, and possibly your need of dogs, for guarding reasons. But what on earth would you need 12 cats for? Are there army's of mice in France?
I wanted to share this article from the BBC. I recall some comments yesterday that Paul Nicholls looked annoyed to have won the Martin Pipe race. As you will read, he was actually fighting back the tears for his Head Lad Clifford Baker, who lost his son in a car accident just a few weeks ago.
I was very close to tears myself yesterday when I went to the parade ring to see Alistair Down present Lucinda Russell to the crowd. Lucinda spoke with clarity about the wonderful talent of Campbell Gillies and then presented Mark Boylan to the crowd who serenaded the crowd with his "Song for Campbell". We were stood very close to the front of the ring and Campbell's parents were directly in front of us, and there emotion was clear for everyone to see, a massive loss but even more pride about the wonderful young chap that they had lost. The life and loss was seen throughout the last day, with the Nicholls winner and the tears for Clifford Baker's son and the emotion surrounding JT's injury. A sombre place for many amongst the ranks of Guinness downing day trippers.
What a fantastic week. Got off to a flyer with Champagne Fever and never looked back. Easily my best ever festival betting wise finishing with the first four winners yesterday in a Lucky15!! However more enjoyable than any winnings was going down on the Wednesday and watching Sprinter Sacre dominate the Champion Chase. My first visit to the festival and it was magical. Most importantly I hope and pray that JT McNamara can make a full recovery. Really hope everyone else enjoyed it just as much. Bring on next year!
fantastic week my highlights were 1) the first day when Hurricane Fly and Quevega won in that magical hour from 4pm. I could have made it my best day ever as I had a little each way bet on Ackertac in the last. That would have topped it all off but at least got the each way money 2) Sprinter Sacre confrming his greatness. If I have one hope in racing though it is that he finds some decent competition from somewhere. Can't wait to see him once again in the Tingle Creek at the end of the year 3) My final day treble going in - At Fishers Cross, Bobs Worth and Salsify. Particularly pleased for At Fishers Cross as been following him all season. I lumped on after the New One won on Wednesday and then was reminded by people on here that the ground was starting to go against him. I have never been so pleased to see the rain as much as yesterday! Most exciting new horse - Our Conor. Champion Hurdle winner 2014?
I'm on already 6-1 is short enough considering what can happen in a year, but if he remains sound he will see off the then 10 year old Hurricane Fly with ease imo. My first Cheltenham and have loved it! Only did Tues and Wed, but these were arguably the two best days. Glad to forget disatrous Thursday though! Nice BBC write up there PN - I didn't know that about CB's son, and explains PN's low key after race interview (I couldn't hear what he actually said as I was on the phone, and assumed he was less than impressed at his lack of Festival success) Friday was better bet-wise, and managed to recoup some earlier losses, with Our Conor, AFC and some placed long shots. Looking onwards now to Aintree and Punchestown, before the Flat reasserts itself
As good as Our Conor looked, I'd still air on the side of caution before getting involved at a short price. 5 year olds have a terrible record in the Champion Hurdle, as do Triumph hurdle winners, as most usually want further. I'd also be worried about connections, do they have the ability of a Henderson or a Nicholls to improve him again next year, and keep him on song for the big days
For me, a week of great highs and lows. The highs..... Sprinter Sacre's devasting class. The easiest Triumph winner in Our Conor- what a prospect! The Supreme Novices- a great front running effort from Champagne Fever against two classy novices in Jezki and My Tent Or Your's. Quevega overcoming all the odds to win. Hurricane Fly showing real guts to reclaim his crown. Success of Bryan Cooper. The lows.... JT McNamara- all our thoughts are with him. The continued incompetence of Cheltenham's course lay-out- why on earth do they persist in starting the races by turning tight left with only a short distance to the tape? Yet again horses were often left or slowly away- except on the one occasion when they approached the tape in a straight line. And poor Oscar Delta! The removable infill section where his rider fell off was even recessed from the two horizontal rails on either side of it, not to mention there was no rail anyway- just small white posts and connecting ropes. Putting the whip in her left hand would have prevented the catastrophe, but I blame the course lay-out, not her. A final low was Silviniaco Conti. Arguably he was travelling best of all and I wish he'd had a chance to fight out the finish.
Great week as always. I'm no fan of mr henderson but hats off for a wonderful set of training performances. We all knew what Sprinter Sacre and Simonsig might be capable of but the sheer guts and determination of bobs Worth were an absolute joy. On the functional racing side it was sickening for poor old Jane Mangan on Oscar delta. My mate had backed Salsify and immediately chucked all the winnings to the IJF in embarrassment which given the sad events earlier ion the week was a nice gesture. One of the highlights of the week for me was Brian Cooper - some exceptional rides and he comes across as a really decent and humble young man. After his two winners yesterday i hope he went and enjoyed the hospitality of those whose pockets he filled! From the human side it was of course very sad and disturbing to see what happeend to JT Mcnamara and i am sure I wasn't the only one who felt disticntly uncomfortabkle watching Mick Fitzgerald describing the desolation one goes through in the aftermath if such an injury. Although it was handled as sensitively as possible in the circumstances it still felt like we were intruding on personal grief. Thoughts and prayers are with him.
My highlight of the week has to be Bobs Worth taking the gold cup. Was at the Hennessy at newbury and as soon as he won that day i said he would win the gold cup. Been telling every man and his dog to back him this week too so glad he didnt make me look silly!
I wonder if the form of the Triumph won't work out to be anything special. Don't get me wrong he was ridiculously impressive but The New One won easily enough against the so called best horse in Ireland and Rule the World who Mouse Morris has said he thinks is better than First Lieutenant. The front 4 in the market are the Fly, MTOY, Our Conor and The New One. If they all make it it'll be some race!
i had an absolutely cracking festival this year. i didn't enter any betting competitions and just swapped daily selections with a mate. i saw all yours on here and my splattergun approach didn't fit any of them what i thought was good about this year was that it was unpredictable with a lot of big odds winners. i only ever have each way selections so the odds of all my picks are naturally bigger than 6/1. some of mine were 50/1 but i didn't scrub them. that turned out to be a good move as big priced winners and places came in all week and made my most successful festival yet. while i miss kauto star/denman etc (kauto's entrance in the parade ring wasn't really covered for more than a few seconds), this year i cheered on much younger and lesser known horses. and even if my horse wasn't the winner there were some really heartwarming victories including hurricane fly and cue card, plus some lesser yards' horses. and not least a super week for brian cooper, really pleased for him. and my heart went out to jane mangan, but she has youth on her side so she'll get another chance. and very bad news about jt macnamara, willing him a good recovery, and davy russell as well. i hope everyone enjoyed the festival. it's only my 6th i've watched all the way through live, except the tv went offline just before the QMCC and i had to watch it in tiny window replay later although i forget individual races and which horse won, i've had a storming week i should have put all my picks on here but thought i wasn't good enough. i seem to have a bit more experience now though, so next year..
