I thought I'd share this story on the forum as it reflects what I believe to be a unique camaraderie and friendship within NH racing and I also hope some of you will find it a pleasant diversion. This is gospel truth and happened to me today in Birmingham Airport. Some of you will have read about my travel difficulties today, and I only recount them here briefly to portray the mood I was in as I entered the bar at Birmingham Airport. I should have been on a flight at 8.20 this morning from Birmingham to Dusseldorf, quick change there to a flight to Berlin and that's me home and hosed with my feet up ready for the first race of the day. Little did I know. As we headed to the airport just after sunrise we headed through fog patches of varying density before reaching the airport in the archetypal "pea-souper". Undeterred, I reasoned that my aircraft would have landed yesterday evening so they should be no touble getting out. Wrong. The inbound aircraft couldn't land, my flight was canclled and I was rebooked onto the 1.20pm flight to Frankfurt and then on to Berlin. I would miss the racing but decided to have a few bets online during the morning to pass the time. Whilst queuing to check in for my flight at around midday I received a call from Lufthansa, telling me that in fact I wasn't booked on the 1.20 to Frankfurt and would I like to be booked on the 3.40 via Brussells and then onto Berlin. Having little choice I accepted and headed off to the bar for a few pints to lift my very dark mood. So there we are, I'm sinking ice cold pints of Budweiser, drinking away hangover that Nass and stick had helped me acquire in the Guinness Village yesterday and getting ready to ask the waitress to flick the TV from Sky News to Channel 4 in preparation for the racing. The bar was pretty empty, but then 2 middle-aged blokes came and sat at the next table and, in a heavy Irish accent, asked said waitress to change said TV channel. I walked across and asked the lads if I might join them and we shared tales of the last 2 days punting, the lads obviously having had quite a session last night as one was on black coffee and the other on J2O. Channel 4 started showing the replay of the races run after they went off air yesterday, and when they showed the finish of the Fred Winter, one of the lads pulled a crumpled tote betting slip out of his pocket and says "Jaysus I was f**king pissed when I put this on yesterday, what come of it?" I scanned the slip and it showed the following: 10 e/w Hawk High 10 e/w Orgilgo Bay Total stake 40 I nearly dropped my pint. "That Hawk High won at 33/1" I spluttered, and suddenly things got very serious. They had about 3 hours to their departure and the lad is reading the terms and conditions on the back of the slip. "Winnings can be claimed at any Bet Fred bookmakers". Quick as a shot he declared he was off to the bookies in a taxi and watch his bag while he gets back. As he had backed it on the Billy Goat, I phoned my mate to find out what the win dividend was - 55 QUID !!! An hour later our hero returns, 645 quid richer and having left a smiling taxi driver on the concourse, who had double-parked the whole time that the dozy staff in Bet Fred called head office to authorise the payment. He'd nearly thrown the slip away, thinking it a loser and only the fact that the replay showed on the TV caused him to have a final check of the result. What a blinder. I was pissing myself laughing for about an hour and it certainly made me forget my travel blues. Great stuff.
Haha that's brilliant. Luck of the Irish! It was a pleasure to meet you yesterday squire. A repeat may have to be on the cards for next year! Just to put the drinking into perspective I think we need to blame Brandon. It was his idea that if I tipped losers we drank Guinness and if I tipped winners we drank Cider!
Nice story oddy.would have been nice to have sinked a few jars with you yday chief but was stuck ind best mate stand with the fake tan brigade.great two days and I'll be back next year.
Brilliant sits up there nicely with Donegal Dave's recollection of an idiot telling him that Ruby was taking backhanders from the bookies to throw a couple of races (God knows what he must have been like after the world hurdle!) and that Balthazar King would win the gold cup.
Pleasure to meet you too stick, fecking brilliant time down there in the Guiness village. I was ****-faced haven't been that drunk for a long time
Great story Oddy and what a nice surprise/shock that chap got. Reminds me a little of us at the 2004 festival where my mate backed his namesake,Master Albert in the bumper and chucked his slip away at the end of the bar in the Club Enclosure,unaware that his selection had ran on well to snatch a place.I informed him that it had finished third at and so the six of us,completely plastered,started the hunt ankle deep in the days detritus.Albert remembered that he had removed his chewing gum with the slip which was a crucial lead.We found it some 10 minutes later all stuck together but valid..a score e/w on Master Albert @ 50/1. Makes you wonder as to the extent of unclaimed winning bets floating around the planet.
Fantastic story and I take it because of your 2nd delay you were also able to see some of the racing yesterday as well!
