Desert Rats? I'll have you know that long ago, in a time since lost in the fog of history, there once occurred a titanic battle between those of the hunt persuasion and the intrepid supporters of the art of sand racing. It was a tipping contest the likes of which had never been seen. Pitted against one another were some of the biggest names in the annuls of racing. With the series tied at one rubber a piece, battle lines were drawn for the deciding show down. With the odds well and truly stacked against them coming into the last day of the third challenge, the brilliant Desert Rats decided to lump almost all their selections on a horse called Desperate Dan, an animal from memory, chosen by the genius NassauBoard. The hunt players were an utter rabble when it came to the crunch. They sprayed their selections around like a farmer feeding chooks, they had no hope.
The showdown came on 1 March 2010 at wonderful Wolverhampton, one of the most beautiful race courses God has ever had the grace to design. Going to the start stalls the aging warrior Desperate Dan, ridden by Neil Callan, one of the finest horsemen ever to throw a leg across a saddle, was largely despised in the betting ring. There was 8-1 everywhere. The punters, most of them idiots, threw great wads at Ingleby Star which saw him start at 8-13. The Rats needed Dan to win if they were to put those grubby hunt supports firmly back where they belonged...among their erstwhile friends, the pig farmers. Needless to say, the aging Desperate Dan came with a wet sail to win as he liked. Never again will the hunt lads and lasses be able to point a derisive, muddy digit at the sand supporters, for they have been tested in the heat of battle and not been found wanting, which is more than can be said for those who follow the plodders that only just pass for racehorses.
