Hi guys. I caught up with an old friend recently who I hadn't seen for the best part of 3 years. The reason I bring this up is that he was still keen to point out - and give me aggro - the dream I had about a certain horse winning at the Cheltenham Festival. Cast your mind back to March 2007. It was the Sunday before the Festival. For the whole of the Winter leading up to it I had been adamant that Katchit only had to turn up to win the Triumph Hurdle. I had a few small bets on him but nothing major antepost. Anyway, that Sunday evening I went to bed as usual, hadn't been drinking (unusually!!) and I had an extremely clear dream about the Triumph Hurdle, more importantly, I dreamt that Degas Art absolutely murdered them!! I can still picture in my head good old Degas Art in those Wylie black and gold silks coming home unchallenged with me at the winning post rubbing I grubby little mist together, smugness personified!! With the dream clear in my head the following morning, I proceeded to place my then usual large Lucky 15 (It was Cheltenham week after all!!). I chose Voy Por Ustedes in the Queen Mother at 6/1, Inglis Drever in the World Hurdle at 5/1, Degas Art at 9/1 in the Triumph and my banker, Kauto Star in the Gold Cup at 5/4. Anyway, VPU won, ID won - so far, so good - I piled onto DA in the Triumph (much more than I normally would), lo and behold, Katchit, the horse I had told anyone who would listen, that it would win over the months preceding the Festival. Bloody DA finished well beaten obviously. My cast iron belief that Katchit would win had been shaken by a dream!! Of course, KS won - to rub it in I guess (yes I know, not logical as I was still winning) - and I had a great return from the Lucky 15 but that 'dream' steered me away from a huge sum of money and it still stings a little almost 8 years later!! So, a question - have you ever been unlucky enough to have a similar dream. Alternatively, have you ever been lucky enough to have a dream that came true regarding a race, resulting in a nice win? Your experiences please guys.
I have only ever once dreamed a race. Can't remember the names now but as far as I recall the horse that won in the dream never won a race and I'm pretty sure the first 2 never even ran against each other. Fascinating
I do remember once having a very lucid dream about racing in which I saw a horse pulling clear on the all weather in the final furlong in silks of thin claret and blue vertical stripes, it was so lucid that for the next week I checked the racing post for these silks every day but found nothing even like them. I am fully expecting a deja vu moment one day when watching the TV and seeing the scene play out for a second time. Knowing my luck it will be surging past the one I had just backed. There is a phenomena that I can relate however which happens now and again when you just are for some strange reason completely certain that a horse will win, something more than a fancy and often related to a horse or a race you would have little interest in, it's almost as though it just jumps out of the paper to you. I have had this around 3 times and each time it has won. No explanation for it and likely just a coincidence but the sense of certainty does feel strange.
Well drever, in the winter of 1999 I found myself in Australia chasing the dream (but that's another story) and whilst staying in Perth I had this really vivid dream of a horse race with a lot of fanfare. It was an amazingly clear dream and when I woke up in the morning I had this crystal clear memory of the race and I knew that it had been won by a horse with a French name carrying the number 3. Being an addicted gambler I sought out the local bookies that morning and strode up to the counter and enquired if there was a big race taking place that weekend. Of course there was. The bookie supplied me with the card of runners and riders and sod me number three in the race had a French name. Of course I cant recall it now, La Vie En something or other. God had given me a gift so I lumped fifty bucks each way on this nag at a big price. I was certain this was going to win. To my astonishment the French named nag although running well was only about 6th or 7th. I tore my slip up and vowed never to be led by such nonsense again. I returned home to good old blighty and on the way home from the Airport even managed to write my car off in the snow. As I stood looking at the crumpled wreck that I had wrapped around a telegraph pole a gritting lorry came by and showered me with grit and salt. My did I think I was cursed. A few weeks later I was leafing through the Racing Post and something in the results section caught my eye. La Vie En Summatorother had that weekend won the big race down under, the Derby or Oaks whatever it was, at a mind boggling 33-1...! I kid you not. So my dream did actually come true but in typical Stick fashion I had dived in too soon! Maybe cyclonic can add some meat to the bones of this story. The race it won would have been Jan 2000. I have never dreamt about a race again since! How bizarre can this life be........
I've been lucky enough to have a fairly regular dream involving Rebecca Curtis. Unluckily the misses' snoring has woke me up before the the final furlong so never found out what happened.
I used to have dreams about Gee Armytage about twenty years ago... but that was a different type of riding...
Only slightly off-topic ..... In early 1978, The Sun ran a competition based around the Grand National, using a computer to decide the result, and punters could actually bet on the result of the computer race with a particular betting shop chain (not sure who) This was an age where the word "computer" had a bit of mystery about it and micro-computers were still 5 years away for the general public. Anyway, they published a field containing 40 previous winners, and gave the form read-outs of each horse, the going, the weight it carried on the day it won, and the weight it would be carrying in the computer race. I spent 4 evenings after work, studying into the early hours (no internet, remember) and the last night, I went to sleep pondering this race, and woke up, still pondering it, and felt as if I'd been thinking about it all night! But there could only be one winner as I saw it - Red Rum - and even though I wasn't earning much in those days, and paying out for a divorce and alimony to G1, while G2 was already pregnant, so more expense on the way - I just had to back my selection. You couldn't take a price as bets would be settled at SP and I stuck a tenner on Rummy. Small beer I know, but given my circumstances it was critical that I didn't lose! I only earned around £25 a week and would have had to explain to either one of the Mrs Reebs, (G1 or G2) why I had no money! The following morning's Sun, carried the result - Rummy by 8 lengths at 3-1, and I can't remember the placings for sure but I think Highland Wedding was in there. They gave a full race resume of placings right through the field, including which ones fell or were pulled up. Woooooahhhh right there ... fell? Pulled up? How was that determined then? It seems that a random factor programmed into the computer decided that. And I certainly wouldn't have been risking what little dosh I had if I'd known in advance!! So, a certain loss of sleep, no dream as such and a happy outcome. Now - about Saturday's Betfair - I'm off to nosh some cheese
Stick, the best I can find with any French connection is Belle Du Jour. She won the Golden Slipper in 2000.
Which leads me on to another question... Racing totty?! For me, Lydia Hislop - the woman could breast feed a crèche!! Venetia Williams gets an honourable mention too!!
Not horses but i'll share anyway - I used to work at Wembley and the night before the 1990 FA Cup final between man united and Palace I dreamt I had over slept and turned up at the stadium just as the game was finished. My supervisor said "you'll have to come back on Thursday anyway as it was a draw - 3-3." I duly had a fiver on 3-3 at 100/1 on the morning of the match - the dream was right but unfortunately the supervisor never told me it was 2-2 after 90 minutes so I lost the bet!
Going back to 2008, I was at the Festival with the same friend who kindly reminds me of my dream and he had a similar thing happen to him. He had an awful day betting wise - among other things, he smashed into Kauto Star but history shows 'The Tank' destroyed him - this was the year when the Wednesday was cancelled due to a marquee being blown over so the races were compressed into the Thursday and Friday. Anyway, the bloke couldn't pick his nose that afternoon and so it came down to the County Hurdle to get him out of a pretty deep hole. Without studying any form or even knowing the horses name he declared, slightly drunk by this time - and I quote: "F**k it, the day can't get any f*****g worse, I'm doing £50 on number 13." I told him he was stupid and tried to convince him otherwise as he had 'picked' 50/1 outsider Silver Jaro who I suggested would struggle to even place. Wingman at 10/1 was a much safer option in my opinion. He walked up to the nearest bookie in the Best Mate enclosure and asked if he could pay out on the bet if it came in (the bookie had a sign stating something like 'Payouts up to £1,000' on his pitch), the bookie accepted the £50 win bet on the 50/1 outsider. Of course, Wingman went out like a light and Silver Jaro obliged under Noel Fehily, helping my friend cover his whole outlay for the week - pretty good night out in Chelts after too!! Sometimes picking the winner is down to pure luck or a feeling I guess?
My dreams have nothing to with horses either. Sometimes while half asleep, I wonder if I'm actually in the dunny having a slash, or dreaming I'm in the dunny having a slash. Then I start to panic. Am I really in the toilet? Or am I asleep in bed and having a pee, and thinking that I'm in the house of wee? As Master Zhuang once said. he didn't know whether he was a man dreaming that he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming he was Zhuangzi the philosopher.
I sense a Uri Gellar experiment coming on and I am not talking cutlery bothering. What we need do is find a maiden so that no one can have any recollection or familiarity of the horse, then cover all betting guides and trainer or jockey info so that you are purely left with names, then see if a horse jumps out at you. We then collate what we have and see if anyone is showing signs of being a mystic meg. Right here goes no info, just names, who wins? put your selections underneath, preferably before even reading others selections. Lady Cooper Chicago Girl Coinsisach El Dem I Emiest Rose Inishmacateer Jesmond Lodge Little Sparrow Sar Oiche Tirghra
Not a dream per se, but in 1996, I headed to Cheltenham full of optimism as you do. The previous year had been my best ever as I had had the heads up about Alderbrook before its 1st run and had backed him all year at 50s, 40s, 33s, 25s - lets just say I won a small fortune. Anyway, back to 96 - headed to Chelts full of optimism and had already had several large ante-posts on horses I have long forgotten about, and as we approached the track we tuned into the festival radio - for some reason they were interviewing an old lucky heather seller, and asked her for any tips. She told them that in gypsy folklore, any horse that goes to the festival with form figires of 1st 2nd 3rd and 4th in its previous 4 races were the horses to be on, and this year there was only 1 horse with this form - Star Rage. This caught my attention, as I had backed the horse last time out (when it won) but hadn't even considered it for Cheltenham. Tuesday and Wednesday were absolute disaster, not a single winner as the Irish cleaned up. By Thursday I was really chasing my money and my pockets were emptying at an alarming rate, and after the 3rd race (and still no winner) I was all but skint, down to my last £20 and had to borrow £20 off my boss to get me through the day. But then lady luck took a shine to me. Took a trip to the on track bookies (Corals) and noticed Dettori has 2 rides on the all weather so did them both in a £2.50 trixie with Elegant Lord in the foxhunters - All 3 won 3/1, 7/2 & 11/4 and I was back in business - A nice £300 return, but still well well down. £50 win on Kibreet @ 7/1 handsomely riden by AP and I was smiling again. Was in a box at the time, and Champagne and Guiness (awful mixture) were starting to take there toll (I have long since learnt never to bet when drunk)- so onto the last race - really didn't know what to back but remembered the radio interview so asked my boss who was heading to the tote windowto put £20 on Star Rage - Went down to watch the race and must have forgotten about the bet I had just asked my gaffer to place, as I had another £20 tote bet on the way down. Also had various forecasts (really can't remember what came 2nd) and another £30 with a bookie. Needless to say, Star Rage won, one of my forecasts also came in. 16/1 on the boards but a hell of a lot more on the tote - I was so pissed that I had forgotten all about it till the next morning - my boss called and asked how much I had won - quickly searching through my trouser pockets (on crumpled heap on the floor) I was pulling out notes in bundles - Counting it quickly, I let him know i had over £2.5k in my pockets - He then informed me that he had £500 of mine from the bet he had placed and collected for me - So from £20 and down and out to £3k in the last hour of the festival.
