Outsiders – Al Muheer and Terimon
On Saturday, Clive Brittain won one of the televised races at Ascot with Al Muheer.
The horse was at a price of 40-1, so the bookies were very happy, as at those odds few would have backed it, although there was some support in the forums on the web.
But I didn’t back it!
Unlike in 1989, when Terimon was second in the Derby at 500-1. I had ten pounds each way! So I trousered over £1000.
So if nothing else the trainer has form.
I actually saw Terimon perform his last piece of work before that Derby on Newmarket Heath. Everybody thought it was good and that horse was in good form. But did he really have the form to do well in the Derby. The owner, Lady Beaverbrook, wanted a horse in England’s most famous race and Clive had promised her that he’d beat more than beat him. I think it is true to say, that the jockey, Michael Roberts, rode him intelligently to get the best place possible and in the end he was a fairly easy second, without troubling the great Nashwan.
Terimon went on to win several races in the highest classes and looking back he was just beaten in his first race of 1989 by Braiswick, who was probably the best filly that year.
20/20 hindsight is a great thing!
As an aside to this one, my son was working in the city at the time and managed to persuade a bookie to give him 1,000-1 each-way. He bought a new suit on the proceeds. It was also the first bet of one of the secretaries where he worked.
The Advantages of European Time
I was at Newmarket Races last night and got chatting to a friend about one of my beefs with the UK; the fact that we don’t have the same time as most of the UK.
To take a narrow view, horse racing would benefit enormously, in that with longer evenings, there would be a much longer time, when evening meetings would be viable. As they would generally be an hour later, there would be much more time to finish work and come racing, so it would be likely that current evening meetings would benefit. Not that last night wasn’t a large crowd!
Now if racing would benefit, so would lots of other outdoor activities and sports, from just walking in the park to playing a game of golf. I also think that some sports like football, where they use floodlights would benefit financially as they wouldn’t need to be used so much. Aren’t we supposed to be saving energy?
There is always the argument that more children would get injured going to school in the dark. This is wrong, as when we didn’t put the clocks forward in the winter of 1968-69, the number actually went down, as most accidents occur after school and then it was light. Incidentally, I worked at ICI at the time, and the worst thing that happened was that people left their lights on when they parked after driving to work. Cars warn you now!
And there is the argument about farmers not wanting to get up in the dark. I have kept horses for years and you do a lot of the work according to the sun and not the clock. All my farmer friends are the same and don’t care at all what the clock says.
So is the real reason, we don’t have European time, the fact that if we did, the tabloids would say that we are cow-towing to the wishes of the EU. Bollocks!
You will note I have not said anything about the international advantages of being on the same time as Europe. They are so overwhelming, I’ve not bothered.
Status Quo at Newmarket
I went to Newmarket Races last night and after racing Status Quo performed.
Status Quo at Newmarket
They were very good. Strangely they are not a band that I’ve followed, which was probably because I was at Liverpool University in the 1960s and tended to follow the bands I’d seen there.
It was interesting to note that Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt got together in 1967. That means that they have been a partnership longer than I was married to my late wife, who I met coincidentally early in the same year.
It’s almost sad for me!
My Racehorse in Training
I went to see my racehorse that is in training with Chris Wall at Newmarket this morning.
Oratorio Filly
She is a filly by Oratorio, out of a Sadlers Wells mare. That is pretty good breeding. She was actually bought in-utero by my late wife in 2006.
But as with all racehorses, it is very much a matter of chance, not breeding, that she will be any good on the racecourse.
Richard Dunwoody Finishes
At 2:20 in the afternoon today on the July racecourse in Newmarket, Richard Dunwoody finished his heroic walk.
Richard Dunwoody Finishes
This is the moment when he crossed the line. Richard is in the white t-shirt behind the guy in the blue shirt. Lester Piggott is on his left in the grey suit.
Interviewed by the Press
I hope that the public have been generous in their donations.
Newmarket July Meeting – Day 3
Perhaps we might have better luck today.
- 13:30 – Crackdown, Montashem
- 14:00 – Big Audio, Emperor Claudius
- 14:35 – Al Khaleej, Captain Brilliance
- 15:10 – J J The Jet Plane, Paco Boy, Scenic Blast
- 15:45 – Bella Swan, Larehaan, Silent Secret
- 16:20 – Rock of Love, Master of Dance
I lost again.
This time two legs failed.
Hayley Turner
It is great to see Hayley Turner back riding after the injuries she received on the gallops.
She is a seriously good jockey, who last year rode 100 winners in a year. This is something that few jockeys do in long careers and it is something no lady jockey has done.
But Hayley is also almost unique in that she is a top class athlete, who is a coeliac. I’m one too. We’re all proud of you Hayley!
Walking With Richard Dunwoody
I should say that at the moment, I’m to use a horse term, lame.
I trod on a razorshell on Holkham Beach and the doctor had to remove it. Because of the discomfort, I’ve been holding my lower leg muscles tight and now they’ve all seized up.
Yesterday, I contributed to Richard Dunwoody’s 1000 Mile Charity fund and felt that it would be a good idea to go and support him and perhaps walk a mile.
Richard Dunwoody on the Bury Road
As I suspected it would, my leg did seize up badly, but I did finish.
I asked Richard whether on not he would do this again. He said that it was very boring doing the same half mile of the Bury Road! At least he’s less than twenty four hours to go.
It was all rather poignant for me, in that my late wife used to swim and run every morning from the Bedford Lodge Hotel. If she had still been with us, she would have probably done two miles with Richard every morning.
I’ll be seeing Richard again, when he completes the walk by walking down the racecourse this afternoon.
There’s still time to contribute.
Newmarket July Meeting – Day 2
Today is the second day of the Newmarket July Meeting. I’m not going, but I’m still doing the PlacePot.
- 13:30 – Kite Wood, Free Agent
- 14:00 – Arcano, Orpen Grey
- 14:35 – Class is Class, Firebet, Aqwaal
- 15:10 – Duncan, Campanogist
- 15:45 – Sabii Sands, Swilly Ferry, Farmer Giles
- 16:20 – Cloudy Start, Loch Linnie
Let’s hope I do better than yesterday.
I didn’t!
I only got the 15:10 wrong, but that was spectacularly wrong in that my selections filled the last two places.
Newmarket July Meeting – Day 1
Today is the first day of the Newmarket July Meeting. The weather won’t be as nice as it has been, but I think I’ll take the Lotus.
Here’s my PlacePot for the day.
- 13:30 – Cumana Bay, Balaagha
- 14:00 – Shamwari Lodge, Run for the Hill
- 14:35 – Capercaillie, Habaayib
- 15:10 – Goldikova, Spacious, Rainbow View
- 15:45 – Emerald Commander, Liquid Asset
- 16:20 – Beauchamp Xerxes, Manifest, Reportage
My late wife was a dab hand at PlacePots! Over a year she always won something.
I’ll post the honest results later.
- 13:30 – 1 place
- 14:00 – Nothing
- 14:35 – Nothing
- 15:10 – 2 places
- 15:45 – Nothing
- 16:20 – 1 place
A complete disaster.
But then if I’d got it right I’d have won £1965.20 for a pound stake. As I only bet at 10 pence a line, this would mean I’d have won £196.52 for each one. These are very high dividends as a lot of the placed horses were outsiders.
I’ll try again tomorrow.
The Anonymous Widower 