It was Tuesday and pretty busy at Salisbury today where the crowds enjoyed the racing in sunshine. Having said that, those in shorts and light shirts would have been put away by the cold wind which was quite nippy when the sun ducked behind a cloud for a bit. There were some faces in evidence on course including old school Alan Potts and 'Deaf' Paul, both pro-punters as well as my old mate Armaloft Alex and a plethora of racing writers in what was a busy press room. Out in the betting ring the layers looked busy. Bookmaker Jamie McNab who trades under the name of his late father Danny had sponsored the first race, which split so got two for the price of one. The bookmakers do like a bit of value. He'd have been happy with the results too, 11/1 chance Ardennes won the first division for Ed Walker under Tom Marquand then 10/3 chance Arabian Sun won the second under Richard Kingscote for Clive Cox chinning the 8/11 favourite Stratusnine and Oisin Murphy on the line. Don't feel too sorry to Oisin though, he bagged a treble with the last three winners of the day Leicester Square at 4/1, Quietness at 5/2 and Regal Envoy at 11/4f.
There was a good atmosphere on course, even better when Armaloft's greyhound won at Oxford, tipped up at 2/1 to everyone who'd listen to him. Aye Aye. To celebrate and say thank you I offered him an ice cream, our man likes an ice cream so joined me at the stall opposite the Weighing Room. I order a double scoop of coconut, was slightly surprised to see it served in a tub rather than a cone but tucked in rather than complain. Alex, a connoisseur of tasty ices asked if he could have his in a cone, the seller replied that he could but that would be a nicker extra, well that was a first, a tub it was then, a quid extra for a cone, have a word. We ate them in the betting shop, while we were there we were listening to the dulcet tones of Ken Pitterson giving William Hill radio the lowdown on how the horses for the next looked in the paddock. The funny thing was, we could see Ken on the phone talking, there was a fair old delay so it was like watching a really badly dubbed 70's Kung Fu film, puerile I know but it kept us entertained and our minds off missing a cone for a bit.
Down in the betting ring, the sponsors of the first Danny McNab had none other than Stephen Little working on their joint, I don't think they were expecting the sort of bets that he'd have laid in his heyday but he seemed to be enjoying it. There were some decent bets flying about, one rails layer informed me of £2500 - £500 each-way Ashen and £10,000 - £500 each-way Pappa Louis in the first . £2000 - £500 Yala in the second and £1000 - £300 Revenue and £2700 - £450 each-way Match Anthem in the third. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you can't get on, come racing. If you've not been to Salisbury, it's a must visit track. My next horseracing blogs won't be as truncated as this one, I'll be at Royal Ascot with Star Sports, writing my betting ring blogs every day so need to dust off my top hat.
Before that, it's off to Towcester for the Star Sports Greyhound Derby Quarter Finals....
Simon Nott
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