It was damp and pretty grim up at Wincanton on Thursday, but those that did turn up were treated to some decent action out on the turf. There were some shrewdies around the racecourse, professional punter Alan Francis, still looking for the outsized bins he lost at Fontwell was here. Not specifically looking for his bins but I'm sure would still like them back. Down in the ring the bookmakers didn't report any bets of note in the opener. That was a little surprising as the winner, Harry Derham's No No Tango having his first run for the yard with Patrick Mullins on board had an obvious chance and duly obliged winning at even money. Incidentally, my good mate and form book guru Andrew Mount tells me that Harry does particularly well first time of asking with horses from other yards, particularly in handicaps. It often literally pays to take note of what Andrew says when it comes to stats.
Punters did come out into the rain to have it on Harry Fry's Star Walking in the second heat, bets of £1600 - £2000 three times plus a £800 - £1000 were struck down in the ring. Confidence was evidently high among some punters prior to the race but they would have needed rings of steel during it, especially if they'd had their Christmas money on, responsibly of course. They did collect, but only by a scrambled home head with Jonathan Burke at his strongest to thwart 10/1 and aptly named Game Colours close home. Neil Mulholland's JP McManus owned Jongleur d'Etoiles won considerably easier in the next, he had been an 8/1 chance but returned 11/2 so it seems someone 'knew' but if they did, no racecourse bookmakers were scathed to any meaningful sums.
Did you know that offspring of the sire Golden Horn have a good record of success after a wind operation? No, me neither until that man Mounty marked my card that they do. That was his reasoning we should give Paul Nicholls' hitherto costly to follow Golden Move, recently wind-opped son of the sire Golden Horn, another chance here today. His reasoning was correct, Golden Move rewarded backers to the tune of 9/2 by winning a length from the 9/4 favourite Jour d'Evasion. Mind you, his supporters got their money's worth with a heart in mouth moment at the last where Freddie Gingell might have wished he was wearing Velcro strides when almost coming it, luckily his jockey skills saw him stay on board to win. Nobody wants horses to fall but truth be told, the punters who had a brace of £900 - £400 bets the runner up down in the ring might have taken their luck had Freddie not managed to sit quite so tight. There were no noted bets in the next apart from £300 on Sherborne at 11/4 though we were treated to a ding dong battle between Poppa Pountine and Pachacuti. The latter had been backed down to 11/4 favourite for a David Pipe victory but was beaten a neck at the line by 15/2 chance Poppa Poutine for Nigel Twiston-Davies under Sam of the same surname. One rails bookmaker was seen leaving the course shortly afterwards, you can assume he'd got his whack and was happy to take the money and run, well walk dragging the kit but you know what I mean.
He did well to take his leave when he did, Robert Walford's Caeruleum did the business at 2/1 in the Penultimate under Harry Kimber in emphatic fashion though business in the ring had dried up so badly that other bookmakers had decided to follow their early bathing brethren and leg it. That number included number one on the rails which tells you. In the old days 'Pickfords' would have swung into action with bookmakers moving up to better positions, not these days, it was a bit easier when the firms just had a field-book and tripod to shift. I do keep my ear to the ground so I can pass any info on to my clients in hospitality boxes at Exeter and here at Wincanton prior to racing. The tip in the lucky last bumper was Owen Burrow's Marhaba Prince, it was 14/1 when I was told it, but a 3/1 chance when betting opened. One bookmaker laid a bottle at the price, elsewhere in the ring there was money for Harry Fry's Trustintimes, bets struck included a monkey and rouf at 9/4 dwarfed by a late £4500 - £2000. As the field set off it was almost dark out on course, the photographers that remained were joking that they'd need their infrared lenses, due to the wonders of modern technology things looked a lot brighter on the big screen.
You could see with your own eyes Marhaba Prince doing the business in style under James Davies from Precious Metal. Someone somewhere had it spark bang off. You love to see it. The winner had been weak on course despite that solitary bottle bet so the racecourse layers appear to have got away with it again. That concluded an excellent day on the turf. I'm back tomorrow at Exeter. If you enjoy these blogs and don't have account with the bookmakers below, maybe take them up on their offers an give them a spin. Thanks for reading.
Simon Nott
18+ | BeGambleAware.org