24/04/2010

Boxing: €21.35 | Horse Racing: €400.63 Total P&L: €421.98

Well.. I've had worse days. Thats the last two days actually, but I've had this uncanny luck/timing of being in the right place at the right time..

Ruby called Hangover as not travelling on the ground when held up at the back, seemly still on the bridle I was following him around purely because Ruby had highlighted him, he came into odds on in the place market turning in when placed in around 10th - 12th, the odds on lay I wouldnt normally get on ATR either. Same thing happened with Hold The Pin in that race too, cant speak highly enough of Rubs this week, hes been nothing short of fantastic, called Denman as beaten passing the stands first time and called Twist Magic as not starting before they were even close to coming under orders.

Then I was following Dunguib around, christ he really pulled like a train, caught him for an odds on lay in the place market too. Er, you know, its hard to judge him because he was so free, I reckon I'll just forget about the run and come back to him next year and see, its very hard for a novice against the older horses too. I'm probably being harsh too when I say this but I'd put one of the top jocks on him now after Punchestown, I dont think the jockey did a single thing wrong at Cheltenham or Punchestown, but having said that, whens the last time you seen a horse pull himself from 4th last to 3rd place with Ruby/Paul/Davy/Barry. I cant remember it happening anyway, horses arent robots I know you cant switch them off but you know the top boys seem to do it better than the rest, maybe its time for a stronger jockey if hes going to pull like that. Its being harsh on O'Connell but sure it is what it is, only my opinion.

The race after I was following Dr Whizz around, only because I backed him E/W in the shops, near the back, he was jumping absolutely terrible, I'd wrote off my bet, yet he was still odds on in the place market too. I think I only got all these lays in because of RTE, not normally bets I get matched on ATR, 7sec late to see it too I suppose. Had word for Mullins in the last (like half the bleedin' country!) and he was so free with Paddy it was unreal, I remember the last time I got word like that was for Arvika Ligeonniere in Fairyhouse and he was beaten too but look how good hes turned out to be, probably one to keep an eye on that bumper horse, they dont get big reps down there for nothing and he pulled so hard he nigh on had no chance from the word go.

Then today theres been a fierce amount of stupid money knocking around in the place market, Sandown and Punchestown, horses in 7th/8th going backwards still freely available at 3ish/4ish to lay. Paul Nicholas had a horse called Martys Mission, he must of been in around no better than 8th at the time (4 to place) and someone wanted to back him at 1.2, Hardy Eustace got me a few quid too when I seen what the jockey was like!

All in all you know, just been in exactly the right place at the right time, normally I'd be watching the whole race almost looking for stuff to happen, just pure luck to be following a certain horse at a certain time. Plus the huge advantage of RTE pictures obviously, it does make a difference, going forward I've decided to give up ATR and focus on RUK, taking in ATR just purely for the Irish racing because I know horses so well from going racing you know, given up national hunt pre-off and English racing pre-off now, except when Ballydoyle horses run over there.

So far this has been my best week in ages and I've worked maybe a third of the hours I'd normally do, so maybe the 'less is more' approach in the way forward. Concentrate on Irish racing, RUK in running, boxing, cricket and GAA when it starts back, and forget the rest.

No craic at the cricket today though, Bangalore innings SP was 1.02! I've read all the storys about the match fixing and as always I'm skeptical about what the media says, but I dont think its fixed to be honest. Not sure if anyone remembers, its a couple of years ago now, but remember the ICL final? It was put into a best of three series, I cant exactly remember the teams, I think Lahore may have been one of them. Anyway, they won the first game to go 1-0 up, then funnily enough by pure coincidence they were posted the exact same total for the 2nd and 3rd game to chase. In the 2nd game (the match allegedly fixed), they were in the 1.8s to chase it, they lost. Then, in the 3rd game, the straight game, they were in the 1.2s to chase it (the proper price), they won. Watch this..!


That 1.8 game was the first "fixed" game I can remember being involved in betting, I remember it purely for all the fuss and bother of the price being so wrong. And as someone who bets on nigh on every IPL game, I cant remember a price being so far off that its fishy. Alright, its a bit off now and then, but nothing thats too mad. You know, we had a footie game from Italy and the 1-1 draw went off at evens, the Davydenko match when the odds went the wrong way to what was happening when Betfair voided. You can always nearly tell by the market when somethings up, and I cant remember an IPL market like that. I mean, theyre all mad, and shite, you know if were going to bring in every stupid shot or dropped catch sure we'd have thousands of players to question. I cant speak for Indian bookies but with 10 million going through Betfair every match you'd think it'd filter through somehow, it normally does when somethings up.

You have the blokes who set off the explosive in Bangalore last week and they had to move the finals, you had the terrorist threat last year and they had to move to Safferland, you have Modi whos brought huge sums of money into the game and India being center stage, youre bound to have a few haters and seethers. You have the age old saying of 'theres no smoke without fire' alright but, I think the "its a fix" angle is way overused in sport today, you know go onto the Betfair forum after every race and "its a fix, he wasnt trying." Go onto the football forum, United or Liverpool given a stone wall penalty and "its a fix, the refs want them to win." Phil Taylor loses a match and he isnt trying. Federer loses a match and he isnt trying. Tiger loses and hes thinking about sex. The list goes on and on, its laughable at this stage, you laugh at punters who scream fix because its like the boy who cried wolf now.

Anyway, Pro40 back tomorrow, boom! The exam went well this morning too, getting up early on a Saturday is minus craic though, looking forward to settling down for the night, still five to go for the next two weeks. Few Ballydoyle horses running tomorrow, but I'm not backing any, nothing really to get jiggy about, although its poor enough racing they might have a chance, the 2yo's havent worked on grass yet so if they win they'd be pretty smart, I'd be surprised if anything won but sure we'll see. (Cue a treble, listen Rishi..)