Having watched the first day on the telly I decided to get out of the house and go down to Ascot today. I got into my posh gear and headed down fairly late – I missed the first race but I had a decent bet on the winner before I left. I had Aqlaam down as one to follow throughout the season, but for some reason when I did my blog last night I talked myself out of it. I saw sense this morning and got the day off to a good start.
I decided to hole out in the Betfair box, which had an unusually aristocratic feel to it today – more Lords than you could shake a stick at with the odd Viscount thrown in. I had a chat with Guy and Ben Sangster – both had heard that Duke of Marmalade was a serious good thing. I emptied my whole account on to him, which should have made for a good day but I got a reckless later on and gave too much of it back.
Lydia Hyslop was there with her father, and I got chatting with her. The whole Cole family came in for a while. I spoke to Jimmy George from Tattersalls, the chairman of Fasig-Tipton and a director of Weatherbys.
On the way out I bumped into Dave Nevison who was on the phone to the owner of Flashmans Papers. He told me that Flashmans Papers would take his chance in the Norfolk. I said we had Skid Solo running, drawn 15 of 15. He said that Flashmans was 13 of 15 but would be next to us as Mullionmileanhour was in 14 and was going to be withdrawn.
I’ll be going again tomorrow as Skid is running. The Betfair box (which I’ll no doubt gatecrash again) will be full of “key accounts” – a selection of our biggest punters. One thing I’ve learnt about our big punters is that there’s no stereotype – they’re all completely different – but they’re invariably good company.
On to the racing. The Norfolk is up first, and I’ll be backing…. Skid Solo. He’s drawn in the highest stall, but Winker was drawn in the highest stall last year and that didn’t stop him. Pete has yet to have a 2yo winner this year – it would be interesting to open his account with a group 2. He’s trading at around 80 on Betfair – don’t let that put you off. He’s a quality animal who just hasn’t got it together on the racecourse yet.
I asked Lydia for a nap, and she gave me Dar Re Mi who she thought should have run in the Oaks. Dar Re Mi is owned by the Lloyd-Webbers – I know that they are keen on her. Lydia knows a thing or two so I’ll go along with that.
Coastal Path looks a worthy opponent for Yeats in the Gold Cup – I won’t have a bet. Hurricane Hymnbook is drawn 1 in the Britannia, and his stable is coming right now, so I’ll go with him. The Coles were sweet on Moynahan in the 4:55, so I’ll go along with him but I’ll have a saver on Unnefer who beat my beloved Bouguereau. Ghimaar looks interesting in the last.
Finally, in the 2:55 at Warwick, Scrapper Smith looks to break his duck. He’s small but speedy and he should bounce off this faster ground – I’ll be looking for him to land the spoils.