David Green

David Green (Books) is the imprint under which I published booklets of my own poems. The original allocation of ISBN numbers is used up now, though. The 'Collected Poems' are now available as a pdf. The website is now what it has become, often more about music than books and not so often about poems. It will be about whatever suggests itself.

Tuesday, 11 March 2025

Racetrack Wiseguy - Cheltenham

It makes no difference what wisdom one brings to horse racing in a race like today's Champion Hurdle. Only a random result generator could have found the 1-2-3 there.
The warning signs had been there with Constitution Hill's dodgy jump last time out. The Mullins confidence in State Man looked well founded when he sailed past Brighterdaysahead but then he did an Annie Power. The Rich Ricci people were happy enough with the Mares Hurdle before all that happened but, as The Prof points out, what must they be thinking now and how on earth do we price up next year's renewal.
After possibly the most astonishing race I've ever seen it's hard to know how to continue but I got out of it without as much damage as others would have sustained and so, playing with what one wouldn't miss-
I'll have 15/8 The New Lion in the first tomorrow, on the strength of Harry Skelton's long-term belief. Ballyburn should be a penalty kick and we are due one now. Jonbon is no good thing but he usually finds a way to win. I'm not putting Stumptown in again because he's in a bet that hasn't gone down yet but I'll have Kalypso'chance in the dangerous, dark waters of the bumper on the basis of punditry in previews.
But three horses took it in turns to look like certs in the Champion Hurdle and none of them won it and that is what horse racing can be like. It's easy to think, yes, I knew all along when one's selection wins but, no- no you didn't. You can be careful and achieve a decent % strike rate and profit by making some more significant bets than others but the casualty rate among punters is high. Johnny Dineen, bookie turned professional gambler was interviewed on ITV and said that of the four odds-on favs, he'd only backed Majborough.
He had a 50-50 chance, since two of them won, and chose a wrong answer. It's potential problem was jumping and, like Constitution Hill and State Man, proved not to be good enough at it. It is jump racing. You might get away with it on the way to Cheltenham but it's not so easy once you're there.  

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.