One highlight of a successful sporting Easter was the Paul Nicholls/Sean Bowen double at Haydock which paid for everything. Oh, how rich I'd be if I bet exorbitantly rather than quite so modestly but I'm yet to be convinced that I want or need to be rich so it doesn't matter.As a result of tipping Virak to my nephew, the balance in his William Hill account increased by 250% and so he was pleased but probably not as pleased as he should be with his bike racing debut on Good Friday, which was a much greater highlight, for which I was his self-appointed manager. It was that great early season Classic, the 4th Category Men's Circuit Race at Castle Combe, organized by Andy Cook Cycling.
It's not clear on what grounds I was qualified to manage anybody in a discipline that I never took part in and the fact that he recorded the equivalent of 56.42 for a 25 mile time trial is more than adequate to explain why I never rode in such an event. But there would be a future for him in it if he wanted because he held his place in the main group as, lap after lap, riders dropped off the back, unable to stay with the pace. It was only as it became even more competitive in the last couple of miles and the leading group fragmented that he couldn't get into the argument on the front end. We can put that down to a strategic error on the part of the manager who didn't insist he get a place on the front row at the start. That might have made a difference or might not but we will know next time. But, even with that oversight, I am already a more successful manager than I was a rider.---
And, here's more consummate George Eliot from Daniel Deronda,
'Say what you have to say without apologizing, please,' said Gwendolen with the air she might have bestowed on a dog-stealer come to claim a reward for finding the dog he had stolen.
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And The Observer's Grand National tipster so very nearly got it right today, nominating Rocky Creek as the winner with Unioniste in third. I've backed them both at slightly better prices than they are by now and it might be worth doing a small reverse forecast on the two coming first and second in either order on Saturday.