A Stay Away Fay Away Day

The success of a day at the races can be judged by means of a simple balance sheet but that takes no account of having a good time and being exactly where one wants to be. I wouldn't personally have a good time, though, if what I did was effectively take a trip into some distant fields and leave a pile of money there. Mostly I don't do that, I tend to the state of the annual plus or minus situation with all the care and attention of Percy Thrower looking after his rhododendrons and it duly remains in the plus.

To travel is said to be better than to arrive but it isn't when on arrival one is presented with a free scarf - my last one from Betfair is several years old now- and then the bloke in front of you at the ticket desk turns round and asks if you'd like a spare £33 Premier ticket for nothing.

Okay, then. Thank you very much. 

It's going suspiciously almost too well before we've even seen a horse. A pint of lager costs £7.80 which is a personal best for me. Later, a tray of oven ready chips is a fiver but I really shouldn't worry when I'm having a good time.

There's not a sensible bet to be had in the first race and my guess in the trebles I've done for pocket money comes third and never looked like doing any better but it gets serious in the next. It looks like Southoftheborder wasn't going to win anyway. It was hard to tell from the stand with no big screen to see it on but the form book now reports,

pushed along and losing ground in 4th when bad mistake and unseated rider 2 out.

So it was decision time with Stay Away Fay up next, a favourite horse that I made the feature of last night's preview and, if needs be, I can call up the old school motto, Garde Ta Foy, medieval French for 'Keep the Faith', so it's a brave man's game, he who dares wins and I plough in to make this the biggest turf investment for several years. I didn't come out to blow half the year's gradually accumulated profit in one afternoon but I don't like losing either and so I trust Stay Away Fay to put the balance sheet in the black.

To be honest, below the distance, it looked in some doubt with Harry Cobden putting much more effort in than his better travelling rival but stay is what Stay Away Fay does and that is exactly what the Sandown uphill finish is for. A length and a half will do. It was in the bag once they started going uphill.

That was Plan B today. I'd usually stick with Plan A. I decided against Plan C. As a 'member' of Corals Racing Club I'm led to understand I'm a part owner of West End Boy, 9/4 fav in the last, but with less than a 1/100000th share in him I don't feel that close to him. He was going for his third win in a row but the handicapper soon cottons on and puts a stop to that sort of thing. I'd got out of jail once and I'm not a Harry Houdini tribute act. It was a wise decision. He came a respectable fourth.

On the way out a big pile of free scarves provided for my 'Christmas shopping', not that I do any these days but now a few people will get Christmas presents from me who weren't going to.

There's always a few unsavoury-looking characters at the racetrack, it wouldn't feel right if there weren't, but if we could see ourselves as others see us, or as the camera shows us, not telling any lies, we might not be quite so judgemental. But an enjoyable day it was for a Wiseguy and a Prof.

Now all I have to do is amuse myself with tomorrow's prospects, a few e-mails from some people from the other, arty region of my diverse acquaintances and maybe tune into DGBooks Radio until 11.15 when my very kindly next door neighbour gets home from his shift as a chef and, at his insistence, delivers a Vegetable Jalfrezi and Lime Pickle. I'm sure I don't deserve such good friends and neighbours but what can you do.