Two Wiseguys at Cheltenham

Today, there was me, the bullishly self-proclaimed Racetrack Wiseguy and my namesake horse, Wiseguy, trained by the charming Mr. Henderson. I don't think of myself as brash and so am glad to have several years of records going back as evidence of the turf wisdom I've accumulated in sometimes hard-won ways. Today wasn't my most successful day at the track but a small helping of that wisdom was used to keep my financial liabilities on Wiseguy to an absolute minimum. Just because you and your namesake horse are at the same track on the same day doesn't mean one gets heavily involved on a 12/1 chance in the hope of a miracle. It was always a 33/1 chance in disguise.

Wiseguy has been an increasingly forlorn hope ever since winning at Exeter in the Autumn when it looked like a prospect over fences. I decided against asking Mr. Henderson for a photo opportunity in case he'd say, quite frankly, Mr. Wiseguy, you can take him home with you because I can't do anything with him.

But it's all in the game. Prestbury Park is God's own country and it was never going to be a bad day once Peaky Boy had landed the odds, workmanlike enough, in the first. I can't stand the mounting anxiety of races going by without having a winner so the main bet going in in race 1 is fine even if the pay out is much reduced by the fav not running. I might not have won if it had.

 

The celebrations that followed Manofthepeople's win the 4.25 were extraordinary and incomprehensible at first, outdoing the gobsmacked silence that greeted the Gold Cup winner, Norton's Coin, when I was there 40-odd years ago. Let's listen to the interview. Oh, I see. Paddy Brennan, stable jockey to the very local Fergal O'Brien had made it his last ride and retired then and there.

Some of the crowd at Cheltenham know their stuff. Not necessarily the chavvy blokes in suits or the alarming young ladies that some of them are with or those with more taste who aren't. They haven't got a clue and the bookmakers are very pleased to see them. Cheltenham is a 'cashless course' and you can't buy anything there without a card but bookmakers are keen to make it known that they'll take cash. They're not so fussy.

 

Win, lose or draw, it's a fine day out. It wouldn't be if the choice was only between lose, lose and lose but it isn't and the fun you can have reducing Radio 5, not least in its football coverage, to absurdam on the way home is an entertainment in itself. 

It's lucky for me that one of my friends is good enough to drive there once a year. He got no more than he deserved when he somehow picked out the last two very healthily-priced winners the day after being at Fratton Park to see his favourite football team win their league. I'm pleased for him. Sometimes the fates suddenly realize there's a good guy whose turn it is to have a couple of memorable days and so they make it happen.