6.40 Greg Slark Birthday Celebration Handicap Cl5 5f
88 Halaak
83 Mazzola
3rd 7-181 Rebecca De Winter
2nd 7-17.10 European Breeders´ Fund Maiden Fillies´ Stakes Cl4 1m
NO HORSES WITH AW RATINGS
7.40 digibet Nursery Cl5 7f
89 Wasmi
76 Michaelmas Daisy
72 Marafong
8.10 digibet.com Handicap Cl4 6f
92 Rondeau
92 Street Power
1st 6-491 Brunelleschi
8.40 digibet Casino Fillies´ Handicap Cl4 1m3f
94 Haafhd Time
93 Lady Rusty
73 Vivachi
9.10 Weatherbys VAT Services Apprentice Handicap (Round 9) Cl5 1m
91 Best In Class
88 Miss Mojito
84 Statute Book
3rd 20-1
Horse Racing - Trip Down Memory Lane
As there is no AWT racing until Monday 13th I decided to do some research and while thumbing through some old racing books found an old page from Raceform which bought back a great memory from my past carefully folded within the pages.
How attractive a proposition was Pipssalio. Still a Maiden after 4 outings, its 3 outings as a 2yo read beaten 16 lengths in Class 5 3k Novice, beaten 16 lengths in a Class 6 2k Maiden, Beaten 14 lengths in a Class 4 3k Maiden. 1 outing as a 3yo beaten ½ length in a Class 4 4k Handicap. Looked to be way out of its depth being entered in a Class 3 14k Handicap. Pipssalio was 10lb out of the handicap and the jockey (Francis Norton) was putting up 2lb over weight.
My speed figures told me a different story. In fact I can remember being so bullish I was nailing my colours to the mast on all the forums and to the Raceform. This for me was the outstanding bet of the following day, the outstanding bet of the week and of the month. I went to bed unable to sleep with anticipation for the following day fully confident I would be making a lot of money. As soon as I got up on the day of the race I started checking the prices to ensure the tissue given the evening before was correct. Pipssalio was still 20-1.
The time of the race had arrived and in horror I watched as Pipssalio fell out of the stalls. By the time they had reached half-way in the 1 mile contest it was flat to the boards well adrift of the rest of the field with Franny Norton rowing away and beating the horse to death!
My feelings at the time were partly embarrassment due to the comments I had made on various forums , partly anger and all confidence in my ability to create meaningful speed figures gone in 60 seconds but being the eternal optimist still a slither of hope.
With 2 furlongs to go Pipssalio started to reduce the gap. With a furlong to go the rest of the field started to paddle and Pipssalio appeared to have sprouted wings and was closing on the leaders at an unbelievable rate. As they flashed passed the post Franny Norton had driven Pipssalio between the two leaders to make a three way photo finish. Even though I believed Pipssalio had got there it was going to be on the nod. Pipssalio got the verdict beating 2nd Everest by a short-head who in turn had beaten 3rd Tumbleweed Tor by a short-head.
That is the margin of winning and losing. The difference between the feeling of abject failure and believing you can walk on water.
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