6.40 ENJOY A PITCHER OF PIMM´S CLAIMING STAKES (CLASS 5)(2yo) Winner £3,238 12 runners 7f32y
71 Dear Mr Fantasy
1st 11-1
70 Zaffature
2nd 7-266 Gulf Punch
7.10 LADIES EVENING AT WOLVERHAMPTON HANDICAP (CLASS 6)(3yo+ 0-60) Winner £2,388 13 runners 5f216y
92 Gioacchino
90 Dhhamaan
88 Poppy´s Rose
3rd 11-47.45 BEST HAT COMPETITION FILLIES´ SELLING STAKES (CLASS 5)(2yo) Winner £2,730 13 runners 5f20y
77 Reel Credit Crunch
72 Mrs Jones And Me
37 Cariad Coch
8.15 BEST DRESSED LADY COMPETITION HANDICAP (CLASS 5)(3yo+ 0-70) Winner £3,886 12 runners 1m4f50y
93 New England
90 Watson´s Bay
2nd 7-289 Rose Row
1st 20-18.45 BEST DRESSED COUPLE COMPETITION MEDIAN AUCTION MAIDEN STAKES (CLASS 6)(3-4yo) Winner £2,047 13 runners 1m141y
83 Expressive
2nd 2-182 Satwa Moon
3rd 7-280 Layer Cake
9.15 BOOK NOW FOR CHRISTMAS ON 01902 390000 HANDICAP (CLASS 6)(3yo+ 0-60) Winner £2,388 13 runners 1m141y
90 The Grey One
85 Aggbag
85 Confide In Me
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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