2.30 GEORGE´S APPEAL - TO SAVE TINY LIVES E B F MAIDEN STAKES (CLASS 4)(2yo) Winner £5,343 11 runners 1m
90.87% High On A Hill
3.00 AVANTA E B F MAIDEN FILLIES´ STAKES (DIV I) (CLASS 4)(2yo) Winner £4,695 14 runners 7f
93.60% Motrice
3.30 AVANTA E B F MAIDEN FILLIES´ STAKES (DIV II) (CLASS 4)(2yo) Winner £4,695 14 runners 7f
92.99% Thereafter
4.00 ROOKS RIDER HANDICAP (CLASS 3)(3yo 0-95) Winner £7,353 6 runners 1m4f
97.76% Ottoman Empire
97.62% Tinaar
93.41% Barwell Bridge
4.30 SPARKS CHARITY MAIDEN FILLIES´ STAKES (CLASS 4)(3-4yo) Winner £4,727 11 runners 1m4f
95.07% M´Lady Rousseur
94.16% Blue Nymph
93.07% Miss Jodarah
5.00 ENTREPRENEUR COUNTRY HANDICAP (CLASS 4)(3yo 0-85) Winner £4,727 12 runners 6f
95.37% Brenin Taran
95.08% Cut The Cackle
94.80% Dametime
5.30 AVANTA HANDICAP (CLASS 4)(3yo+ 0-85) Winner £4,727 14 runners 1m
97.16% Bomber Command
96.74% Forbidden
96.61% Fancy Footsteps
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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