Our working week resumed last Thursday with an afternoon meeting at Haydock Park. Looby was back on the team for two days and was having a sleepover.
The results were favourable and even though business was on the quiet side, we had a 5-2 winning day.
After a quick stop at Standish for some supper, we travelled back up the M6 a happy team and Lou and I stopped in and had a couple of glasses of wine and a chinwag while Paul went into town to meet Eric and Martin for a couple of pints.
On Friday, we were Hawick bound for the flapping meeting at the Common Riding. Considering the morning weather was filthy in the borders, the crowd still turned out in force and there was plenty of business for the nine bookmakers in attendance.
The bookies were a mixture of point to point, trotting and racecourse operators and included Pinno, who bets on all of the above.
For those that do not know it is old fashioned bookmaking with no exchanges and all hedging is done back in the ring. As we were three handed, Paul & Looby worked the front and I was in charge of forming the book.
At present, the Irish hold the strongest hand at the flapping, mainly due to the McNally team. This was definitely the case in the opening race and it was a procession.
Rodney backed from 7/4 into 1/5 won by half the track. A bad start and as the second race had only three runners, there wasn’t much betting activity in that.
The feature race of the afternoon, the Tradesman’s had nine runners and we laid all the horses well. It was a close finish and thankfully the local horse, Days Like These just held off the Irish jolly, 2 Fast 2 Last.
The finale was won by another well fancied Irish horse but we had managed another winning day mainly due to the result in the big race.
On Saturday, we returned to Haydock with Mr Bull on the team and there was an eight race card. Paul felt the card was tricky. We actually won on the first six before we gave a bit back in the two divisions of the handicap which were won by the second favourite and the jolly respectively.
We had a night in as it was an early start on Sunday for a day trip to Perth. It’s a long shift doing Perth in a day especially when there’s eight races with 90 minutes pitching in time and my enthusiasm was hardly bubbling over by the time we got there. Ask Andy Cairnbet.
We tend to bet a more cautiously there as we’ve had a few hidings over the years. It has proved a difficult track to show a profit at.
The results were a bit mixed on this occasion and we were up and down with a few near misses but Dalileo popped up at 11/1 in the lucky last to ensure another winning day and keeping our run going.
We journeyed back south more than satisfied with our days work and treat ourselves to the most delicious fish and chips at Moffatt en-route. Highly recommended if you are in the area.
On Monday, it was Carlisle and after Sundays marathon it felt like half a shift in comparison. It was an extra meeting and we weren’t sure what to expect but lots of our regulars were there so our take was pretty decent.
Of the six races, we won on three and lost on three to show another profit and make it five on the bounce. Happy days 👏 it’s a very long time since this happened so it was a big relief to us both.
The only fly in the ointment was the huge thunder shower that hit for the last two races. It was torrential and forced everyone to take cover. All we could do was cover everything up and sot tight and wait for it to fair up, which it mercifully did before it was time to pack up.
We’ve a couple of days off now to rest up and recuperate and as our year end accounts are due we are off to Lancaster tomorrow to get them delivered. No doubt a spot of shopping, lunch and a few sociables will be enjoyed while we are there. Would be rude not to.
We are back on track later in the week – but Saturdays venue is yet to be decided. Blog to follow. Watch this space.
Paul Garritty Bookmakers 