One bet on Saturday and one bet today for us.
Saturday's bet was Penitent, 3pt win @ 9/4
This horse landed a real nice touch for us this time last year when landing a decent gamble to win the Lincoln.
He was entered in the Lincoln as well as a race in France but connections opted for this race. It was felt that if he stayed he probably would win.
A huge gamble on the day, he started an 11/8 chance.
(At some point we need to write a gamble to cover what is a gamble and what isn't. Many punters believe a horse being punted from 33/1 into 14/1 at Wolverhampton on a Thursday night is a huge punt but 9/4 into 11/8 at Kempton on a Saturday isn't...)
Anyway,
Penitent settled well enough tracking the leaders and looked set to pounce with a couple of furlongs to run.
When Frankie asked him to quicken he found very little and could only plug on at the same pace to finish 4th. Whether he didn't stay, wasn't fit enough or just wasn't good enough is hard to tell.
To make matters worse, William Haggas won the race with his second string, Shamali.
This one wasn't fancied at all. (Opened 12/1, went off 12/1)
In fact, the trainer told the Racing Post "I'll be staggered if Shamali wins, as he's sure to need the run. He was never really right this year and hasn't run since May. He's had leg problems, so running here on an even surface was preferable to most other options"
Now, the cynics will say that he said that to get a better price on his second string, blah blah blah, but the amount of money that was lost on Penitent tells the true story. There were a lot of gutted punters at Kempton!
On to Sunday which was much better.
We backed, King Of Eden, 1pt e/w @ 10/1
This horse did us some great favours last year and had really grown and strengthened over the winter. That and the fast ground made connections hopeful he would stay the extra furlong today and if so, was fancied to run a big race.
The ground wasn't great, with lots of grassless patches at Donny so we kept our stakes sensible.
Our selection went off a 10/1 chance as money poured on Ivory Silk. (13/2 into 9/2)
He was always in a handy position in around 6th place and made headway with around 2 furlongs to run. He hit the front with a furlong to run and stayed on very well to hold Ivory Silk by a head.
A nice and very welcome 10/1 winner after a pretty difficult week.
This week is all about Aintree and our Grand National ante post bet continues to shorten in price. He could still go off favourite.
Connections are still very confident that with a clear round he is the one to beat.
There will probably be a few bets between now and the start of Aintree on Thursday with a couple of interesting runners lined up from one of our favourite yards...
Thanks for reading
SimpleBet
http://www.simplebet.net/
Two account bets yesterday, the first one possibly signalling a change of luck for the better.
We backed, Cathedral Spires, 4pt win @ 15/8.
We had been waiting for this runner for a while and it was very frustrating to watch the price tumble while we were waiting for the bookies to price the race up.
We had our email typed up and ready to go at just after 7am but had to wait until just after 9am when the first markets opened to send it. He was closer to 7/2 at 7am on Betfair, having been matched at 10 overnight (reduced to 9.13 after the rule 4)
We have toyed with the idea of advising Betfair prices so we can send some bets out earlier but the majority of members didn't favour that idea as the prices can be too volatile and not everyone can get on.
Anyway, we took the 15/8 and he continued to be well backed into evens at the off.
He led, pretty much from the start but looked set to be beaten as he was headed inside the final furlong. He battled back bravely to get back up on the line though for what looked at first watch a good performance.
On watching the race again though the second, Ice Trooper, wasn't given the strongest of rides so perhaps we were lucky with that one.
A winner is a winner though and after a very unlucky month or two its nice to get one going our way.
We also backed King Of Eden, 4pt win @ 9/4.
This one continues to improve and it is thought he may make into a group race performer in time.
He ran a pretty good race, despite being niggled along halfway through the race and looked set to win with a furlong to go. The winner came with a decent run though and we could only manage 3rd.
He possibly wasn't running on the fastest part of the track but connections are also aware that he has had a lot of racing in the last couple of months and a short rest may be in order.
We sent out one early account bet for today which has already been well backed as expected.
There should be at least one more account bet to come before 12.30.
Glorious Goodwood starts on Tuesday, on of our favourite meetings of the year.
We have a few bets lined up already and are hoping for a very profitable end to the month.
Thanks for reading
SimpleBet
http://www.simplebet.net/
One small account bet today, King Of Eden, 2pt win @ 11/4.
Thought to be well handicapped after not getting a clear run last time out, connections were confident of a win with a clear run today.
The issue of not getting a run was cleared up early enough as David disputed the lead for much of the journey to ensure a clear run. He kicked for home two furlongs from home and was clear with a furlong to go.
He won eased down by 6 lengths, never really in doubt.
In hindsight we probably should have staked more heavily but thats often the feeling after a winner!
King Of Eden is due to run later on in the week.
Elsewhere, the 6.40 at Windsor was an interesting race with a word for 3 runners in the same race.
The strongest word was for The Shuffler (3rd) who was well supported all day.
Edition (2nd) was fancied each way after not getting much of a run last time out and the winner, Avon River was expected to improve for the application of headgear.
The race was never a betting race with at least 3 runners fancied but a nice one to watch all the same.
Nothing lined up yet for tomorrow but we shall see what the morning phone calls bring.
Thanks for reading
SimpleBet
http://www.simplebet.net/
