It’s Friday morning. 75% of the way through the festival. Right now I would describe it as a close 1-1 draw that could go either way.
Wednesday was tough to take. A series of places, Easywork, Third Time Lucki (placing 4 in the bumper), Allaho and Saint D’oroux kept me ticking over. However, having backed Defi Du Seuil at 14/1 and 10/1 in early season, I faced first the elation of realising Chacun Pour Soi was out and Defi was in to 2/5 favourite, to the misery of realising in the back straight that he was already beaten.
S**t happens. There is nothing that I could ever have done to foresee that. The horse clearly wasn’t right and that’s just the way it goes some times.
Thursday had followed a similar pattern. Places for Faugheen, Tout Est Permis and A Plus Tard kept me going, before Paisley Park ran no sort of race and most of my ante post multiples took a crashing fall. At this stage, with the list of ante post bets still going cut to single figures, it would be very easy to lose heart. Months of looking had really identified Paisley Park as bulletproof, but as his trainer said “they are not machines and can’t tell us it’s an off day”. Given everything else going on away from Cheltenham, some perspective is important.
Simply the Betts does wonders to lift the spirit. At last. An AntePost punt that’s come off. Concertista obliges in the Mares Novices and we are back in the game.
At the beginning of the week, my loving wife, having very little knowledge or experience of Racing and Cheltenham asked me “How much could you win if everything wins?”. Rather foolishly I replied “£11,000 or so”. Setting the bar far too high, at this point I am £38.74 up for the week. Even if today is a complete disaster, we will make a small profit and given the results and how competitive the Festival is, that has to be seen in a positive light. Although, the trip to the Caribbean may have to wait for Punchestown.
The Novice Punters Diary 