Bright blue skies and a low red sun. Driving in. Light and bright is a million times better than those bleak black midwinter mornings before dawn has even thought of creeping over the horizon…
Dust settling on a stellar weekend of sport….
Rory and I Am Maximus to do it all again this time next year ? Having mentioned it, I had to have a look. The double pays 110/1. Odds against both turning up at the start line in twelve months time in similar form, but worth a tiny nibble. Just in case…..?!
And by this time next year, most people will have given up having betting accounts anyway as intrusive affordability checks take away the fun. “When the fun stops…..”
Of course, we have to hope that these invasive checks are measured and considered. Because if they are as intrusive as many fear, the wave of punters that have already headed to the Black Market will become a tsunami. Which will impact massively on the funding of our sport as the Black Marketeers will filter literally nothing back into racing’s coffers…
Common sense is needed as we perch on the edge of yet another fiscal precipice…
If your mainstream bookmaker requires years of bank statements, proof of identity, council tax payments and inside leg measurements, the appeal of an offshore illegal “bookmaker’ who will welcome you with open arms and lucrative offers and incentives is glaringly obvious…
It is not hard to access the Black Market punting world. Many have gone that way already, directly impacting upon racing’s Levy as they go…
A runner later. Clipper to “Leafy”. Charlie Bishop up. Work in progress. I will happily settle for the “progress” bit shortly after 5.00pm this afternoon…
The Craven meeting at Newmarket starts today. The Craven Breeze Up sales too. An alluring catalogue of 2-year-olds. A gem or three amongst those well thumbed pages. The obvious ones will be bought by the blue team and the purple “laundry” and the foreign wallets – but from every table a mighty fine scrap will fall…
Royal Ascot incoming. Let’s find a flying machine. Roll those dice. You are a long time dead…
The Craven Stakes of 1986. I remember it as if it was yesterday. One of the greatest…
