Billy Jacobson keeps Royal Inn at it to beat Delpech on Maachaan
“Look we love the game and we will be back tomorrow. But today’s results treated us like a malady, an ailment.” The words of seasoned punter and Tellytrack presenter Shaheen Shaw after a day of some ridiculous results at Scottsville on Wednesday saw over R1 million carried over in the Pick Six.
This was just the kind of afternoon when Joe Average must be questioning the sanity of punting day in and day out.
And asking whether anybody really knows anything at all, and if it isn’t just a guessing game.
It didn’t help either that Anton Marcus had an off day and couldn’t put anything together.
“Superman is riding like a claimer today,” lamented one punter.
The results would also have lent credence to that really crazy stupid conspiracy theory that suggests that the racing operators, or their agents, always arrange a carryover on the eve of a big raceday.
Ja, well, pull the other one.
They cant tell us whether they are showing Epsom this weekend, or if they are keeping the totes open and serving cold beers, or what is happening on the Tellytrack front, but they sneakily meet with the jockeys, organise the most outlandish results and then create a carryover.
What exactly for? To p punters off even more? To generate some cash flow?
Thinking about it, how is it possible pondering in the morning shower after a night of form study and ahead of a promising day:
“This Scottsville card is cut and dried. The exotics can’t pay, but I’ll try and knock a high percentage Pick Six on the head.”
And then end up with what we got?
What was the underlying cause, if anything? Lowly rated handicaps? There were a few. Weak maidens? There were a few.
After all, it was a lovely day. The going was good. Anton Marcus was riding a few fancied horses.
Are punters the idiots?
The trouble started in the first leg of the ‘fastest growing exotic’.
It is so damn popular, it was paying R76 minimum after the first leg.
The bomb came courtesy of Paul Gadsby’s Royal Inn, who hadn’t previously smelt a stake cheque in six sprints, but somehow managed to conjure up reserves of ability and energy to beat Mike De Kock’s beautifully bred first timer, Maachaan.
Owner Roy Moodley’s racing manager admitted rather coyly in the post race interview that ‘this was the least fancied of our three.’
You don’t say. He paid R57 odd a win and R13,50 a place. In a thirteen horse field.
Anton Marcus rode the second favourite Sylvan Jet, who ran down the tubes. Like most of Marcus’ other rides on the day.
Fast forward to the ‘lucky last.’
Marcus is riding the 13 to 10 favourite Bold Attitude.
“This is the get out stakes and Bold Attitude looks the right one”, said the already shellshocked on course team of Wesley Bowman and Deez Dayanand.
The popular Deez, who seems to know everybody in KZN, pointed out that the connections of the favourite were on course too.
“The Sukhraj’s are here,” he observed as if it would bolster confidence.
Well it did. The horse shortened. Pity we didn’t know that so would his stride in the last 400m!
And it was the Lafferty and Randolph team who pulled one out of the hat.In the last again. Punters have short memories. An Opera King at 40 to 1. It’s complicated, we know.
Thankfully no Double Clutch this time. No romantic feelgood story attached to this one.
But Turn Of The Tide managed to put the brakes (excuse the pun) on the few remaining exotic hopes, when he just kept going.
As for Bold Attitude aka Bad Attitude, he is a brass in the classic sense. He ran a filthy fifth.
And Superman is in fact a human.
He probably just happens to ride more good horses on average than the next jockey. Ask Glen Hatt. Ask Sean Cormack.
When he rides donkeys, they run like asses.
The Vaal Thursday Bipot starts in the first at 12h30 and the Pick Six looks catchable.
Shaheen was right…
