Mug's Game: A welcome air of enlightenment with Rachael and Henry on our side
DREAM TEAM: Jockey Rachael Blackmore, aboard Air Of Entitlement, is congraulated by trainer Henry de Bromhead after winning the Ryanair Mares Novices Hurdle on day three of the Cheltenham Racing Festival at Prestbury Park in Cheltenham, England. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Onto Day Three and we’re afloat again. Or are we? An interesting existential question arises. If we started out on Tuesday with €50 and finished Wednesday with €32.20 are we ahead or behind? We’ll leave it to loftier minds than ours to grapple with this one.
Down to business. Random fivers on Home By The Lee (because he’s always there or thereabouts), D’Art D’Art (because his Tom Cooper stablemate Shuttle Diplomacy did us a favour in the bumper yesterday) and Midnight Our Fred (because someone from Waterford mentioned him).
An each-way Lucky 15 featuring Air of Entitlement (because De Bromhead and Blackmore are overdue a winner), Answer to Kayf (because someone not from Waterford mentioned him), Will The Wise (because Gavin Cromwell is on song) and Le Malmaison (because Gavin Cromwell is on song).
Three euro each way on Yeah Man (because Gavin Cromwell etc). That’s sufficient for the moment.
The 1.20. Get in!
Rachael is scrubbing away on Air of Entitlement from before the home turn and Sixandahalf looks like he’ll hack up. It appears all over. But Rachael keeps scrubbing away and Air of Entitlement keeps running on and all of a sudden Sixandahalf is finding nothing while Air of Entitlement is bolting up the hill. Thus is fulfilled the gospel according to Sananda Maitreya, né Terence Trent D’Arby. Baby it ain’t over till it’s over.
Henry De Bromhead is interviewed afterwards. Matt Chapman or whoever it is mentions Bob Olinger (same connections) in the Stayers Hurdle. Henry does not do the poor mouth on his chances. That’s enough for me; a nod is as good as a wink to a desperate punter. I stick three euro each way on Bob Olinger who it turns out has been backed all morning and will continue to shorten.
Answer to Kayf never shows in the next, victory going to Caldwell Potter who was bought by his owners for a mere €740,000. In third at 66/1 is O’Moore Park, presumably backed by three now-happy Laois people.
Will The Wise doesn’t get quite near enough in the 2.40, which is won by Doddiethegreat, named in honour of the – yes - great Scottish lock forward Doddie Weir. But he gets near enough to finish sixth. Is my bookie paying six places? An anxious wait follows before I discover he is. Wheee. The Lucky 15 will now wash its face.
Up pops noted bookie and pundit Spike Murphy to mark our card for the rest of the afternoon. Less than auspiciously he’s not keen on the chances of that grand old warrior Home By The Lee in the Stayers Hurdle. His logic is precisely the same as the line of reasoning I employed in steering clear of Jonbon yesterday – ie if he was going to win the thing he’d have won it by now.
A friend texts just before the off attaching a screenshot of an ante-post treble he did. A fiver each way on Captain Guinness (33/1), Envoi Allen (20/1) and Bob Olinger (25/1). Should he cash out for €325.72 or let it run for €1,140? The answer is so much the biggest no-brainer in the history of no-brainers I conclude he’s showing off – and why not? - rather than seriously looking for advice.
Poor Home By The Lee is hampered at the sixth and unseats. He is indeed not going to win the thing now. But I have another horse running for me and he’s ridden by Rachael. And he’s won twice at the festival and she’s merely the best thing to happen to National Hunt racing this century. What can possibly go wrong?
Nothing, obviously. Tsk. This is Rachael and De Bromhead. Let’s not be idiotic.
Like with Air of Expectation she comes late. Unlike with Air of Expectation she’s not forcing it. Both she and Bob Olinger know exactly what they’re doing and they win snugly. The starting price is 8/1, the plunge having been considerable. In the circumstances I feel gratified to have got on at 10s.
Rachael is “an incredible lady”, De Bromhead swoons. As for Bob Olinger, “he’s a dude”. At this point I’d crack some gag about The Big Lebowski but for one small thing. I’ve never seen it. Really.
None of my other fancies catch the attention of the race commentator but I’m not bothered. I’ve managed to claw back Tuesday’s losses with a bit of interest on top and State Man’s mishap is well in the rearview mirror. What’s more, Day Four has, last year excepted, been good to this column in recent years.
What could possibly go wrong? With Rachael and De Bromhead on our side, very little.
