U
useful
Guest
I went to my local Corals yesterday (set in a Northamptonshire Village) for an afternoon’s punting.
Whilst there I happened to pick up on a number of things which had been discussed at length on the forum over the past few days.
First of all the manageress was a lovely, fuller figured lady, who made a point of offering me a hot drink. She reminded me of Pat Butcher from Eastenders, lots of cheap jewellery but with a heart made of the purest gold.
The clientele totalled about a dozen, half flitting between bookies and the local pub.
Two wore suits (there are 3 estate agents and one bank in the village so take your pick). The others were either working class men in uniforms or labouring gear of some description. or retired gentlemen. Two of us showed outward signs of having purchased that day’s copy of the Racing Post.
There was little by the way of verbal “jockey bashing”, although the three of us who had backed Pauillac in the Novices Chase at Warwick expressed our amazement at the pace Scudamore had set considering the testing ground and the stamina doubts of the horse before the race.
None of the gathering of punters seemed too keen on backing odds on (I believe I was the only one to back the three odds on shots that won whilst I was there), although stakes always seemed to involve notes rather than coins.
Three of the punters had spells on the machines, but this seemed a time killing exercise as much as anything else.
All bar those of us with our own copies of the RP spent several minutes consulting the RP broadsheet cards on the notice boards.
I noted that contrary to some opinions the Racing Post RTF (Running to form) statistics do not appear on the betting shop broadsheet copies. Also I noticed they do not appear within the cards in the tabloid version (in yesterday’s post they were buried in the signposts on page 51 and only referenced a selection of trainers).
I asked the manageress why there was no hardcopy tabloid sized full version of the RP available to the punters. She advised me they used to have a board for this but “that was long gone”.
One of the chaps in overalls engaged me in conversation about this and suggested it was a “bookie’s conspiracy to keep us down”.
With reference to another thread on the subject of Mr Nick Luck, I was staggered to hear his mellifluous telephonic tones tipping horses in the Dubai events. So in this respect at least, Mr Luck is a paid tipster, the paymaster being one of the biggest bookmaking chains in the land.
It was a pleasurable afternoon, spent in the company of a cross selection men who all appeared to share a genuine interest in the sport, with a hushed silence meeting the return to battle of Kicking King.
We all have our opinions, and if I have offended anybody I apologise.
I accept this bookies might not be the norm, but I believe the working man and woman give a lot to Horse Racing by way of the betting shop medium, and all I ask is Horse Racing affords them a little more respect.
(btw credit to Charlie Egerton for thinking of punters when making his announcement about Hobbs Hill)
Whilst there I happened to pick up on a number of things which had been discussed at length on the forum over the past few days.
First of all the manageress was a lovely, fuller figured lady, who made a point of offering me a hot drink. She reminded me of Pat Butcher from Eastenders, lots of cheap jewellery but with a heart made of the purest gold.
The clientele totalled about a dozen, half flitting between bookies and the local pub.
Two wore suits (there are 3 estate agents and one bank in the village so take your pick). The others were either working class men in uniforms or labouring gear of some description. or retired gentlemen. Two of us showed outward signs of having purchased that day’s copy of the Racing Post.
There was little by the way of verbal “jockey bashing”, although the three of us who had backed Pauillac in the Novices Chase at Warwick expressed our amazement at the pace Scudamore had set considering the testing ground and the stamina doubts of the horse before the race.
None of the gathering of punters seemed too keen on backing odds on (I believe I was the only one to back the three odds on shots that won whilst I was there), although stakes always seemed to involve notes rather than coins.
Three of the punters had spells on the machines, but this seemed a time killing exercise as much as anything else.
All bar those of us with our own copies of the RP spent several minutes consulting the RP broadsheet cards on the notice boards.
I noted that contrary to some opinions the Racing Post RTF (Running to form) statistics do not appear on the betting shop broadsheet copies. Also I noticed they do not appear within the cards in the tabloid version (in yesterday’s post they were buried in the signposts on page 51 and only referenced a selection of trainers).
I asked the manageress why there was no hardcopy tabloid sized full version of the RP available to the punters. She advised me they used to have a board for this but “that was long gone”.
One of the chaps in overalls engaged me in conversation about this and suggested it was a “bookie’s conspiracy to keep us down”.
With reference to another thread on the subject of Mr Nick Luck, I was staggered to hear his mellifluous telephonic tones tipping horses in the Dubai events. So in this respect at least, Mr Luck is a paid tipster, the paymaster being one of the biggest bookmaking chains in the land.
It was a pleasurable afternoon, spent in the company of a cross selection men who all appeared to share a genuine interest in the sport, with a hushed silence meeting the return to battle of Kicking King.
We all have our opinions, and if I have offended anybody I apologise.
I accept this bookies might not be the norm, but I believe the working man and woman give a lot to Horse Racing by way of the betting shop medium, and all I ask is Horse Racing affords them a little more respect.
(btw credit to Charlie Egerton for thinking of punters when making his announcement about Hobbs Hill)
I might rely on using the shop one if I'm just popping in for one bet, but if I'm staying for a few races I'd always take the precaution of having my own paper. It's just common sense surely? - esp if you want to make notes.
