The Pope Out!!

D

Desperate Dan

Senior Jockey
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Who`d have thought it:)...I suspect there`s more to it than meets the eye. Perhaps he`s asked a cardinal to take his penalty points for speeding in his popemobile:)
 
I have the inside track on this market (gen-up, likes), and the word will go on-the-wire shortly.

PS. Powers have already restricted me, but I at least managed to get £46 on at the odds. Currently hooevering up whatever else I can score.
 
Grasshopper said:
I have the inside track on this market (gen-up, likes), and the word will go on-the-wire shortly.

PS. Powers have already restricted me, but I at least managed to get £46 on at the odds. Currently hooevering up whatever else I can score.
Click to expand...

If you ring up you'll probably be laid a bigger bet.
 
Breaking News: Peter Odemwingie has been spotted sitting in The Vatican car park, demanding to be let in. More to follow.
 
I dunno, Slim.....we had them running scared the last time on this one and everyone was restricted to a pony each.

Name to follow in 30 minutes
 
The allowed me to have another £60 after referral - thanks Slim.


The name that pays is:

Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga - Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Anyone who was a member at TRF back in the day (when Ratzinger f*cked us over first time round) may recall the crazy tale that goes with this one. I'll try and summarise later.

:cool:
 
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Skybet now 9/1 from an opening show of 12/1, but 10/1 available across the Board.

Get on sharpish - this goes viral today. :cool:
 
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I'm not messing about - we are going to have it right f*cking off this time!

:D
 
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OK, so given the market I’m proposing a play in, there is clearly a certain chuckle factor to the bet. However, I also enter into this proposition with a strong sense of unfinished business.

This story can be dated to a time shortly before the passing of Pope JP2. If it offends anyone, I do apologise - it is not meant to cause any harm .I’ll try to summarise as best I can.


A very dear friend of mine has an uncle who just happens to be the Bishop of California, or the Cardinal of Bel-Air, or the Monsignor of Compton….or somesuch. Either way, he is a rather grande-fromage in the old Catholic dodge out on the West Coast. Just trust me on this. So, my mate is helping said uncle do some research for a book he (the uncle) is writing – presumably because the dear Father figures the Internet is a dangerous place for a high-priest to be visiting in the times.


Anyway, various emails and calls ensue – all about this research……until this call....“Research blah, how is yer mother blah, research blah, tell Anne-Marie to be a good girl now blah, research blah, the Holy Father is looking a bit pale, blah.


So, the subject of the Holy Father comes up between Unc and nephew, and how terrible it was that he wasn’t really feeling in the pink etc....followed by some idle chat of potential successors; which is where the bold Oscar enters the equation. The uncle is very strong on Oscar as a potential Pontiff. So, card duly marked about Oscar, my pal calls me, and we hatch a plan to plot him up.


Paddy Power were somewhat bemused when we first approached them for a market on Next Pope, and didn’t initially respond to our request for 48-hrs….and that was only to ask us WTF we thought were up to. However, having explained that we were legit operators with a hunch, they took us at face value, and said a market would be forthcoming. Which it duly was a couple of days later. And all credit to Paddy for doing so (it’s largely for this reason that I have all my losing Yankees with them :blink:).


Unfortunately , Paddy’s first fumbling attempt at pricing the field, did not include our man as a runner. We therefore had to show our hand a touch, and we’re given a semi-cautious 16/1 offer. Which we duly snapped-up…..for the miserable pony-a-skull they extended to us.


Regardless, having sorted-out the most ridiculous and/or blasphemous market going, we were feeling most chuffed with ourselves, and figured it was something worth sharing – just for the hoot. Paddy Power, however, presumably failed to see the funny side, as they saw around a dozen new accounts opened overnight, all of them wanting a piece of the Oscar action. The liability must have been buttons, but I think they had their eyebrows raised. Oscar was duly cut to a tens-chance that day.


I’ve no way of proving it now (I can't find the original TRF thread either), so you will have to take it on trust when I tell you Oscar’s price crashed throughout the several-weeks-long…er…….transition process! He was – as I recall – 5/2 second-fave when the runners finally went to post, and the craic was mighty as he shortened-up.


Sadly, as the history books will tell you, we were ultimately foiled by the current Pontiff - Benedict XVI.
Now, I’m not saying that it was not-off last time, but this departure does seem to be somewhat out-of-the-blue, does it not? Was it a cockle last time? I dunno, but I'm prepared to pay again to find out!! :lol:

This has been buried-treasure for around eight years, we’ve got a copy of the map, and it only costs a minimum bet to climb-aboard the Jolly Roger - all swashbucklers are welcome. :D


Anyway, I share this little tale with you all, to both give you context for the wager this time round……and because it’s a story I never tire of telling. :cool:
PS. I'm being totally legit. The above is exactly how it happened (give or take the odd minor detail lost in the midsts of time). :cool:
 
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