Where did you lose your virginity?

Tetcott Hunt Point to Point at Crimp although if you want to be pedantic Newton Abbot, took the MIL as Prince Charles was riding in an amateur's race.
 
Yep, Rory. It was Gay Future and backing it that day was not easy.

I don't Know what the SP was, but my Dad got 12's and I only got 8's.

The success of the coup was down to a number of factors from what I read:

Firstly, the horse shown to the press before the day of the race was not the horse that ran on the day. It was backed off course but in a combination with another planned non-runner, so that all bets reverted to Gay Future. The phone lines to the coursewere cut, and it was this illegal action that eventually caught up with the plotters.

But, I can assure you, there were certainly wads of notes flying around the betting ring for Gay Future on the day. I had originally picked out another and only reverted to GF after hearing how my Dad had to overtake the guy, he had seen placing bets, in order to get his bet on. My Dad is not the most excitable person but I still remember to this day how he described watching this punter grabbing wads from his bag and handing over the cash.

So, there is probably more to the coup than has ever been told.

MR2
 
I'm going to have to phone home to find out. Grew up about 3 1/2 miles from Baldoyle, but I think that was closed before I was born. About 5 1/2 miles from the Phoenix Park, but my Mum's from Kildare Town so it might have been the Curragh while we were visiting my Grandad...

On my own steam, Leopardstown, unsurprisingly enough! How come the Southside got to keep its course??
 
Tramore in te early 80's.50p on the winner of the bumper at even money.
First day across the water was when Dettori won his maiden Group 1 at Ascot on Markofdistinction -also memorable for the last time I ever drank Southern Comfort.
 
montyracing2 said:
Yep, Rory. It was Gay Future and backing it that day was not easy.

"I don't Know what the SP was, but my Dad got 12's and I only got 8's."

His SP was 10/1, and actually drifted in the market, which makes the bundles of cash being placed on him at a minor meeting hard to reconcile.

"The success of the coup was down to a number of factors from what I read:

Firstly, the horse shown to the press before the day of the race was not the horse that ran on the day. It was backed off course but in a combination with another planned non-runner, so that all bets reverted to Gay Future."

Why would the horse be shown to the press? It's true, however, that the horse Tony Collins had in training wasn't Gay Future and that the real horse was delivered on the day of the race to a pick up point near Cartmel. It was backed in doubles and trebles with two other horses, Ankerwyke (4:45 Plumpton) and Opera Cloak (4:15 Southwell) which were late scratchings. The bookmakers realised that a coup was in progress but there was no 'blower' service to any of the three tracks and they were unsure which of the three runners was the intended subject.

"The phone lines to the coursewere cut, and it was this illegal action that eventually caught up with the plotters."

This is totally untrue, although it had happened in the 'Francasal Affair' some twenty odd years before; nor is it true that a heavy was employed to ensure the only telephone on course was kept engaged, although this was true of a separate coup. The fact is that Cartmel had no telephone service for bookmakers to utilise and a representative had to be dispatched by car to try to lay the horse off, which would explain frantic betting patterns, except that the rep failed to arrive on time.

But, I can assure you, there were certainly wads of notes flying around the betting ring for Gay Future on the day. I had originally picked out another and only reverted to GF after hearing how my Dad had to overtake the guy, he had seen placing bets, in order to get his bet on. My Dad is not the most excitable person but I still remember to this day how he described watching this punter grabbing wads from his bag and handing over the cash.

"So, there is probably more to the coup than has ever been told."

It's actually an affair which has been thoroughly taken apart and Tony Murphy who planned it was totally open when facing court charges about exactly how it was planned and executed, as he felt he was blameless; he was praised by the judge for his sportsmanship despite being found guilty.

MR2
Click to expand...

Don't feel I'm just having a go ~ it's something that's fascinated me for years and I've never heard a version in which the horse which was backed at Cartmel wasn't Racionzer as this was part of the plan to get Gay Future to be ignored in the betting (he was also lathered in soap and had an unknown jockey booked, although top Irish amateur Timmy Jones actually took the ride).
 
My first ever bet placed off my own off my own back was a 10p Lucky 15 on the day Daylami won his King George. My first big win was a IR£1 double on Royal Anthem and Fantastic Light when Gary Stevens rode both. I was so pleased I put the IR£20 on the fridge with a magnet....

The last time I had a big win, I did'nt have a big enough magnet....
 
Rory, no offence taken. Just telling how my Dad and I bet a horse on my first trip to a racecourse.

I can still remember the commentator's incredularity, on the second curcuit, when he announced that a horse had gone to the front and gone clear, I don't think GF had appeared in his preparation because he kept on saying 'One has gone clear, and is going further clear, and further .....' He seemed stuck for words waiting for the runner up to finish. I don't know what the official distance was but it was a long, long wait for the runner-up.

It was very strange, too, because apart from a few yells, as GF finished, it was very quiet - an usual event for Cartmel in my experiance.

Maybe one day, I'll tell you about Castle Pride, and how Racecouse Securities visited our house - my father was not held to blame in any way.

MR2
 
Rory, just to feed your interest a bit more.

What if the reps had made it on time, and it was they who were laying off the money, interesting proposition isn't it!

This is a bit vague, but I seem to remember there was a line of temporary public telephones against the tote block.

This has been a good thread, brought back lots of memories.

My Grandad was also there, and he was very peeved that his banker of the day was beaten in the same race, I think he would have followed JJ O'neil off a cliff edge, especially with myself and my Dad jumping around.


MR2
 
The choosing of the races was a stroke of genius as they were within half an hour of each other and at three tracks who had no blower service to send money back to the track; the reps made it to Plumpton and Southwell only to find no horse to back but Cartmel is more difficult to get to and our man was scuppered. Of course, if he did arrive he wouldn't have brought cash but would have been betting on account to shorten up the price in the same way the blower worked for the big three. The phone kiosks wouldn't have been any use as no-one on track expected to receive a call! A fantastic story, nonetheless.
 
Market Rasen or Doncaster would have been the first course to which I was taken. My earliest memory of being at the races was seeing Night Nurse win over hurdles at Doncaster. It was a two or three horse race and he was 1/7 or something like that. I was rather animated in shouting him home from a rather quiet grandstand as he won on the bridle by a wide margin, much to the amusement of onlookers !:o
 
We used be taken to the Galway races as kids. The first time I was brought along was 1963, I think, when Ross Sea won the Plate with Stan Mellor up. We all backed him for a place, except me, who insisted that my 2/6 should be for a win. At last I had found something at which I could do better than my brothers.

As a teenager I started going to the Phoenix Park on my own and almost never missed a meeting there until I left Ireland in 1989. I'm glad I wasn't still living in the area when it closed, it would have been a big loss to bear.
 
I was born in Cheltenham and we lived in Prestbury so I was frequently wheeled to the course in my pushchair at a very early age.
We moved to Chepstow when I was about 3 and so grew up frequenting the racecourse there - used to go most days during the school holidays when I wasn't doing Pony Club stuff.
 
Warwick Racecourse in 1976 had my first winner a horse called Lucky Seventeen won @ 33/1, from then on I was hooked!:<3:
 
Kempton Park on Charisma Gold Cup day, 1994. Didn't get into racing until late, it was showjumping and eventing for me early doors.

The bug bit fairly quickly mind, it was within the year that I had my first ride in public, Lingfield c.July 1995 I think it was.
 
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Given the thread title, I'm not entirely sure how we'd categorise the last sentance. You are referring to horsey things still aren't you? or have you too followed Tracksides lead and disclosed more information than was really necessary?
 
Newton Abbott circa 1964.
David Barons was the local trainer then and used to farm a lot of the races long before Mr Pipe came on the scene. He had a very good amateur called Mr B.R.Davies in those days as i recall.
Bob Davies became a hero of mine for quite a long time.
 
Bay Meadows in San Mateo California, now closed. Sadly. I don't remember the year, I would have been a toddler, and the old memory is surely not what it was as that was many years ago! My Father used to attend the races there as a lad and saw Sea Biscuit win the big handicap there twice.

I never really enjoyed US racing although I loved the stories about all the old horses and jockeys. In Europe it would be Ascot, September 1998.
 
I've been to Bay Meadows several times Isinglass. Sad to see it closed but it had seriously deteriorated in recent years.
 
After looking up the date, it was 22nd Apr 1995 at Ayr to see Willsford winning the Scottish Grand National as part of a work's day out. Don't remember too much about the day except that I was extremely ill on the bus back to Glasgow and the lady who was to become ma missus got left behind :lol:. I do have a recollection of seeing Alderbrook winning the Scottish Champion Hurdle, although that may have been the following year.

Just checked - Alderbrook and Addington Boy vs Challenger Du Luc was the following year.
 
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