- Sports Betting Index
This maybe a bit of a rambling post put sometimes it’s good to get things “down on paper” and there is a purpose to it. November has been a weird up and down month betting wise and quite a stressful one on the personal front. As I live alone I have spent most of the time on my own bar meeting people whilst out walking and virtual zoom meetings with friends and chatting to people on the phone, it makes this occupation a very difficult one.
When things go wrong I question my every move but at the end of the day I’ve done it for 20 years, the ups and downs come and go but this month has been difficult with nowhere really to go to switch off which is what is needed to stop continuously thinking what you are doing is right or wrong. I have taken to watching a fair bit of TV – my usual routine seems to involve watching old episodes of Morse, followed by music and wine – it’s a structure and it seems to work. The good thing is I barely remember watching episodes of Morse from a long time ago so I am now free to watch them over again. I guess I like them because they are all about deduction (it’s my favourite genre of TV) and they don’t differ from what I do as a job, if you don’t follow rules then you will never get the right answer. You have to remember though that you follow a lot of dead ends before getting the answer right again. So over the last four weeks the golf hasn’t been too bad but on the horses I have had 25 losers on the bounce although half have placed so it hasn’t been a horrendous losing experience. Some people would give up but it really is only variance, long losing runs happen in horse racing although if they were short priced favourites I would be worried! The thing is on looking back would I change my mind on betting any selections – the answer is no, they fitted what I would do normally although I admit maybe I should concentrate more on long distance chasers. I guess now we get to the point of the post – a bet and for me a decent one ironically on the horse that was my last winner Dromore Lad. I backed him in the Cork National as it was his first run in a Handicap Chase having been fairly average in his three chase runs but that’s what he did over hurdles, three nondescript runs and then was sent handicapping. He won four of five handicap hurdles from 85 to 116 – only loss was by a head and well clear of the remainder, and three of those wins came here at Fairyhouse so clearly likes the track. He won that Cork National fairly easily so a 10lb raise isn’t that tough and effectively only races off an 8lb higher mark with a new claimer on board as his previous claimer lost it with that win. The key with Dromore Lad is that he’s only a little horse and has always run its poor races with big weights on his back, I wouldn’t be backing him with over 11 stone but only has 10-5 today. The horse will stay all day and the trainer has said he will aim it at the Welsh National and even with a win today it will probably get in off a low weight. I stand by my reasons for having a decent bet 14/16 e/w with 5/6 places and also quite a bit on @ 18/1 win only on Betfair – if it wins I shall crack open a red wine or two - if it loses I will probably do the same happy in the knowledge I have struck a bet I believed in.