This is a very quick blog post because in a moment I’m off to Bristol on the motorbike and tomorrow I’m planning a trip down to Bournemouth. I know! two outings in one week! That’s my friend Kev above, wondering where it all went wrong, because last Friday evening saw us at the races. Sam (My wife) noticed an evening meet was being advertised at Bath Racecourse and so off we went. When I say “us” it includes the family of course, but also we invited Kev. An odd choice perhaps, not Kev, I mean as a destination for the children. We were struggling to think of something to do, the children have been let down so often with the pandemic from cancelled trips and outings this seems like a sure bet for some fun. The last time I was at Bath Racecourse was when it doubles up as a COVID vaccination centre, I’ve had both Astra Zeneca jabs there, a bit of a gamble maybe, but the payout is huge. As the government are fond of saying, we’re in a race to get everyone vaccinated, time for a different kind of race.
I’d like to say the payouts were huge at the actual races. As I wasn’t often on the receiving end of any I snapped someone else receiving his from the bookie (Bookmaker/Turf Accountant). Clearly he’d bet ‘on the nose’!
Now, Kev is arguably an expert on all things gambling related, horse races are his particular field of expertise, so you might be led to believe that he was a good guy to have around. I can remember going to the races with him many years ago. We were stood by the ring where the stable lads/lasses lead the horses around for inspection before the race…
…I asked “What are you seeing here Kev, any tips?”. He scratched his chin, in an expert attempting to put it into simple terms kind of way. “Well” he replied, “I watch them all go around a few times and then pick the horse that has the prettiest stable girl leading it”! There you have it, ‘straight from the horses mouth’, so to speak. On Friday evening I watched for a while and decided that although there was some merit in his ‘tip’, I wasn’t quite so sure that you’d want to bet your hard earned cash based on the looks of a stable girl. As Sam was with me I decided not a good bet to reveal this method, she can be a ‘Spirited Filly’ and so I reverted to my own tried and tested way.
My method is simple. Set a limit. Always £10 per race, seven races on the card, the most I’m likely to lose is £70. The morning before I look at a few of the tipsters and write down the horses that are mentioned most often in their columns. I have a race card with two horses picked for each race that I can choose from and by people who actually know and study the form of each horse. So far, so good. The problem arises that they’re usually ‘favourites’ to win and therefore not much of a payout with the odds not being favourable. The other issue is that I’ve still left myself with the choice of two horses for each race and I need to select just one of them. You guessed correctly that I generally pick the wrong one of the two choices. I always bet ‘on the nose’ or to win. There’s an option for an ‘each way’ bet or ‘place bet’ of course, but I don’t bother with that. Invariably the horse I bet on to win comes 2nd and the other option on my list that I decided against comes 1st. In fact, if I was a betting man I’d say my foolproof system is indeed extremely foolish, or as our American friends would say…’lame’. Yes, and in one race there was a ‘photo finish’, I had second and first, just the wrong way around. This is beginning to sound like the time I tried to explain hyperfocal focussing on this blog, an easy method became really complex once I tried to write it down so we’ll leave it there. We watched them go down to the start of each race:
I always like this part as the horses are close to the rail and of course I can grab a shot. I took some shots of them coming back racing to the winning post, but to be honest we’ve all seen that before and they’re on the far rail. I’m shooting with a 28mm lens so it’s hardly dramatic. Times like this that I miss my Canon and 70-200 zoom. We’d see the grimace on the faces of the jockey’s and the mud flying. Instead we take a photo of a winner. Louis looking a little too smug for my liking.
His ante was £2 per race, £14 in total. On this one he’d one £13 and on another £3. Sickening! Obviously there’s a cost involved on these outings apart from the actual betting. There’s the bar and numerous drinks, hot dogs, ice creams, all priced as you’d expect with a captive audience. Anyone who has been to the cinema will know how that works. Plus you need a ticket to get in. Back to Kev, the horse racing expert. Whilst I was in a queue (a very small one) to pick up Louis’s winnings from the bookie, remembering that the race had finished 5 minutes ago, I noticed the horse he’d backed just coming/strolling home in the background of this shot:
The sun was setting and I took a little time to grab some shots around the the place. You can see that the sun was setting and we were beginning to see that beautiful late evening light:
The final race arrived. As Kev calls it “The Desperate Stakes”. I’m happy to announce that my horse won and therefore the Harper Horse Racing Method did okay, just a small loss for the evening. Obviously that wouldn’t include the other costs, even so a great result in my book. It was a fabulous evening, the children really enjoyed it, so did I, so did Sam and of course Kev was as always excellent company. The next day Sam said to me over breakfast “Kev is so lovely, he’s a great conversationalist and so kind and attentive to the kids. He actually takes time to talk and listen to them, so many adults don’t”. I agreed, although I needed to point out that you may find a different man after you’ve been on a plane to Chicago on route Las Vegas for nine hours with him! That’s a long trip, but one I’m hoping Kev and I will be taking again very soon.
As always my sincere thanks go to anyone taking the time to read this blog.
All images can be opened by clicking on the thumbnails and are taken using a Leica M with Summicron 28mm Lens fitted.
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