Working lunch

I'm working only a five-minute walk from work this week. So I timed my lunchbreak to coincide with as many horse races as possible. I nipped back to the flat and logged on to Betfair and, employing my bolder tactics, made £30 on three races.

I just had time for one final race. There was a horse looking very uncomfortable (the Racing Post reported 'she was pulling going to five out and not jumping fluently') towards the back of the field, so I laid it for £4 at 21. Between the final two hurdles, it flew out of the pack and soon had an unassailable lead.

Whether I hadn't been quick enough to back it (thereby cutting my losses) or had been too proud, I'm not sure. But the outcome was an £80 loss. At £50, that was the most expensive cheese bagel of my life.

In the evening, there was a live match on each of Setanta and Sky. I backed both to have more than two goals. Both had exactly two. I also backed 'more than 12 corners' in both games. Another two losing bets - with one finishing with exactly 12 corners. And I couldn't even watch the Newcastle v Aston Villa game because the 'satellite couldn't be located'.

Running total: down to the pennies