Wichita drubbed

I am not really a huge horseracing fan. I enjoy it more than 95% of people, but a ride by Tony McCoy at last week’s Cheltenham festival proved to me that, while I don’t hate it in the way that I do rugby, my interest in the sport is predominantly as a betting medium.

I had laid the favourite Wichita Lineman in the William Hill Trophy because I was convinced that its jumping would let the horse down. I was feeling pleased with myself when it made a terrible mistake at one of the early fences and almost fell. From then on, Wichita would clearly rather have been anywhere else than at Cheltenham racecourse, and McCoy was continually cajoling and whipping it to keep it within touching distance of the field. Despite its apparent reluctance, the horse jumped the last fence in third place. But it was 10 lengths down on the leaders and going the worst of the three. But thanks to an inspired ride by the champion jockey, who was straining every sinew to force everything he could from Wichita, the horse got its head in front in the final stride of the race.

For the next two hours, the presenters on the three racing channels battled to find superlatives to describe what an amazing performance McCoy had given his mount. I admired their professionalism, because they couldn’t all have backed Wichita. But all I could think about was the £50 McCoy had cost me. And I hated him.

I had taken two weeks off around Cheltenham. In light of my huge loss on Stoke, the aim was to win £1,000. At only £70 a day, I didn’t think this was particularly ambitious. Things certainly started well, as I made £150 on the first afternoon and £60 in half an hour the following day, after missing most of the afternoon’s racing, just by laying horses.

But winning small amounts (about £4 a race) by taking bets at long odds on horses to lose hardly sets the pulse racing. And it is extremely risky. Consequently, I got caught up in the excitement of Cheltenham. I bought the Racing Post every day, read all the tipsters’ theories and started backing horses to win. And with only a couple of short-priced winners all week, combined with at least one heavy loss each day after laying a winner for big money, I made a small loss every day of the festival.

The day after Cheltenham finished, I decided to revert to a boring strategy. I didn’t back a single horse to win all afternoon, and whenever a horse that I had laid started advancing through the field, I backed it, so as to reduce any potential losses. The result was 21 winning races and three losers – the biggest of which was only £2.20. My profit of £163 was my best-ever afternoon’s work. Not bad for three hours’ sat in front of my computer – and all tax free.