THE first thing to say is that the crowd is noticeably down in the betting ring. You can feel it walking around, it’s not as busy as normal.

We started very well, winning big on the first two races. Shishkin (drifted to 6/1) was a good result for us. Our two biggest losers in the book were Abacadabras and Chantry House, and there was strong each-way money for Elixir D’Ainay.

In the Arkle, we saw very little money for the 16/1 winner Put The Kettle On. Notebook and Fakir D’oudairies were the two we didn’t want to win. The handicap chase was a reasonably bad result. The Conditional was one of four losers in the book and all the placed horses were bad for each-way.

A year ago, I avoided Epatante in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle as I knew the McManus team fancied her but she flopped. This year I knew she was fancied again but, at 2/1, I decided to take her on for our maximum and it was a costly decision. The placed horses, Sharjah and Darver Star, were not too bad but we were now practically level for the day.

Thankfully we got it right in the Mares’ Hurdle. I laid a €6,000 bet on Benie Des Dieux at 4/6 and I also laid her in lots of doubles and trebles before racing. It would have been unbelievable if we had managed to get Honeysuckle beaten as well but I was happy to see her win.

Imperial Aura beating the other joint-favourite Galvin in the novice handicap chase was no good for us but it could have been a lot worse. Day one ended with a screaming result for us when Carefully Selected disappointed in the amateur riders’ chase. I took one bet of €3,000 on him, a couple of €1,000 bets and lots of monkey bets.

I got married last weekend and my wife Jillian is coming over on Wednesday. We own a very small share in Recent Revelations in the four-year-old handicap hurdle, so maybe Gordon Elliott can do me another favour there.

I expect we will be laying a lot of multiple bets which include Envoi Allen, Defi Du Seuil and Tiger Roll on Wednesday. If they all win the honeymoon will be over.