MUCH like recent years, Tuesday was quiet by Galway standards. Don’t get me wrong, you’d be delighted with the turnover anywhere else in the country but in comparison to some of the other days at Galway, Tuesday is definitely one of the quietest days.

Maybe it’s because the racing is difficult. The last three races are wide open handicaps and those sort of races can be offputting for punters.

You also have Wednesday as an evening meeting now, so perhaps people are waiting to go and see the Galway Plate.

I’m still happy with the business I did. There is always going to be ups and downs on a week like this so you can’t really complain. The card itself was a tricky one and the first race kind of set the stall for the day. I was thinking Fast Buck might end up a 5/4 shot but in the end he went off 2/1 and nearly every horse in the race was backed. I lost a small amount.

I was delighted to lay Zero Ten at 4/6, thinking that was very short for a Galway beginners’ chase but in the end he went off 1/2. He won well but I did alright on the place book, laying the likes of The Holy One, Smitty Bacall and Jack Dillinger who were all out out of the frame – that actually made it a small winning race.

Strange one

The fillies’ maiden was a strange kind of heat. The favourite could have been a 6/4 shot but ended going off 3/1 and, in truth, I don’t think punters knew what to back. I laid plenty each-way on the second, Chasing The Dawn, and in the end, laid a couple of decent bets on the Weld horse, Azila.

The second maiden was 5/1 the field at one point, until the money came for Limit Long who ended up going off 3/1 from 11/2. He was out of the frame in the end but I still took plenty each-way on the second and third, Mudlahhim and Dedillon.

In the fifth, sixth and seventh races, I won in the win book but lost on the places. The races where there are four places are very difficult to win on – the value is there for punters and as a bookmaker, you kind of have to grind your teeth and go with it. It’s a little frustrating because the more you lay each-way, the more you’re likely to lose.

The big race was slow to get going. It was just another difficult handicap, hard for punters to get their head around. My biggest losers were Numerian, Onlyhuman and Jassaar. Saltonstall was actually next in at fourth – he was quite popular in the end.

Again, in the second last race, the handicap won by One Cool Poet, I laid every single horse each-way except Spruce Meadows. Sharp Focus, Cyrus Dallin and Dani’s Boy were the biggest losers, but One Cool Poet was next on that list and again I lost on the place book.

It was a similar story in the last. Beckwith Place started off an 11/2 shot and I was happy enough to lay €500 each-way at 7/2, thinking I had got in at the bottom of the market, but he ended up with a starting price of 2/1. It was good to get him beat but most of it went back on the place book.

In all, I was happy enough with the business. Yes, it was quiet day, but they can’t all be busy days and I think the days towards the end of the week, Thursday, Friday and even Saturday have become more popular.