In the betting ring

Weld weakness

IT was a big help that the rain held off on Monday evening. Turnover was up on last year and I was very happy with the level of business we did.

It started badly though. Le Richebourg was well backed at 4/9. It was 11/4 the second favourite and you could stick the rest up your jumper.

I’d call it a ‘Bill or Ben’ race. You’re laying the favourite for the public really and just have to grin and bear it.

We had a 20/1 winner of the next, Pateen, but I actually had to get off the box to back it myself at 33/1 to ensure we didn’t lose on the race! Artful Artist (4/1 favourite) was second and he would have been a much worse result for us.

Punters probably think we love these 20-runner handicaps but very often the place book takes away the profit you made on the win bets.

The two-year-old maiden was the lightest betting race of the night by miles, so the 14/1 winner wasn’t as great a result as it looked. Maybe it’s because Dermot Weld is not as dominant this year but the market seems a lot more open. We’re seeing money for four or five horses in every race, which is great.

Take Weld’s runner, Rich History, in the seven-furlong handicap as an example. That would have been a 5/2 chance most years but he was relatively weak at 7/1 and finished last.

We won a few quid on the two-mile amateur handicap. Swamp Fox (5/1 favourite, finished second) would have been terrible for us, as would Tony Martin’s Sweet Company.

The bumper was a cracker – there was money for five horses and we had no complaints even though Willie and Patrick Mullins supplied the winner.

We took plenty of €10 bets and the biggest wager of the evening was €2,000. I was delighted overall. We’ll never see the volumes we had 20 years ago but the difference now is that it’s all cash.

Years ago you could win six figures at Galway but you mightn’t get paid!