Your Cheltenham Festival Stories

[jono]

So with just less than 9 weeks to go until the festival the excitement really builds and the dream of our antepost portfolios coming in and that retirement multiple still has potential.

There's been a few stories pop up in some of the threads over the last couple of weeks. I loved the story Ista had about the binman getting £3k e/w at 33/1 on cinders and ashes in the Supreme - so good.

Kev (i think?!) mentioned about having Lyreen Legend in the RSA at 50/1 and narrowly losing out for 2nd place by a head
(again I think?! - definitely a 50/1 antepost win bet getting done near the line) - Ouch!!

I love hearing stories like this. I imagine there's plenty more throughout the forum and I find they help build my optimism for a big festival win/multiple/acca coming in etc and just ramp up the excitement even more in the build up.

Run ins with any of the trainers/owners/jockeys?
Stories of the festival experiences?
Any (big) multiples / placepots that have come good for you?
Even any agonizing bets of narrowly missing out?
Any days where you've ever gone through the card at the festival or won big?
Your best / worst betting days at the festival?
Your best / worst antepost bets?

etc etc...

On posting this i'd have loved to have posted a great story or bet etc myself over the last 4-5 years...sadly I have few :o Yet to get any great (or frankly interesting for here) stories and my antepost betting has only really increased from the odd 2 or 3 bets in the last 2 seasons.

• Probably my biggest near-miss was from last years festival. i had Josies Orders / Ivanovich Gorbatov / On The Fringe 'JP' treble I had placed antepost. I think the return was +750 points and had had a decent stake on. Made all the more annoying after the Any Currency situation where JO was later declared the winner months after. I had actually forgotten about the bet leading up to the festival and with the treble going down at the first leg on the Wednesday I thought little of it. It wasn't until I checked my betting account once the festival was over where I realised how close the bet came

• A win 4-fold placed last February on Annie Champion Hurdle (1st) VVM Mares (1st) Yorkhill Neptune (1st) Vautour in the Gold Cup. So I joined the many who were stung by the Vautour Ryanair switch. The Annie fall is also a low 2 seasons back for the Day one Four Timer but pretty much everyone was in the same boat there!

• I've done pretty well in terms of profit almost every festival but never huge wins on a single horse. Cause of Causes in last years Kim Muir would probably stand to be my biggest win on a single horse so far - backed at 14's when the weights came out and all the way down several times. Ended up I think about a 30pt win

No great stories that's for sure so i'll highlight the story Ista had as I mentioned above incase people missed it to kick this off:

I met the owners at Cheltenham a few weeks ago, great story about one of them taking a call from Donald McCain who asked him if he;d backed Cinders & Ashes yet, he said no and McCain said the horses work is unbelievable and on this form he's win teh Champion.
Owner disappears outside to make a call to his bookie, has £10k e/w 33/1.
At the time he made the call the bins were being collected and one of the binmen who knew the owner overheard the conversation with the bookie, he then went home raided the savings accounts and had £3k e/w 33/1.
Just after Cheltenham the binman retired, knocked on owners door, shook his hand and said without knowing it you've changed my life.

So...post your festival stories

[Joleg]

i took my wife for her first visit to the festival in 2005, as i recall it was a very cold day and i was wandering around the bookies looking for the best price on a horse that i fancied. The bookie with the most appealing price had a huge queue so i asked my wife to stand in it while i went to the toilet with instruction that if she should get to the front she was to ask for £15 wi on number ?. When returning from the toilets i noticed that i had told her the wrong number so ran back to the bookie, only to see me wife turning away with betslip in hand. The horse that i was now 'lumbered with' was Idole First who won at odds of 33-1 (asi recall it was the Coral Cup) so i was over the moon. The downside to this if there is one was that my wife thought she was lucky and insisted on picking horses in the next races (but using my money) True Story that i wheel out around festival time every year

[jono]

^ haha great story that Joleg

[mayo]

This is the dream

http://www.fatjockey.com/news-blogs/racing_news.php?Stablelad-Scoops-1m-57

Not sure about this bit

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/horseracing/2014/10/26/murphy-turns-big-bet-into-a-stable-career/17981399/

[Istabraq]

mayo - didn't that stablelad have £20 or more on but the max payout of £1m cost him fortunes ?

Great story Joleg, love that.

1991 when the County Hurdle was rightly the finale, I'd had a decent week and had in my pocket what I start out with on Monday so I had £10 e/w Winnie the Witch.
Trained by Ken Bridgewater and ridden by his son David (now a trainer) I'm sure she raced from outside the handicap but took it up over the second last and scooted clear to win by 7l at 33/1, in the payout queue I met one of the Bridgewaters who slated me for not getting the 40/1 !
That night I went to a pub in Bishops Cleeve with the promise of paying for the beers for my 4 mates all night but I wasn't allowed to by a beer at all.
The Gold Cup was won by Garrison Savannah that day, one of the owners lived in the village and had wiped out two local bookies when everyone backed the horse at Christmas at 50s or something stupid after a wind op, I'd just picked up £430 and couldn't buy a pint !
Cracking night.

Less cracking was backing the Giant Bolster at 500 and 600 on the 'fair to pay off the mortgage.
Never one to trade out I watched him jump 3 out with a chance and 2 out with a lead only to get done after the last, gutted.
I had a proper bet on Salsify in the Foxhunters immediately after the Gold Cup which won but I don't remember a thing, I was just numb....

[Old Vic]

Like it Istabraq. How low did TGB go in running ? The trouble with some of those bets is that the antepost and race markets are different so you can't lay off without a big deposit or going back in again. If I have a good position on something I generally do back and lay again on the day now - learnt the hard way I think it was 2011 I had 4 horses on the first day traded at below 1.3 in running and lost.

Conor Murphy overstated he should have collected over three mill. Plenty of others in the yard had smaller similar bets.

[Istabraq]

Someone said TGB got to evens in running.
Pro punter friend of mine (not racing) said when you have a bet to change your life put an order up to trade out on the other side, so my £300+ at over 500/1 he reckons I should have put a lay order up at evens for £75k, wouldn't have needed any more deposits for that as it would be a closing out of my original bet.
Hindsight and all that....

Conor Murphy that's the lad, went to the States didn't he ?

That's horrific OV, not many get picked up at Cheltenham so to have all those go down at 1.3 is unreal, I feel for you

[jono]

Less cracking was backing the Giant Bolster at 500 and 600 on the 'fair to pay off the mortgage.
Never one to trade out I watched him jump 3 out with a chance and 2 out with a lead only to get done after the last, gutted.

Ouch!! Can't imagine the range of emotions you must have felt during that race

[Kevloaf]

I went with just one mate last year on the Tuesday. Up at 6am to get the train down from leafy Cheshire. Got my Frankel cuff-links on (despite wearing a shirt that didn't require them, I just stuffed them through the button holes anyway) and had a very greasy and equally satisfying sausage and egg sandwich whilst loitering with anticipation at Crewe train station.

We met a girl on the train (think she got on at Birmingham, the icon implies something happened, which might make me sound cooler) ... turns out she temping and going down to hand out "free racing posts" at the course ... she wasn't too clued up on the racing so as a parting gift we gave her a tip for Double Shuffle in the last. (Too embarrased to admit the Ricci 4-timer was the best bet of the day)

Arrived at Cheltenham, put on some free PaddyPower pants and a Ruby Walsh mask and wandered in to a pub. Atmosphere was building, started talking to the Irish about how much of a certainty Min was and how my friends entire festival was riding on the Min / Douvan double.

...time starts to fly....

*Roar goes up*

Dreams turned to ashes in his mouth. I didn't dare tell him I had 10 points on Altior at 4/1. He was broken. Neverr a better advert to not let one horse determine your festival. He hung around, pretending to raise a smile when Douvan soared over the last. I'd advised him to back the Ricci treble that was to follow just so he had a bit of interest... but instead he kept his powder dry to try and rescue his festival in the Ultima...

Out Sam he picked... he hates Gavin Sheehan now for the "terrible ride" he gave him ... 'should've trusted Ruby'... I didn't have the balls to say

I didn't see him after the Mares race, when the place was buzzing. He said his goodbyes after that, before the 4 miler and tried to get me to go with him. Wasn't having any of that, I am in my element chatting to strangers, especially when they like racing, so off he went and I sat down and asked a man what he fancied in the 4 miler. Minella Rocco he said. I dismissed him, told him that Noble Endeavor had it in the bag and the wave of money coming seemed to back me up as we looked up at the big screen!

Didn't see him again either... probably because I wasn't at the bookies collectin' and he was

BUT... I was walking towards the winners enclosure and directly infront of me, the imperious and unmistakable coat and hat of Willie Mullins. He waked straight towards me, I held out my little arm and offered him a hand shake. He gratefully accepted my congratulations and walked towards the winners enclosure to great Measureofmydreams who placed.

I was absolutely delighted and went to buy another beer, safe in the knowledge that Double Shuffle was about to hack up in the last.

I don't remember the journey home, but I do remember having one of the best days of my life.

[Faugheen_Machine]

Great story Kev. Are you going with the same mate again this year? If so, I do hope his betting strategy has improved - being 'all in' on race 1 has its obvious flaws

[Istabraq]

Nice story Kev, but back to this brasser on the train...

[Kevloaf]

Yeah the same mate is going ... but I've got back up this year... including the fiancee.

Ista - Maybe I'll PM you about that haha

[KingSprinterSacre]

Great story Kev but FFS what happened with the girl on the train? Read the rest of the story but was still thinking about it all the way down lol.

And your bringing the Fiancee ?! Have you done that before? It'll be the last time haha. My Mrs has been asking to go for a few years but its strictly the lads day out lol

[Kevloaf]

Bumped into her again, that's all I'll say haha.

No never before and I doubt she'll enjoy it or understand why I do ... A group of couples this time though so we'll form a splinter group!

[Joleg]

Bumped into her again, that's all I'll say haha.

No never before and I doubt she'll enjoy it or understand why I do ... A group of couples this time though so we'll form a splinter group!

Could be dangerous, they will end up more pi***d than you, especially if they don'y have the distraction of wanting to watch the race!!