Ladies' Guild Meeting - June 2010
The June meeting was dedicated to colour, grooming and show. The theme for the evening being one that was a new development for the Guild, “Placing a Winning Bet.” The ladies provided colour and grooming. We had been asked to come with hats, Ascot style, which meant dressing for the occasion. We were fed in the traditional way with delicious strawberries and cream adding to the indulgence.
The grooming of the beautifully turned out horses we saw on the screen added to the glamour of the evening as we began to learn the ropes for having a little flutter as in the sport of kings. Our speaker for the evening was John Archer, who brought his daughter Rachel to deal with the computer. He first explained that following the progress of the races was his hobby and then went on to instruct us in the ways to select a horse for a flutter. He did admit that many people choose a horse because of the horse’s mane or the trainer or the jockey but we were to learn that there were many other considerations.
We then turned to the paperwork, here my knowledge of racing terms increased; we learned to rate performances giving points for achievements, for placings in the last two outings, for being a course winner, for a winner at the distance the same as the proposed race, for being among the top three in the betting forecasts and for being among the top three of form racing. Now we knew how to do it so it got harder!
We then turned to stakes and found a bewildering number of ways to lose the cash. There are doubles and trebles where you bet on horses in two or three races and if your instinct is correct your winnings from the first race go on the second horse and then the third if the second wins. If the third wins you celebrate but it is usually the bookie who celebrates. One can bet each way; by this time many of us wondered which way we were going!
Then we studied form like a pro by looking at the details of the 2 o’clock at Cheltenham, 14th March 2006. A whole new world of information came flooding in. The numbers indicate the race they are in, so 114 is race one and horse 14. The horse name, trainer name, jockey name along with more complicated details which, judging by the expressions on many faces around me, were incomprehensible for a novice, all counted. Until then I had believed that a novice was a horse in its first race!
A few of the group displayed a lot of unexpected knowledge by asking questions with vocabulary which showed a depth of understanding. We needed to consider the trainer, how long ago the horse raced, whether he was a winner or had won at a similar length and also the jockey and weight the horse had to carry. Having studied the form, noticed the probable starting prices and discounted the odds, where it takes a greater stake to get a little back; also ignoring the obvious outsiders we then placed our imaginary bets. Then we watched the video with much excitement, cheering and delight were expressed by those who had “won.”
We had all placed a bet in the form of 20p in a collection: this to be won by the lady who got the most winning points. After two videos, despairing or delighted by our efforts, we were all pleased to find that Julia Leafe had won and would donate the money to the cancer research charity that she supports by doing the midnight walk. We had a longer than usual eventful evening that we will all remember for the new concepts, fun and laughter. John Archer’s enthusiasm gave us a very original summer evening.
Under starters orders at 7:30 pm in July to hear about William Morris.