Messi magic makes up for Lockinge woe

By Ronan Groome

Saturday, May 15th

The weekend sport on offer is radically changing these days. With the flat season now in full swing, all English football seasons coming to an end and our own G.A.A. football and hurling championships about to begin, you know summer is here. But I had other things to worry about last Saturday morning, with the first of my summer exams taking place at the unearthly hour of 9:30am. I had all week to study for the exam in question, but with a further week and a half to my next exam, to say my preparation and attitude for this one was lackadaisical would be a severe understatement. I am studying Equine Business and the exam in question was Stud Farm Business Management. Sitting down on Friday night, with topics like growing grass and controlling diseases on the to-do list, I found myself once again questioning the reason I was still pursuing the course. Despite this, I priced myself up as a solid 2/7 shot to pass. And with the questions I required coming up, E.V.A, how I love that disease, I reckon I waffled my way to a solid pass.

With academic matters out of the way, it was time to get down to serious business. The Lockinge Stakes was the feature on a quality looking Newbury card and the F.A. Cup was also at the forefront of proceedings. I was tempted to back Chelsea unquoted score, but I had a sneaky feeling Portsmouth would give them a decent game. You should never go against sneaky feelings, you will certainly be down money in the long run.

So I decided to concentrate on racing and after keeping my powder dry in the first two races, the third race, a high quality 10 furlong handicap, looked likely to attract my first bet of the day. I was interested in the John Dunlop-trained Green Moon, who ran out an impressive five-length winner of his maiden at Leicester. He was easy in the market and I began studying other runners before time passed by and, having been distracted for a short while, I only came to my senses when the race was off. Green Moon had managed to get himself an early lead and I still had the opportunity to get on, he was trading at 9.2 on Betfair. But having left the first two races alone, I decided to be strict on myself, having not been 100% certain. Things looked ok, three furlongs out when Jamie Spencer was under more pressure than others but as they went on, nothing came close to Green Moon and he ran out a decisive four-length winner, returning at odds of 11/1. Yea, ouch. I blasted myself for being such a girl. I mean there is one thing being strict and playing tight but that was just silly. It is called gambling for a reason.

I was determined to get back some of my dignity in the main event. The Lockinge had a clear favourite in Paco Boy, trading around 1.86 on Betfair and at 4/5 everywhere else. After his impressive Sandown win on his first run of the season, I thought he was nailed on for this and deserved to be more of an 8/13 or 4/7 shot. I thought it was ridiculous that some people still doubted his ability over a mile, he had already won and been placed in Group 1 company over the distance. “Unproven at the top level over a mile” I heard some analysts comment, Usain Bolt must still have it all to do then. I weighed up hitting the deposit button, to go in hard before my feminine instincts struck again. I really liked the run of The Cheka when he was third behind Paco Boy last time out. He had been over a year off the track before that and he put in a solid effort with his jockey not too hard on him late on. The trainer reported he had come on leaps for that and expected a big run. Reluctantly deciding against unloading on Paco Boy, I opted for the value with The Cheka and had €22 on at 17.5 on Betfair and another €10 each way at 14s with Paddy Power. Kieren Fallon was well off the bridle two furlongs out and looked in big trouble. To my misery, Richard Hughes was practically laughing at his rival jockeys coming into the final furlong, Paco Boy winning at a canter. Is that not what I just predicted? No Ronan, you said that and then you pansied out. With that, confidence was down and depression was seeping in, I signed off for the day.

Sunday, May 16th

Revitalised, regalvanised and ready for action. The All-Ireland Football Championship was the main priority as it will be for many more Sundays into the summer. I drove into town to get the papers and stopped in nearby bookmakers to get a few outright bets on. I was quite surprised to see Cork as short as 2/1 favourites and a clear gap to Kerry at 3/1. I like Cork and have a feeling this could be their year. If you ranked teams in order from last year they would be quite close to Kerry. Considering the champions have lost three of their big players and teams just don’t seem to be able to win back-to-back All-Irelands, I suppose their neighbours have a right to be favourites. Tyrone look a team that are coming to the end of their tenure and Dublin’s annual price of 15/2 offers about as much value for your money as NAMA. I decided to look outside the top teams and I had €10 each way on Armagh at 33/1, €7.50 each way on Kildare at 40/1 with Paddy Power and fell for the sentiment in backing my own county Meath, €7.50 each way at 50/1 with Boyles. Sligo also interested me, but I ran out of cash. In horse racing terms, they all look really progressive and sure to improve as the competition goes on, with a bit of luck in-running they could be there come the business end.

And one of them was in action on the day. Armagh where playing Derry and bookmakers where finding it hard to split the two. Having already backed Armagh long-term, I already had interest in the game. But I was really surprised to see them trading as clear outsiders on Betfair. Still smarting from the lack of testosterone that I displayed the day before, I decided this time to go with my gut instinct and managed to get €35 matched at 2.64 in the early stages of the morning.

Whilst waiting for that action to commence, I received a text from a friend advising me to watch the Monaco Grand Prix. I switched over and was truly amazed by the scenes in the race. It was exhilarating to watch, even scary at times. People say jockeys deserve more recognition for what they do every day. These guys were racing at ridiculous speeds through streets that could barely even fit two cars alongside each other. The cars looked so light, the drivers could probably carry them around after the race. Not only are ambulances on hand, but fire brigades as well. Incidentally, the two sports have a lot in common, when you think about it. In practice, your position at the start is vitally important, you are only as good as what’s under you, which can be highly difficult to manage and which in turn relies heavily on the team behind it. It is all about adjusting stamina and speed and the only thing that differs is the use of a pit-stop. Now wait a second, perhaps that is an idea for Racing For Change or HRI to pursue? Halfway through races, when the pace is just about to get going, jockeys could pull their horses up for a nice little break, maybe a change of shoes and a drink of water. What a spectacle that could be. All joking aside, the only thing Racing For Change seems to be interested in is changing numbers into decimals. How radical and revolutionary they are.

The football had begun quite steady, with both sides going score for score, until late in the half, Derry passed their way through the Armagh defence and Paddy Bradley, unmarked at the back post, was on hand literally, to tap in. Leaving Paddy Bradley, Derry’s main man, unmarked anywhere near your goal, is like aiming an AK 47 rifle straight for your foot. Despite that sucker punch, Stevie McDonnell brought Armagh back with three points on his own, two from quite ridiculous angles and the other a free from outside the 45-yard line. And much to my delight, Armagh excelled in the second half when a silly Derry chap got himself sent off for a second yellow card. The next live game featured Kerry travelling to Tipperary. I fancied the champions to notch up a high score but decided against wagering at a short enough price. In hindsight it was another bad move, with Colm Cooper, most definitively Gaelic football’s answer to Lionel Messi, running riot. But it was the return of Keiran Donaghy, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who stole the show, setting up 1-8 of his team’s 2-18 tally.

The last potentially profitable event of the weekend presented itself in the form of Barcelona’s last match in La Liga. The Catalans needed a victory for their second successive title and the game mirrored last week’s Premiership decider at Stamford Bridge, except that the opponents, Real Valladolid, needed a result, as they were battling relegation. I still thought Barca, with the finishing line in sight and having put six by the same team in the same fixture last season, would win easily and the unquoted score, anything over the 3-0 scoreline, on Betfair was slightly overpriced at 2.2 in my book. I had €65 on that, with €7 on 3-0 at 7.2, as a cover. After the first quarter was goal-less, I became slightly worried. But then lady luck made a rare appearance in my favour, with a desperate own goal giving Barca a 1-0 lead. After that, it was the Lionel Messi show. He weaved past two defenders before sliding in Pedro for the second and then going on to score the next two himself in the second half to land my bet. When players like Messi come along, you thank God for the gift of eyesight. It is a privilege to even bet on a team he is playing for, for the sake of having him playing on your side.

By Ronan Groome