Epsom Blues

By Ronan Groome

Saturday, 5th June

I was trying to stimulate my own excitement to look on this year’s Derby not from just a betting perspective, but from a general interest. But I was finding it hard. It looked like a well below average renewal and I was finding it hard to anticipate that a superstar could emerge from the wide open field. I had backed Azmeel, €15 each-way at 20/1 after his Chester win and that was going to do for me. The price of Jan Vermeer was laughable, all that money, because of one performance. The same could be said for Rewilding, the gamble on the day, a large chunk of the money must have been from those once-a-year race-goers who recognised Frankie Dettori.

Apart from Azmeel, I only had two other bets on the day’s racing (betting like a real pro these days), Doctor Zhivago, €16 at 9.8 in the first at Epsom and €26 on Ziggy Lee at 7.8 in Musselburgh. Doctor Zhivago had run really well in a hot race at Newbury and finished well ahead of Verdant who was trading at 5/2 for today’s race. And I fancied Ziggy Lee to turn the tables on Hamish McGonagall in the sprint up in Scotland, because in their previous race, Ziggy Lee had run really well, despite having stumbled badly at the start and was facing that runner on much better terms.

People seemed to be getting very excited about the performance of Workforce, I am not so sure. It was a surprising that only one horse managed to come out of the pack and actually pass the 100/1 pace-setter. Jan Vermeer lost both his front shoes and several of them failed to stay. Maybe I am being a bit harsh, Michael Stoute’s horse did break the course record, aided by the fast pace and won by a massive seven lengths on only his third ever start. Still, it was annoying to hear and read people mention him in the same sentence as Sea The Stars. Azmeel actually finished third-last, failing to stay and the Derby came between Doctor Zhivago finishing last in the first race and Hamish McGonagall confirming form with Ziggy Lee in the Sprint. Rough day.

By the time racing had finished, there were two football matches on the menu. Sligo and Mayo were taking each other on and after Kildare were taking on Louth. A lot of my friends had had a laugh when I informed them that I had €5 on Sligo to win the All-Ireland at 260 on Betfair. I obviously don’t think they can win the whole thing but they have a more than hopeful chance of getting to the quarter or semi-final stage where I could get a nice return on my investment. They were way overpriced 11/4 against a Mayo side that never really convince at any stage during the Championship. Who is laughing now boys?

Wisely I stayed away from the Leinster match and instead watched the carnage transpire. I have had a few jokes with people I know from Louth recently about what their county exactly has to offer. But I suppose now they look like they have a football team, so I may be silenced for a short while. After that, a mate of mine recommended that I back Mervyn King against Gary Anderson in the U.K. Open in darts. It looked to be happy days when King looked the business going 3-0 up and later he threw a nine-darter to go hold his throw in the 14th leg; I could have kissed my television. Surely there is nothing that can be more perfect in all sport than nine perfect darts. Unfortunately, he went on to lose the match, costing me €25 in the process, the joy of jumping around in my living room after King hit the double-12 was only mere consolation.

Sunday, 6th June

A relatively quiet day. I decided to make a rare appearance at mass. Apparently, the Eucharistic Congress, (sounded like the World Cup of religion) is on its way back to Ireland for the first time since 1932. I enjoyed chatting about it with my nana, who was over for dinner in the evening, she remembered the last time it was in Ireland like I remembered the last World Cup and seemed generally excited about the prospect of the return of the event.

Getting down to serious business, I popped into a Paddy Power shop after mass and as I wrote out my bets for the two football matches on the menu, I heard the Paddy Power announcer say that Monaghan had lost their goalkeeper, who was replaced by their full back and they had arrived at the stadium only half an hour before the match was due to start. I was backing Armagh anyway and immediately decided to have more on, €45 at 10/11. I thought Kerry should have been clear favourites against Cork, having had a game already, playing at home and with motivation after last year’s Munster final defeat. So I got €55 on them at 2.44 on Betfair when I got home. Watching the Armagh match was painful, Monaghan were far superior to the orange men in every department. They looked really good as well, given that their preparation was far from ideal and they may have still been a bit ‘green’ on their first outing, as we say in horse-racing. They could be a nice bet at the revised price of 20/1 for the All-Ireland. I thought that Kerry were lucky to even get out with a draw. Cork were on top for a long time after a slow start and a few of the Kerry frees were suspect, especially their equaliser.

The day was disappointing because I really fancied myself to gather some ammunition before the start of the World Cup, but I got both matches totally wrong. I am ridiculously un-organised for the biggest sporting even in the world and with Friday as the deadline, I may have to go through the choppy waters of online poker to gather some funds. Gambling for a gamble.

By Ronan Groome