The agony and the ecstacy

Well I think I've been through the whole spectrum of different emotions this week, agony, ecstacy, despair and everything else in between, but at the end of the day its only a game, even though I'd rather things stayed a bit more on an even keel at times.
I knew it was a bad omen talking about drains last week, as thats where most of my money disappeared in the Corn Cuchulainn heats at Harolds Cross last Friday.
I usually play the ante post markets on the dogs but as nothing pricewise materialised as the event drew near, I decided to have a few single wagers and of course everything I backed seemed to get second or third-itis.
Even when I went down the dual forecast route, they contrived to finish second or third behind some hitherto unheralded winner but at the end of the day I was £370 down which was rather silly for saying I had only intended to have a few small bets earlier in the day.
Anyway with the first round out of the way, one of the firms finally got around to pricing up and in a bid to recoup some of my losses, and also encouraged by my overall record on the Irish stuff, decided to up my stakes a little and back a few of my fancies each way to try to maximise any profits, something I rarely do except on the odd longshot.
I've just watched the second round tonight and of course all my each way dogs have immediately exited the competition encountering all kinds of difficulties in running, meaning that another £300 has gone west though I do have a potential profit still if Ferdia Bound takes the event with £100 at 5/1.
He finished second after himself getting into all sorts of tangles after a slow start but he is my last representative at present unless I decide to delve into the market again as back up.
I paid another visit to Monmore on Monday to the ongoing Ladbrokes Summer Festival and enjoyed a pleasant day watching my ante post picks perform somewhat better and had a fair representation going into this afternoon's finals.
The day before I spent a couple of hours at the local Pikehall harness races, I went there last year but knowing little about the form I just stuck to backing some of the course winners from the past meeting and it seemed to come up trumps on that occasion but worked out less successfully this time around (although if I'd hung around until the last race I might have gotten into profit eventually).
However there did seem an interminable delay while they were drug testing one of the winners which seemed to drag on for around 50 minutes and my patience began to wear a bit thin, surely they could have carried on racing while they were having their inquest.
Anyhow I departed after the seventh race, only to see quite a few still coming in with six races to go on the marathon card. Actually this was quite a good tactic as you were getting in free and seeing the higher class horses at the end too (the meetings tend to start with the lowest class races and work their way through).
Anyway back to the Summer Festival at Monmore and I actually decided to watch the finals in the sponsors local shop rather than travel down to Wolverhampton again and despite missing the bitches race by getting stuck in traffic (my only contender had been withdrawn lame anyway as it happens) it turned out to be quite an exhilarating 45 minutes or so.
First up Eye Eye Pickle (5/1) held on to beat Mountjoy Gold in a battle of the two Mark Wallis runners which I had both backed ante post in the dogs-only race and I was off to a good start.
Then in the main event for the stayers, the sometimes rogueish Droopys Zach (again for Wallis) put his best foot forward to show them a clean pair of paws and never see another rival to land a 20/1 punt (I had four others in the final as back up anyhow lol).
And in the 416m race which has a kamikaze run to the first bend, Droopys Cadel scooted out to make all and hold off the favourite Hillcrest Orion in the process landing a 25/1 voucher.
Adding up the winnings and subtracting the losses from my roster of ante post bets I concluded that I was £900 up on the afternoon which was nice.
There was a hectic midweek schedule too, starting with the Sky TV meeting at Hall Green. Droopys Bogart did the business for me at 14/1 in the Gymcrak final to add to the coffers but I also had a strong fancy for Ard Beauty at 7/2 early doors in the staying event due to a lack of possible challengers for the lead. As it happens my fancy did lead up but got collared on the run in by Dessies Blueboy much to my dismay.
Thursday saw the Cesarewich get underway at Oxford and with the books going 8/1 the field, I could only restrict myself to a minimum of half a dozen picks who all qualified as it happened though I didnt have the fastest heat winner He Went Whoosh who is now the new favourite at 3/1. I had considered him beforehand but wasn't sure he'd stay the trip.
And up at Newcastle, three events kicked off on the same day. Firstly, the Angel of the North Oaks which saw Plan and Was Not Me both make it through to the final for me though both finished close up seconds in their heats.
In the Tyneside Derby, actual Derby finalist Farloe Reason was another of my picks and he qualified in the runners up spot too along with kennelmate Affleck Elite while Mill Pinpoint also made it through.
And in the main event the TV Trophy, I had to include Bubbly Eagle after an eye-catching recent win in front of the cameras and he was the most impressive performer of the night as it happens, and is now heavy odds on from the opening quote of 2/1.
By the way in last Saturday's Irish St Leger final at Limerick my saver on Bar Blackstone prompted by the draw came to the rescue and I broke even on the event though it was sad to see original ante post favourite Timor Blue get badly injured after being bowled over from an unsuitably wide posting.
Elsewhere, my gaelic football outright bets continued to bowl along nicely as 125/1 shots Antrim shocked their more illustrious opponents Donegal with a one point win in Ballybofey. They now meet Cavan in the Ulster semi final though in reality the chances of them beating Tyrone or Derry in the final itself would seem exceedingly slim - thats why I had been hoping initially for an each way option when I saw the price - the bookies aren't daft though lol.
Cork also did the business against Kerry with a comfortable win to land the odds of 6/4 and I also have 13/8 about them winning Munster with rank outsiders Limerick the opposition in the final.
I also had a bit of a dabble on the 4/11 for Kildare to beat Wexford as they were being backed down at all rates earlier in the week (best price was 3/10 at the off) and although it was no cakewalk they did eventually take the spoils.
Its unfortunate Derry have been clobbered by the disciplinary panel for their exploits in the brutal match against Monaghan earlier in the Championship, losing a couple of their main players, as otherwise I would quite fancy their chances against Tyrone at decent odds.
The balance perhaps has tipped against them now however, especially with the Redhands at pretty much full strength, though the odds of 11/5 are so tempting I will still have a small dabble but with far less confidence.
I've also got a double in progress as Essendon defeated Melbourne in the AFL today and that rolls on to Mayo to defeat Roscommon in Connacht tomorrow, both were quite shortish odds-on chances though.
And in the cricket Pakistan (backed at 17/2) are through to the final against Sri Lanka so hoping for a payout there, though they will probably need to get the impressive Dilshan out fairly quickly and then fend off their highly inventive bowling attack too.
Typically I had New Zealand each way but have got win only on the Pakistanis, but they are the sort of mercurial team who on their day can perhaps be a match for anyone though sometimes being capable of a complete implosion too.
Sad to see that Setanta's rescue bid has seemingly failed tonight with the Russian investor unable or unwilling to conclude a deal and with the Premier League football package now taken away too, its hard to see how they can carry on from here which is a great shame. Whatever some may say about their experiences with the customer service, the channel did offer some diverse sport and for me it was quite refreshing to get away from an almost never ending diet of non stop football.
Anyhow thats it for now
All the best Rick