All bets on Galway for flutters and frolics

FROM virgin to veteran, I have confidently cast aside the novice form which beleaguered my first twist at Ballybrit last year.

Although an excursion to Cheltenham in March caused further fiscal embarrassment, a rollicking run by a rickety rag at Punchestown left me royally flush. The rag in question, scientifically selected with a pin (a rag being the horse at the bottom of the betting market), left me moist-eyed with gratitude, a grand richer and with a lip on me for greater success.

And so I arrived in Galway today, buoyed up by rich Punchestown pickings, but wary of being “too sharp”, which in racing parlance means too pumped up on a win.