Small fields: Discerning Irish punters want status quo to remain
We have had murmurings in Ireland as well, at least in certain quarters, that something has to be done about races that fail to allow punters the possibility of each-way betting.
The answer, of course, is more handicaps and, whatever about the Brits, if you really want to piddle off the serious Irish punter then that is certainly the road to travel.
There is little wrong with races that house a small number of runners, at least from an Irish point of view, indeed they traditionally attract the biggest turnover.
Irish punters, when they think they can narrow a contest down to maybe two or three possibilities, will always be prepared to play big.
And, I’ll wager, the Irish bookmaker will have them every day of the week, in preference to those awful handicaps.
I know of Irish on-course layers who hate handicaps. They end up maybe going 4-1 the field, hold only a small amount and are wide open to having to make a decent pay out, with little being earned even if they get a screamer.
Leave the Brits off down their own road, the real Irish punter is far more discerning and knows when he is being sold a pup.
Take the two-day Irish Oaks meeting at the Curragh recently as an example. There were eight races on the Saturday and the three worst betting heats were the three handicaps on the card.
The bookmakers held €20,000 twice and €27,000 in one. Best betting race was the Oaks, won by Bracelet, the bookmakers holding in excess of €73,000
And then there was the five-runner Group 3 Anglesey Stakes, won by Dick Whittington, which the Brits, apparently, would find a turn-off. This saw €62,219 bet with the layers.
On the Sunday at the Curragh the best betting race was the seven runner Group 2 won by Michael Stoute’s Mango Diva, €74,338.
Contrast that with the marginally less than €26,000 that was bet in the richly endowed 16-runner Rockingham Handicap.
Now that type of 11-2 the field five furlongs wide open puzzle is what constitutes a real turn-off.
had to be Dermot Weld’s Tandem in a maiden hurdle on Wednesday.
Talking through the proverbial pocket? Absolutely. Look, the word for him was simply savage and defeat wasn’t contemplated.
Having got on at 13-8 and 11-8, about a horse returned at evens, it was then just a matter of sitting back, enjoying the view and waiting for the little under four minutes it took for the race to be run before forming an orderly queue.
I know Robbie McNamara probably didn’t give him the greatest of rides, but you would have to say Tandem was bitterly disappointing in finishing third behind Most Peculiar and Draco.
I must admit to feeling most peculiar after the race and it was a miracle oxygen wasn’t needed!
and part of what he said was a bit surprising.
Rogers’ 14-year-old Fit The Cove was raised by 5lbs after finishing fourth of five in a conditions race at Ballinrobe.
The old-timer was having his first run of the season, supposedly on his way to Galway this week, and met trouble in running.
Anyway, after the 5lbs was handed down, Rogers was moved to say: “If the handicapper has his way, he’ll make sure (Fit The Cove) he won’t win at Galway.
Handicappers are trying to put the small man out of racing.’’
Now, trainers kicking seven-bells of handicappers is almost a national pastime. But the notion the handicappers are trying to put the small man out of racing is rather extreme.
backing Michael Halford’s Sindarban in a maiden at Wexford and I must confess to being one of them.
There was some 7-4 available, but got 6-4 about a horse that, by my reckoning, was entitled to be odds on.
In a short space of time Sindarban’s price collapsed and he soon hit odds-on with every firm in the land.
But the support didn’t stop there and the players on the exchanges seemed to think there was no limit to what they should have on.
By the time Sindarban left the gates, he was a 2-5 shot. Now his chance was obvious, but that was plainly ridiculous.
Anyway, we sat back, as usual, and waited for the pay-day to materialise, but he couldn’t deliver, proving no match for Dermot Weld’s newcomer, Renown, in the closing stages.
There were no complaints from this quarter, he who lives by the sword dies by the sword and all of that.
But if you were one of those who invested at say 4-9 then did you really deserve any better?
