BIG BLUFF SKINS BOOKIES!
Fortune favoured the brave as punters, to a man, ploughed into Costal Bluff in the Ayr Gold Cup.Like a rampant bingo caller, high numbers ruled the roost, and the 3- 1 jolly became the first favourite since Vaigly Great in 1978 to win our super sprint.
It was a grey day for the layers as the super steed blitzed a trail up the stands rail.
Really, I had to pinch myself, and this self-flagellation is a big kick.
Roman Warrior carried ten stone (what a beast) to land my last Gold Cup touch away back in 1975.
William Hill spokesman David Hood said: "The race was the biggest gamble of the season so far, bar none. He was everybody's banker. You will be hard pressed to find a punter anywhere in the country who wasn't on Coastal Bluff.
"He is a 100 per cent loser for William Hill. The horse was backed from 8- 1 ante-post when the weights came out, through all rates to 3-1 favourite today."
Great news, eh! And oh, what a party, especially after we had to get the begging bowl out on Thursday and Friday.
They say money won tastes twice as sweet as money earned. I wouldn't know, I've a sour taste in my mouth, not to mention my wallet. By Friday night I wore the expression of a man who goes on holiday to Majorca thinking he might have left the gas on.
Pathetic, isn't it? Like most gamblers in the race of life, I'm always being scrubbed along. I wonder what it's like to be able to cruise along hard-held on the fiscal bridle.
However, I take my bonnet off to Mark Kershaw for standing his ground over watering.
He turned the taps off on Wednesday and that was it - nature was allowed to run its course.
Punters knew exactly where they stood and they piled into proven fast ground horses.
Contrast this to Doncaster last Saturday when a reservoir was poured onto the track on Friday night.
If you bet Shantou in the St Leger good luck, but I still say Dushyantor supporters were robbed blind.
The stop-watch experts reckoned the ground was riding six to eight lengths slower than the rest of the week, which definitely swayed the result in Frankie's favour.
It's hard enough deciphering form without clerks of the course compounding things. Methinks, they need a good thrashing with the rubber hose.
Still, there were no excuses yesterday as big Coastal Bluff's form was plain for all to see.
And the full-blast cry from the Ayr punters meant that even owner David Sharp's wife Dawn, with eyes closed, couldn't hear that their horse had won as the jolly was roared home in true Scottish style.
Jockey Jimmy Fortune rode one of the longest priced-winners of the big sprint on Joveworth back in 1989, and in contrast here he was booting one of the shortest-priced favourites home.
"We knew Coatal Bluff was something special as a two year old" recalled owner David Sharp. "He was left ten lengths at Redcar, ran into the fence and was still only beaten a short-head at the line."
There was a nail-biting 10 minutes delay after the Ladbrokes Silver Cup before it was confirmed that Cretan Gift had touched off Thwaab.
Channel 4 commentator Graham Goode had taken his life in his hands by calling Cretan Gift (10-1) as the outright winner, but judge Alistair Stewart needed a print before confirming the result.
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| Title Annotation: | Sport |
|---|---|
| Author: | Punter, Joe |
| Publication: | Sunday Mail (Glasgow, Scotland) |
| Date: | Sep 22, 1996 |
| Words: | 581 |
| Previous Article: | SPORTSFILE. |
| Next Article: | PLOY PAYS OFF. |