Slack Jawed Babbling

The dog’s arrival has had some unexpected impacts on our lives. As well stressful hours chasing her around half of Hertfordshire when she does the Escape To Victory routine, we also decided to have a Nuca-friendly holiday this Summer. No kennels in her first year with us. Instead we spent a couple of weeks in pet-compliant gaffs. First up north with my Dad and Bruv and, after a pause back home where I lost and then won back holiday spending money via Glorious Goodwood, a week on the Isle of Wight en famille. Staying in England afforded the opportunity to establish some new and revisit some old holiday facts:   Always – no, never – set up an ‘Out of office’ message   I managed to send out about a billion or so ‘out of office’ messages. By accident, of course. I’m not really sure how this happened. Something to do with the way I applied the filters, I believe. Even the polite little warning from Apple, saying “Are you sure?” didn’t alert me. About 30 seconds after cli...

Oblivion avoided. Just when hope was leaching away, when bookies were about to snap shut their satchels and as hog roast caravans were closing down and hitching up for York, the project began to deliver. First Toofi came late and fast-ish to claim 2nd in the Stewards Cup for the place element of our 20/1 stake. 4pts net profit that ate away a little of the (by then) 20pt deficit. Then, after missing out in the maiden, it became the late, late show. Enlace held on for the first of this exercise's Johnston winners at a backed price of 7/1. Then Balmoral Castle prevailed at an even more slender margin at a morning price of 10/1. That gave a net profit on the day of 21 points to exactly and precisely wipe out the accumulated losses. In the very last breath of the Festival's 35 races, I was honours even with the bookies. Ridiculous and spectacular. Blind value betting cannot be endorsed on the basis of this foolhardy exercise. Of course not. But it has been a tremendous ri...

Barring a manoeuvre that would make the turning circle of a supertanker look like a handbrake turn in a Fiat 500, this wretched Goodwood value project has failed. Six points frittered away yesterday and again the best result was a non runner. Only a couple of the selections ever looked competitive. Humping a 16 point deficit, the project now resembling a guessing game rather than a carefully honed punting strategy, rumbles in to the final day of Glorious Goodwood. 2.00 6f Stewards' Sprint Stakes: The Hooded Claw , 20/1 ew 2.35 1m4 handicap: Novancia , 9/1  3.10 1m2f Nassua Stakes: Diamondsandrubies , 4/1 3.45 6f Steward Cup: Toofi , 20/1 ew 4.20 7f Maiden stakes: Mediciman , 6/1 4.55 7f Qatar Stakes handicap: Enlace , 7/1  6.00 Apprentice Stakes Handicap: Balmoral Castle , 10/1  Thank God this is over...