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Can anyone help me with some background info as I prepare to write an expurgated version of memoirs ? It concerns my most memorable day at the races,Whit Monday (or Spring Bank Holiday to you youngsters)circa 1976,Sandown Park….a girlfriend and I went by coach from SE London. I kid you not that I went with £100 inc entrance money,and walked out with nearly £1700 and those were big bucks to me in those days. Anyway,after 3 races I was down to £30 but then Blue Cashmere won at 100-30 and I was back among the living but then came the start of a remarkable afternoon and it is this that which I need to research. The feature race concerned the favourite,Giacometti,who had contested the previous years Classics,and what I saw as his only possible danger, a 7 year old very good handicapper called Rymer with Herbert Blagrave. They were betting odds on Giacometti , 7-1 Rymer, or 7-2 without the jolly,4-1 in places. I was so sure that Rymer was cast iron to be 2nd that I went along the line backing Rymer to fivers and tenners at 4-1 or 7-2,and then spotting Rymer to win outright at 9-1 put my last £30 on him. After all I was already sure to collect on 2nd place. Came the race and entering the final furlong and Giacometti struck the front with the second horse being challenged by Rymer.
I began to cheer him on for second place when suddenly he threw down a relentless challenge to the jolly,gaining inch by inch until he put his nose in front just on the lollipop. If that wasn’t enough I also backed the last 3 winners and wanted to drive the bus home (although I didn’t have a license). I remember sitting on that coach not knowing how much I had won,and was pulling money out of every pocket.A great day but I can’t recall all of the details but I think that the stayers race after Rymers race was won by Athens Wood or Athens Gate, or something like.Sandown, May 26, 1975.
Memory Lane (J Mercer for I Balding) won the first, a juvenile fillies’ maiden.
Kildoon ( A Bond for D Whelan) won the 10f handicap for three-year-olds.
Third race was the Whitsun Cup, won by Deerslayer (F Durr for H Cecil).
Blue Cashmere (F Durr for M Stoute) won the Temple Stakes at 5/1 (from 6s) by 3l.
The Brigadier Gerard Stakes went to Rymer (B Taylor for H Blagrave) at odds of 8/1. Giacometti went off 2/1 on, headed Hail The Pirates over a furlong out but was himself caught close home by Rymer (6th straight, strong run final furlong, led last strides) who won by half a length.
Astonish (John Matthias for I Balding) won the next, an apprentice race at odds of 7/2.
The last, a three-year-old handicap over 14f went to Athens Moss (J Mercer for W Hern), the 9/4 fav (from 3s).
Dear Gus Kennedy
Brilliant ! Thank you very much for this….exactly what I needed.Strange though that I got the sequence slightly muddled although I got the main detail surprisingly correct all these years later, I am much obliged to you.
Old johnMy pleasure, John.
I’ve got Form Books for the Flat going back to 1967 and I’m always happy to help anyone with this sort of enquiry.
Perhaps Gus or anyone with form books could go back to the early 1970’s and help me recall the detail behind another of my true tales. I was working at Joseph Lucas, Gt King Street,Birmingham when I became unwittingly responsible for the closure of a small independant betting shop just up the road from the factory.At least that is the story that the factory guys put about !
I would often be missing from my desk for periods of the afternoon (guess where ?) ….it’s a wonder I got away with it ! One day at around 11.00am I passed the loading bays and a couple of guys who had heard of my recent run of luck asked me what I fancied for the day’s racing.Despite my protests that I couldn’t possibly give tips or be responsible for people losing money on my say so,they persisted and after studying the paper for a while I said ‘ well I’m backing Steeple Aston and Emerald Cross’ but don’t blame me etc ‘. I know they were both in handicap races,and one (possibly both trained by Bill Wightman),and one may have been ridden by D (Micky) Greening,and both won at odds between 12 and 16-1,as I discovered in the Stop Press of the Birmingham Evening Mail as I walked to the bus stop. I quickly calculated my winnings of a couple of hundred plus but hardly remembered the guys on the loading bay until the following morning when I received a heros welcome,complete with back slapping and little gifts of thanks. It was a pleasant experience until I walked to collect at the bookies come lunchtime and on entering the shop was greeted by a few choice expletives and accusations ! Bewildered I said I know it’s a decent touch but surely you must have laid it off after the first one went in ? Came the reply…it’s not your bet I’m worried about but every bugger in Lucas’s has backed both of them in doubles. I grabbed my winnings and bolted out of the shop without bothering to have my bet for the day but a week later the shop was gone and I became the legend who had closed down the bookie. A brief moment of notoriety but also damned inconvenient because I had a longer walk at lunch time to get to Wilf Gilberts which was twice the distance. I think the bookie in question was a name with royal connection like Dukes,Kings or Princes but if anyone can track down the 2 horses I would be very grateful,if only to prove that dementia has not started without me noticing !
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