BEST AND WORST BETS


GARY O’BRIEN BEST


The 2013 National Hunt Chase win of Back In Focus is one I remember fondly. Months in advance, I’d told a good few of my pals that the horse was tailor-made for the race and, because I wasn’t working that aſternoon, ended up watching it with quite a few them in front of the stands. Having looked beaten, he stayed on gallantly up the hill, and the roar from where we were standing felt like it played a big part in liſting him home (watch here)!


WORST If Back In Focus was a case of snatching victory form the jaws of defeat, Toner D’Oudairies’ defeat in the Martin Pipe – aſter making a final-flight mistake – was almost the opposite (watch here). A few drinks during the aſternoon meant I didn’t feel too much pain in the immediate aſtermath – it was only when I went through my bets the following day that it dawned on me it would have been a life-changing return had he held on.


Annie Power’s final flight fall... enough said.


DAVE NEVISON BEST I backed Rooster Booster when he won the Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham in November 2002, and reinvested some of the winnings in Philip Hobbs’ grey for the Champion Hurdle four months later. When it came to the Festival, I can hardly have enjoyed watching a race more. It’s rare to feel you’ve won aſter 100 yards of a two-mile hurdle race, but I never felt an anxious moment as Rooster Booster won by 11 lengths.


WORST Annie Power’s fall at the final flight of the Mares’ Hurdle in 2015 is a moment I will never forget (watch here). I had tipped, and backed, the Willie Mullins’ four-timer Douvan (Supreme Novices’ Hurdle), Un De Sceaux (Arkle), Faugheen (Champion Hurdle) and Annie Power in the Mares’ Hurdle. The first three obliged. I was covering the betting ring on Racing TV and punters were showing me their bets and asking if they should cash out before the last leg. I told them to stand firm. Ouch. You can watch Dave reliving the experience (here).


12 RACING TV CLUBMAGAZINE


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