CHAPTER TEN

A DAY AT THE BOOKIES

Not being a driver I do most commuting by train. This is handy for Southwell and Wolverhampton and the travelling time can be spent studying. This unfortunately is not the case with Lingfield. Travelling into London and then changing stations and trains means setting off at the crack of dawn and it makes for a long day. For this reason I usually go to the betting shop if a good thing crops up at Lingfield, as it did on Saturday January 4th. There was an eight race card starting at 12.05 but it was the last four races that interested me. Four horses all top rated last time out and all those figures produced on the polytrack at Lingfield. On top of that they were all in with an excellent chance of winning. Mutawaqed and Linning Wine would probably go off favourite but Paragon of Virtue and Coppington Flyer looked likely to provide some value. I checked the early prices at Dones, 4-1, 4-1, 8-1 & 7-1.
I decided to put them in a £5 Yankee and then back them as singles. The Scoop 6 on this particular Saturday was a Scoop 4 and the four races in question were the last four at Lingfield, so I put my four horses on the ticket and handed over my £2.

In the 2.05 Mutawaqed overcame a slow start to burst through and win inside the last 100yds. I had £40 on and managed to grab 9/2.
RESULT 1. MUTAWAQED 7/2
................2. MADRASEE 12/1
................3. COMPTON BANKER 10/1