Kempton Park Evening Racing Report

I’ve been lucky enough to have this week off work, having found myself at a loose end yesterday I decided to check out the all weather racing at Kempton Park. I arranged to meet my friend at the train station at half five, the sun was out so we popped into the local pub just outside the race course for a couple of pints.It was surprisingly quiet at the course when we arrived, with only thirty minutes before the first race and only a dozen people or so out with the bookmakers. It cost £15 for a single adult to get in and that doesn’t include a race card which you have to buy separately for an additional pound. The smell of fried onions soon tempted me into parting with more of my hard earned cash and before I knew it I was down about £25 and I hadn’t even placed a bet.

Briefly scanning the race card of the 6:50 I couldn’t see past the favourite, my friend had been with his girlfriend during the day and as a bit of fun she asked him to bet on number three in the first race. Without even consulting the form guide a £10 bet was placed on a drifting Garstang at odds of 12-1. Remarkably about 10 minutes later Garstang finished the race first and my friend was holding a wad of notes, £130 to be exact. A bad start to the evening for me but the next round was on him.

Not wanting to be outdone at my own trade I took a more cautious approach to the 7:20 and backed Graycliffe who set off as the 4-1 favourite. He came past the post first netting me £40 profit.

After a brief look at the horses in the paddock I was convinced Right Stuff was the one to back in the 7:50. Unfortunately Ryan Moore was taken ill earlier in the day meaning a late jockey change saw Shane Kelly in the saddle. Short priced favourites are always hard to back coupled with the change of rider found myself putting a line through Right Stuff. Instead, I decided to back Encircled at generous odds of 10-1. The number one rule of gambling, never change your mind. Right Stuff finished first by a neck to Encircled in second. Not a bad shout by any means.

We managed to catch some of the Liverpool vs. Chelsea game in-between races, Liverpool really do have their work cut out in the second leg, some poor defending has cost them dearly. I really can’t see how they can turn this around; they need to score three goals at the bridge and that hasn’t happened for donkey’s years.

I was starting to get hungry again, the burger from earlier clearly hadn’t filled the gap. I snuck off to the noodle bar and tucked into a £5.50 pork noodle dish which was actually quite nice.

Back to betting and it was time for the 8:20, the favourite was a 2-1 shot Equipe De Nuit who looked to have all the creditionals to win this, however, the horse looked agitated in the paddock and a bad draw in the stalls meant it had to be opposed. I decided to hedge my bets and stuck £10 on Crown Choice at 8-1 and £10 on Makaam at 11-4. Crown Choice romped home with Makaam in second place, the favourite Equipe De Nuit was unplaced.

By this point in the evening I was starting to feel slightly intoxicated, my words were becoming slurred and all logic was going straight out the window.

The next race was the 8:20 and the big favourite was Silaah at 11-10. Far too short for me, especially when there were two or three horses that were more than capable of winning this. I simply couldn’t pick a horse and decided it was best to sit this one out. In the end Silaah came third with the 11-1 shot Obe Royal winning it.

In the final race of the card I placed an each-way bet on Red Rudy a 12-1 shot. The horse came in third but was unlucky not to have done better. We finished our drinks and counted our winnings; I ended up about £25 down on the night which wasn’t the end of the world. I do think it’s hard to turn a decent profit at meetings like these, unless you have a large bank, I did see one punter collecting £600 from a race and that was on a short priced favourite. When you combine the entrance fee, travelling costs and refreshments you’re looking at needing one or two big winners in order to break even.

Having said that, I had a great evening and look forward to going back again soon.