From the Dragon’s Mouth
DragonBet on-course bookmaker James Lovell gives the inside track on Welsh sport –
what’s hot, what’s not, and who’s the talk of the betting ring.
They say Sunday is the day of rest.
Well, after the second bad one in a row, it seems to be the day for DragonBet to take a good kicking!
Perhaps it’s time to take up church!
The gambling gods hit us hard, and football was their chosen weapon. One high-staking punter slammed us with a nine-timer across varying leagues, earning a pay-out in the tens of thousands. Ouch!
Things hadn’t been going swimmingly on Saturday, either. I’d put up Shiskin as my lay of the weekend and after three
previously successful lays I thought I had the game cracked (it’s not the first time I’ve thought that and it’s not the first time I’ve been wrong, either!)
Shiskin absolutely left me in the shi. . .skin. I was the one skinned. He battled (I thought he might not),
he stayed the trip (I thought he wouldn’t), and he showed a level of class (that I thought he’d left well behind).
Loving this angle of Shishkin annihilating the @Ascot Chase field! @skysportsAlexH @mickfitzg @LynchySSR pic.twitter.com/v9fnGZ9Ui5
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) February 18, 2023
As a bookie, you’ve got to hold your hands up and say when you’re wrong. That’s the easy bit.
The painful bit is when you’ve also got to pay and pay we did . . . big time!
Still, it’s only borrowed and there’s no throwing in the towel when you’re on this side of the fence.
Friendly reminder, though – if you’re on the other side of the fence, that’s exactly what you should do on a bad run. Never chase your losses!
The planned comeback will be aimed to peak at Chepstow on Saturday.
I’ll be there on the pitch doing what I love most and that’s bookmaking on-course.
It’s the Six Nations race day with the big Wales-England game showing on the screen. So, if you’re planning a good day out, there’s nowhere better to be.
We've had 189 entries for this Saturday's fixture.
Going – C:GOOD
H: GOOD, GOOD to SOFT in places
Watering in progress
Meeting sponsored by @PertempsJobs.
Tickets £10 in advance – Wales v England Six Nations game shown live after racing – https://t.co/ipbMfdHnvJ pic.twitter.com/ZlCsB0MhKw— Chepstow Racecourse (@Chepstow_Racing) February 21, 2023
Chepstow isn’t the easiest place to be a bookmaker, though. There’s lots of favourites that win there.
In fact, for the past five seasons you’d be winning £26-times your stake by just backing the favourites, blindly.
The bumper races, however, often sees gambles go astray and fingers burnt. So, if there is a short one in the 4.52 (it’s too early in the week to know yet) that’s where I’ll be sticking my neck out.
Apart from trying to avoid a self-imposed guillotine @4.52, I’ll also be keeping an eye on the racing at Newcastle, where the big race of the weekend is the Eider Chase, run over four miles and a furlong.
It’s a true test of stamina. Currently heading the market is Kitty’s Light trained in Wales by Christian Williams.
Big weekend ahead 🙏🏻@NewcastleRaces @kemptonparkrace @coral @vertemam pic.twitter.com/g7rgOJv5o9
— Christian Williams Racing (@CWilliamsRacing) February 21, 2023
Christian is a master of getting staying types to win these kind of races and I believe a big part of that is his use of the unique landscape and sand dunes of Ogmore beach in South Wales.
He uses that location to embed marathon-like stamina into his horses.
His yard has been slow to get going this year, but I know this has been the aim for Kitty’s for a long time and with an Ascot success in the bag last weekend, now’s the time to start backing his horses.
Another of interest in the race is Eva’s Oscar, also trained in Wales by our sponsored yard, Tim Vaughan Racing.
I’m told the horse is working really well at home and if he does stay the trip he’ll be thereabouts, so if Kitty’s doesn’t perhaps Eva’s will.
Either way, I’ll be cheering on a Welsh victory at Newcastle, a Welsh win in the rugby at The Principality Stadium, – strike solution permitting – and a DragonBet win at Chepstow.
Pob lwc, whatever you’re cheering.