Just been taking a trip down memory lane thinking back to nice big wins I've had in the past. It seems from trawling the results archives that my best times were the mid 90's and it's remarkable I wasn't a millionaire around about 1996 with some of the bets I landed!
I particularly remember the day Bold Gait (12/1) won the Northumberland Plate.... I had it in a multiple bet of 8 horses in doubles, trebles, fourfolds etc...and had 6 winners a 2nd and an unplaced. If the unplaced horse had got placed I would have won thousands and thousands off the e/w acca part but still rmember drawing a tidy sum.
Both biggest priced winners I've backed were from back then, I had Our Rita ante-post at 40/1 for the Lincoln and it won at 16's and Moonax which I had a tenner e/w on at 66/1 when it won the St.Leger... I remember having to sneak out of my sisters wedding, between church part and reception to get the bet on...glad I did!
Also remember back then winning large amounts at Cheltenham with loads of singles and double bets on Alderbrook in the Champion hurdle and Master Oats in the Gold Cup. Absolutely loved Stormin Norman Williamson back then and he was superb on those two.
A £50 double back then was also a highlight returning £975! At the time I was living with 3 mates. I was paid out in cash and stuffed the money in an envelope down the sleeve of my coat and when I got home I just pulled the wad of cash out of the envelope and just threw it all in the air in the front room
to say we partied hard for a week or two is an under-statement!
To say I've been betting as regularly and as long as I have it's quite surprising I've only managed to get 4 winners in a Lucky 15 twice, the most recent time being by far the best...
It was one of those strange betting moments and probably one of the reasons we all love the game so much at times when things like this happen. It was a Friday afternoon and I was on my way home from work, I just called in to put my weekend football bet on as there was a game on the Friday night I wanted to include in my acca. I knew how much I was putting on the football bet and got my loose change out of my pocket to see how much spare change I had... I managed to scrape £6 so thought I'd put a 40p Lucky 15 on the next 4 races while I was in there for a little fun before going home, it went like this...
The first leg was Trap 4 in the 5.07 at Swindon at 9/4 and the dog came very, very late and just managed to get up on the line. The second was in a NH Flat race and was Denis O' Reagan for Howard Johnson First Stream a 6/1 shot, it looked in trouble a furlong or two out but Denis conjured a late effort form it, again to just get home on the line.
The 3rd leg was Trap 2 in the 5.17 at Monmore at 3/1 this time it was never in doubt as the dog blasted from the boxes and never saw another dog and winning very easily. The horse that brought the bet up was Green Velvet a 6/1 shot in a 5/6f sprint at Lingfield and was exactly the type of winner you would like to bring such a bet up. Travis Block had the horse cruising just in behind the leaders and when he pressed the button with just over a furlong to go the horse shot clear in a matter of strides to win very easily..
So, with a loose bit of change taking in 4 consecutive races I managed to turn £6 into just short of £600. With getting 4 winners in a Lucky 15 being such a rarity the woman in the shop printed off the payout receipt and gave me it as a memento and I keep it in my wallet to this day!
Happy days!
