It was the Grand National Saturday before last.
I have a fairly good record where that particular race is concerned. I've picked every winner since 1992, maybe 1991 (Party Politics is the first one that stands out, that was in 92).
I don't follow the form guide, nor do I tend to look at the odds. I pick a name I like, or that resonates to me. It must have a meaning to me, ideally. Party Politics - there was an election the week after, connection there, bet on that one. Mister Frisk - loved the sound of the name, all fast and swishy and prancy like a highly-strung horse.
Minnehoma...was a last-minute pick, I heard the old boys on the street corner talking about it and had to dash back to the bookies to put a quid on it. My mum used to call me (among many things) Minnie Ha-ha, which I think might be something to do with Hiawatha, but may not be. Anyway, I thought Minnehoma sounded quite close to that, so on went my quid. I remember Michael the bookie laughing at me and telling me it was a total nag. *g*
So, this year's race. I was drawn to Numbersixvalverde, and put £3 on it to win. Which it did.
Why that horse, when it would appear at first glance to have no connection for me at all?
Well, this is mostly tenuous - CtOR laughed at me before the race.
'Come in number six, your time is up' is something my mother and I would often call to each other. (Don't ask me why the hell we would, we just did, and it always cracked us up).
My mother's name was Valerie, but mostly she was called Val.
And her favourite hymn of all was 'There is a Green Hill Far Away', and verde is I think Spanish, possibly Italian, for green.
It works for me, okay?!
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WHAT?!?! I refuse to believe you've picked all of the last 15 Grand National winners before each race!! That's impossible! The odds of that must be so incredibly slim! Are you psychic or something? *lol* You should put more money on than you do, that's for sure! I'm stunned!! And you say you only "have a fairly good record where that particular race is concerned"! WHAT?!?! (Again! *lol*) I'd say it's pretty damn impeccable! Blimey! (What sort of name for a horse [or anything, for that matter!] is Numbersixvalverde anyway?! *lol*)
ReplyDeleteIt's absolutely one hundred per cent true.
ReplyDeleteAnd when the inveterate gamblers in the pub where I used to work got me to pick a runner in a race, I again picked the winner on the basis that the name of that horse stood out. One of the punters was a visitor - a stage manager in a touring production. It being Sunday, she had the day off. We'd been having a good conversation as I have a mate who does the same job so we swopped luvvie stories.
The horse I picked was Shakespeare's Lad or something like that, and I picked it because we had a theatrical person in the bar. It's form was abysmal, it was on at something daft like 200/1 and had three wooden legs according to the lads in the bar, who refused to back it.
It won.