Gary Wiltshire's Apple Pie

Seeing Gary Wiltshire looking big and well on the dogs from Wimbledon on Sky TV recently, reminded me of a time at Newbury Races.

Now Gary loves a bet whether as a bookie or as a punter and I dare say his love of the action may at times have bordered on the obsessive. Most of us punters and racing enthusiasts must have at some stage wondered whether our involvement was becoming too much and perhaps jeopardising our outlook on life.

The other night it was pretty obvious that if there is one thing in life that can possibly compare with his love of racing – whether it be dogs or horses – it is his love of food. There was once a debate in the Ring as to who was the greatest gastronome - Gary or Johnny Lights. The debate swayed either way but one thing was certain - it was strictly a two runner book with the rags 100/1 and getting bigger.

Gary was making a book at Newbury a few years ago on the back line and before he joined the Tote. I was fortunate enough to back a winner with him. Giving him time to pay out his punters, I waited for a few minutes to allow him and his staff to organise the bag and count out my winnings. With all the tickets paid out and only a couple of other bookie’s accounts to settle Gary got off the stand and easing back a couple of yards to absolve himself from the action, proceeded to pull out a Blackberry and Apple pie from his pocket and carefully extricate it from the wrapping. Meanwhile as the Clerk counted my readies it became increasingly obvious that Gary did not want to be disturbed. At which point one of his staff had to ask him about a payment from another bookie. Gary gave him such a look of disdain that anyone noticing would have quickly removed themselves from the vicinity for fear of their life. The Floorman winced and decided to sort it himself – rightly or wrongly.

It was becoming clear that if Gary could have stepped into an alternate universe so as to allow him to concentrate solely on enjoying his pie he would have willingly done so. As it was he had to reside in the real world while willing to die anybody who had the temerity to disturb his peace.

I could not stand it any more and had to give Gary the wind up.

‘Ere Gary’ says I. Gary gave me the last in his repertoire of looks that kill while at the same time struggling to tear himself away from the solitude of the sacred relationship he was having with his delicacy.

‘What’ he curtly growled.

‘I bet you would love a bit of custard on that pie. You know – the nice one that Marks and Spencer do’. Gary’s eyes went up into his head faster than a Harrier Jump Jet and I thought he was going to feint at the sheer thought of total ecstasy which would have happened if I could have poured the exquisite sauce on his cherished fruit pie.

I don't know if Gary had a list of horses to follow from the meeting but I can bet odds on what was on his shopping list the next time he visited ‘Marksies.’

Fantasy Fry Southwell 2.40. Bet To Win. 5/2 generally available. Looks a happening horse

Notable Graduate

Usually in the UK when a hot pot two year old is due to appear for the first time the Betfair markets immediately reflect this and the juvenile is put in at a short price. Everybody wants to know who the best youngster in the yard is. They then bet it to the virtual exclusion of everything else. The work riders put their punters on. Trainers warn their tied Bookmaker and the rest of the touts put it on their tipping lines. All compete in a scramble to get the pick of the early markets. The problem these days is that the early prices go for buttons and nobody gets any real money on.

In Ireland things to date have tended to move at a slower pace more akin to the pre Betfair days.

While this situation is changing and in 2010 alone there was a marked increase in the interest and turnover of Irish racing on Betfair, early markets are virtually ignored. When a top two year old does appear it will quite often be put in at a reasonable price. This is even though nearly everyone has already had the word that the horse is the business. The Irish Bookmakers take as much as they want and the price tends to drift lower during the day rather than suffer an early collapse.

I think the main reason for the tentative nature of the betting is the control that Coolmore have in keeping the lid on the merits of their stock. Being renowned for secrecy it is acknowledged that work riders would be risking their jobs if they started blabbing about the gallops and who was what in the pecking order. Consequently punters for other yards tend to be careful as they never really know if they are going to bump into a potential superstar from the AP O’B outfit.

This was again the case in 2010 when top colts like Pathfork and Casamento were both allowed to go off at generous prices for their first run even though they were considered top talent in their respective yards.

Trained by Dermot Weld, Notable Graduate fell into the same category before his introduction at Leopardstown in a mile maiden late last October. Steadily supported throughout down to a SP of 3/1 he was opposed in the market by two colts with solid enough form in Tiz The Shot and the AP O’Brien trained Pirate Chest. The latter had had three runs and did not look top drawer but with his Montjeu breeding was likely to improve on his fairly modest efforts to date.

To warrant that kind of support Notable Graduate had obviously been keeping company at home with the likes of Dubai Prince Triple Eight and A Word Apart. Confidence would therefore have been pretty strong.

In the race itself Tiz The Shot got first run and although he continued to close to the line he was never going to get there and was still half a length behind at the post with the rest well beaten. The time was good and connections must have been well pleased. He did not run again. Earlier in the afternoon his stablemate – Dubai Prince had been very impressive in landing the Group Three Killavullan Stakes and he is obviously a Classic prospect – for whatever stable Sheikh Mohammed decides to campaign him.

Notable Graduate has a top class pedigree and one that screams middle distances. He is a half brother to the Melbourne Cup winner Media Puzzle and is closely related to the Guineas and Eclipse winner Refuse To Bend. Not only that he is by Galileo who is proving to be a supreme influence for stamina.

A fine rangy individual he has any amount of scope and must make up into a high class sort. At the moment he looks pure St Leger material but could conceivably emerge as a Derby prospect if he continues to thrive. If he fails there what price the Melbourne Cup?

Flat Contenders 2011 (1)

Carlton House
The Queen continues to race a fairly sizeable string and has enjoyed a fair level of success in recent years but has not owned a decent colt for a while. Quadrille was just touched off at Royal Ascot last year and he is probably the best of recent times. However Her Majesty might have one better than that in Carlton House. His sire is Street Cry whose record is well established with such as Zenyatta and Street Sense heading the litany of Group class performers and his dam is the Bustino mare Talented who was a Group Two performer over middle distances. After a promising second at Salisbury on soft ground Carlton House went for a mile maiden at Newbury in late October. Reported to have worked well beforehand and touted as one of the leading lights in the yard he was allowed to go off at a generous 3/1. Always going well under Ryan Moore he eased to the front over two furlongs out and turned the race into a procession with the field well strung out. In the paddock he had the full blanket on and though it was impossible to form a full opinion there was enough on show to suggest he is a high class sort. The other one mentioned out of the yard is Sea Moon who was hard pressed to win at Yarmouth. However the ground was desperate that day and it would be premature to form a strong opinion on the basis of that run. In any case Carlton House looks a quality prospect and a decent contender.