Twelve tips for the Flat season

I have a weakness for the versifier Ogden Nash and one of my favourites is his observation:

Shake and shake the ketchup bottle
First none will come and then a lot’ll.

It has been a bit like that this past year with my punting. Last year’s Twelve to Follow for the Flat didn’t lose us a fortune but nor did they make us one. Through the winter, though, the dozen over jumps did us proud. Back in April I totted up the figures and found we were showing a profit of £300 to a £10 level stake. I was being premature. Since then several of the selections have run again, considerably to our benefit. One sadness was that Reginaldinho, Venetia Williams’s handicapper who won twice for us, ran again at Newton Abbot. Alas, he stumbled two fences out and was pulled up, fatally injured. Otherwise it has been pretty well all good news.

Evan Williams sent Court Minstrel up to Ayr for the Scottish Champion Hurdle, which he won at 4–1. At Punchestown Sir des Champs and Jezki, both placed at the Cheltenham Festival, made amends. Sir des Champs followed his Cheltenham Gold Cup second by winning the Punchestown Gold Cup and Jezki won the Herald Champion Novice Hurdle in brilliant style, both scoring at 2–1. Emma Lavelle’s Claret Cloak took a handicap hurdle at Stratford in April at 11–4 even though it was still too soft to suit him. That left Our Father as the only one of the twelve who failed to win a race after my copy was delivered to The Spectator (weaselly small print at work there: Pendra did win after I tipped him, but before most readers would have seen that week’s Spectator).

The New One also ran again, finishing second to Zarkandar at Aintree, in a performance that had Raceform purring: ‘Little doubt now he is a serious candidate for the Champion Hurdle.’