Category Archives: News

I know what you are thinking, didn’t three-times Grand National winner Red Rum used to gallop in the sea at Southport Beach. His wise, old trainer, Ginger McCain realised that salt water was like the elixir of life when it come to healing tired legs and aching bones. He went on to win the ‘greatest race in the world’ three times in 1973, 1974 & 1977.

Perhaps you’ve seen horses galloping on the beach. It looks so natural and a beautiful sight.

Another location where racing takes place on the beach is Laytown, Strand Road, Ninch, County Meath, in Ireland. This spectacle has taken place since 1868. Racing takes place on just one day each year in September. This seven-furlong straight course sees all races run over six or seven furlongs and watched by a crowd in excess of 5,000.

I don’t know if you have enjoyed a holiday or a day out in Norfolk. It’s a lovely location with a beautiful coastline and villages of flint-stone buildings and thatched roofs. Wells-next-the-sea is a port town a stone’s throw from Burham Market and Holkham Hall. I’ve been to Wells-next-the-sea on a number of occasions but the last time I went there for a day out I notice something in the sea. It was a horse standing on the sand looking proudly out to sea. As the tide turned it remained in situ and the water rose until it lapped against its neck. Still it stood motionless. The Lifeboat Horse as it’s known is a sculpture made from steel bars and whisky barrels and created by Rachael Long as a tribute to the horses that once pulled the town’s lifeboat more than two miles from the quay to Holkham Gap. The Lifeboat Horse had a brief spell at Wells-next-the-sea in 2018. However, locals and visitors missed the horse so much that £15,000 was raised to make it a permanent feature of this beautiful location in 2019.

To protect the horse from winter weather it is kept in storage from October to May. Thankfully the harbour commissioners have agreed to cover all future maintenance costs.

Harbour Master Robert Smith MBE said: ‘It was important to buy the sculpture because ‘so many people loved it. People have already come from ll over the country to see the horse – it’s good for tourism, it’s good for Wells and it’s good for Norfolk.

The next time you visit Norfolk, go to see this beautiful sculpture.

https://twitter.com/Jon_Clifton78/status/1416863080064106497

I’m sure many of us have said those words. To be fair, I’m not sure if I have uttered that sentence but I know a man who has and I read it today. For privacy, I won’t mention his name but call him Mr. Mister (nothing to do with the American rock band, although being from the states he may well know their song Broken Wings). Anyway, he is a published writer and very much a horse racing man. It makes sense he writes for me considering I run a number of blogs related to this subject matter.

If there’s one thing I like to be that’s quick off the mark when it comes to paying people. If someone does the work then they deserve to be paid. It’s a transaction of not only a product or service but doing the right thing and behaving in a professional manner. It shouldn’t be too much to ask. However, so often it is. Late payers. People who never pay. He made me smile because he said: ‘You’re the best fellow I have ever worked for…’ He followed this statement with: ‘I have been severely unappreciated and fully abused over the years and can’t remember a time I didn’t have to fight to get paid. Several times I didn’t’.

‘Your parents did a good job and should be proud.’

Kind words, hey. I don’t imagine he was saying them for effect.

In ways gambling and life are the same.

My Dad always loved a bet. Going to the races at Great Yarmouth. Working so hard, he was the one person who deserved to have more time to do exactly what he wanted. I guess he didn’t because he never quite have enough money in his pocket to stop working for a while. Always thinking about not letting someone down. If he wasn’t at work perhaps he would miss a customer. I’m sure if Dad was alive now he would look back and make changes. He would have done more what he wanted and pleased himself. He most certainly should have. If myself and my brothers could go back in time we would make sure that happened.

‘Let’s go to the races today!’

‘Forget about the work, that can wait until tomorrow.’

I always remember when my brother and I were younger and very talented within our niche of two-year-old horse racing. We wanted credit for how good we were. I guess we were looking for approval, respect or appreciation. As if showing the world would somehow make this happen. I always remember Dad saying: ‘If I knew something worth knowing I wouldn’t tell anyone and just have a smile on my face.’

He was and still is 100% correct in that thought.

Whether it is someone writing an article, shining shoes on the street or working for years to understand something to help win when betting on the horses we are all the same. In essence, we are all fighting to be paid. It may be today, tomorrow or years later. For some that delayed gratification never arrives but so often it shines brightly when you reach your goal.

For the majority of people in life nothing comes easy. It is a fight (mostly mental rather than physical but it can be both) where you have to put the work in to get any return and even then there isn’t a guarantee of success or that elusive payday.

We have to fight.

The best fighter isn’t always the biggest or strongest. Sometime they are the most courageous with wisdom.

The best gamblers are those who have not only bet but sat, thought and considered the answers to questions. If you said to many that gambling is very much a philosophical question they would think you have lost the plot. It doesn’t seem to have any philosophical aspect. But the only person who thinks that is the person who hasn’t sat quite long enough to appreciate the subject matter.

As in life, how you work or treat others runs deep.

Someone once said of me: ‘Whatever he says it is true.’

That is a statement of trust.

Like father like son.

If you meet a good, kind soul, treat them right.

I’ve just began reading Harry Findlay: Gambling For Life, written by Neil Harman, published in 2017 by Sport Media.

I purchased the book a long time ago, started to read it, and put it back on the bookshelf. It has nothing to do with the quality of the book but it wasn’t the right time. I guess those words would be familiar to Mr. Findlay – The Man Who Won Millions And Spent Every Penny.

So far I have read the acknowledgments and introduction: The Alchemist.

I have about 350 pages to go.

I’ve never met Harry Findlay in person. I used to question whether I would want to be in his company. That sounds critical but it’s not meant to be. He’s very much an alpha male and extrovert whereas I am an introvert.

They say oil and water don’t mix.

My impression of Harry Findlay was formed from watching him on TV. He has always been larger than life but in a gambling world of opinions perhaps the person with the loudest voice gets their views heard first and last. Since the publication of his book follows a devastating loss and almost financial ruin I wonder what man he is today. Perhaps he is a little quieter. I hope he hasn’t changed at all. If there’s one thing I like about a gambler, it’s someone who is confident in their opinions and worth. Most punters really don’t have much to say and what they do say doesn’t often make any sense or have substance.

Perhaps I would enjoy the company of Mr Findlay. I may need meet him in an Indian restaurant to keep him quiet as he goes through his chicken vindaloo, although he may well talk with his mouth full.

After reading many professional gambler books I am looking forward to reading the full warts and all version of Harry Findlay.

As Terry Ramsden once said: ‘There’s been plenty of people who have gone through their money.’

Dave Nevison wrote: No Easy Money: A Gambler’s Diary.

I’m noticing a theme here. I say that tongue-in-cheek because every gambler has good and bad times.

Harry Findlay said he has been skint many times. And the best judge for a gambler worth his salt is one who comes back from the brink.

I’m looking forward to finding out more.