Horse Racing

The first time I wandered into a bookies, back in 1968, was with a betting friend, a horse racing fanatic, and I was curious to see what it was all about. Passing through a dangling plastic curtain, nobody looked up when we entered this austere, smoke filled-room. Eyes were too busy scrutinising the pinned up back pages from the Daily Mirror and Sporting Life to worry about us. A scratchy, emotionless commentary crackled from a single speaker on the wall as we crunched failed betting slips underfoot.

Peering at the papers on the wall, Idle Dreams, the name of one of the horses in the next race seemed larger to me, more prominent than the others in the list. Idle Dreams. Overcome with the certainty that a profound new winner-spotting skill had been revealed to me, I found myself scribbling ‘Idle Dreams – £1 win at 7/1’ on a slip and handing it over with my stake – plus tax.

To my rookie ears the commentary was a jumble of names, intoned in disinterested terms until the final ‘and it’s Idle Dreams the winner’.

Filled with the joy and a sense of new-found wealth that only unearned income can bring, I collected my £7 winnings, plus stake, from the bored stiff woman behind the glass screen and wandered out into the sunshine in a daze. I went straight to my insurance broker and paid my car insurance for the year with the eight quid.

It’s all changed now. Today it’s about laptops and online horse racing betting sites dishing out free bets to new customers while you sprawl in the comfort of your armchair and watch the race on the 42” plasma. A few clicks and you’ve got the inside stories, gossip, trainers comments and statistics to help you pick the winners. No more smoke, queuing or discomfort and you know what? I don’t miss a thing.