Don't put your money on the favourite...

Playlist
Matthew Florianz – Koude Handen
Anathema – We’re Here Because We’re Here

Having headed to bed last night with the old “last 12 months on shuffleplay” scenario on the cans, I awoke this morning to hear a quite excellent sound in my lugs, which I struggled to place...

Of course, being so old now, my eyes are not what they used to be and, rather frustratingly, I find it impossible to read the display on the jukebox without my reading specs...

So, I flicked the machine off random mode and enjoyed the whole album – still trying to figure out what it was...

Up, specs on, mystery solved – it was none other than the extremely super duper ambient sounds of Mr Matthew Florianz’s “Koude Handen”, which I downloaded from his site a couple of months ago...

I was so impressed, I listened again and Matthew’s music soundtracked my day...

And so to what happened...

Firstly, a fresh view of the city beckoned...



In the late afternoon, drinks at Ryan’s Bar with chums Gary, Stuart, Derek and Scott – the last three our, and a number of others’, hosts for a trip to this evening's meeting at Musselburgh races...















A very tasty meal (sweet potato, cumin and pinenut soup/pork with potatoes dauphinoise and spring veg/extremely tasty and creamy strawberry tart and ice cream) was accompanied by lashings of Italian red wine, Italian beer and English Gin...

A tipster gave us tips and bets were placed...

By the end of the first race, your correspondent was considerably down...



In the third race, I needed number 8 (the odds on favourite) to win to avoid being extremely, considerably down...

Here’s the scene at the half way point...



Here’s the scene at the finishing line...



Ooof!



My Tote Placepot was still ok though...

I just needed number 1 to be placed in the fourth race...



Ooof!



Now considerably, extremely, rather badly down, I took a wander around the track and refrained from partaking of any of the bookies’ offers on the fifth race...





On the sixth, I made an all or nothing bet on the second favourite, number 5 at 5-1, just before Mr Norrie Drummond, the bookie, amended to 4-1...



If it were to have won, I would have made back every one of your English pounds of my losses, with a couple of said pounds going on to the credit side of the ledger...



Yarooo! A winner at 5-1...



With, strangely, not a single favourite having won but with my mood somewhat lifted, we left the course around 9:45...



....and headed back to Edinburgh and Indigo Yard for more drinks...

Around 11, I bade farewell to Gary, his partner Adam and the rest of the boys and headed to Haymarket station to meet up with the Exec Producer, who’d been out celebrating chum Chris-with-a-ch’s birthday, along with further chums The Ferret, Graham & Dawn and Kerry & Angie...

Back home just after midnight – surprisingly not too much the worse for horse-racing wear...

A good day...

Highlight of the Day : Pulling the betting out of the fire with a last gasp gamble...